Settlement vocabulary

Question 1

Situation

Answer 1

The situation of a settlement describes the location of the settlement in relation to other neighbouring settlements and transport routes.

Question 2

Sheltered site

Answer 2

often in the lower parts of valleys - often on warmer, south facing slopes (aspect).

Question 3

nodal point

Answer 3

A place at which things, such as transportation routes, converge.

Question 4

Threshold population

Answer 4

The minimum number of people needed before a particular good or service can be provided in an area.

Question 5

conurbation

Answer 5

an extended urban area, typically consisting of several towns merging with the suburbs of one or more cities.

Question 6

Megalopolis

Answer 6

a region in which several large cities and surrounding areas grow together

Question 7

inner city

Answer 7

the older, central part of a city with crowded neighborhoods in which usually low-income groups live.

Question 8

Urban Regeneration

Answer 8

The revival of old parts of the built‐up area by either installing modern facilities in old buildings (known as renewal) or opting for redevelopment (ie demolishing existing buildings and starting afresh).

Question 9

urban sprawl

Answer 9

The process of urban areas expanding outwards, usually in the form of suburbs, and developing over fertile agricultural land.

Question 10

Suburbanization

Answer 10

Suburbanization is a population shift from central urban areas into suburbs, resulting in the formation of urban sprawl

Question 11

commuter belt

Answer 11

A residential area within relatively easy reach of (and often surrounding) a city, where many of the residents travel to and from the city daily.

Question 12

Greenfield site

Answer 12

A plot of land, often in a rural or on the edge of an urban area that has not yet been subject to any building development.

Question 13

Brownfield site

Answer 13

Land that has been used, abandoned and now awaits some new use. Commonly found across urban areas, particularly in the inner city.

Question 14

Squatter Settlement

Answer 14

An area of makeshift housing that usually develops on unfavorable sites in and around an MIC or LIC city; they are also known as favelas, shanty towns or bustees.

Question 15

Urbanization

Answer 15

The process by which an increasing proportion of people live in towns and cities instead of the countryside - this could be a result of natural increase or migration.

Question 16

Site and service schemes

Answer 16

Local government provides land and build new roads with electricity and water connections.
Local residents are given or sold plots of land that they can build their houses on.
Some site and service schemes will have the built housing sold to poor low income families.

Question 17

rural

Answer 17

To do with villages and the countryside

Question 18

High order settlements

Answer 18

Settlements, usually towns or cities, which provide goods and services that are bought infrequently and that are expensive so people are willing to travel a long way to buy or use them.

Question 19

Range

Answer 19

The distance people are prepared to travel to buy a good or service e.g. low order goods and services have a small range; high order goods and services have a large range.

Question 20

Sphere of Influence

Answer 20

The area surrounding an activity that is influenced by it e.g. sports centre or a local park. It is also called the catchment area.

Question 21

site

Answer 21

the physical characteristics of the area.

Question 22

settlement

Answer 22

Any form of permanent place of residence

Question 23

Nucleated settlement

Answer 23

Settlements are made up of a cluster of buildings, usually around a central point, such as a crossroads or bridge over a river. Many have developed in lowland areas where land is fertile.

Question 24

Linear settlements

Answer 24

Settlements are long and thin ( ribbon shaped). These develop along a road or river valley or in an area where flat land is limited.

Question 25

Dispersed settlements

Answer 25

Farms and isolated buildings that are scattered across the countryside and surrounded by farmland. often found in upland areas.

Question 26

A wet point site

Answer 26

near to a reliable source of water - beside a river, stream.

Question 27

A dry point site

Answer 27

Normally slightly raised to avoid flooding.