Unit 3 - Settlements Flashcards
Settlement patterns
Certain basic resources are needed for a settlement to exist. Basic needs of any community are water, shelter, food and fuel. Availability of these basic resources and the way that people access these resources plays an important role in choice of location p, distribution pattern and pattern of settlements. The reasons why a settlement developed or was built can be described as its function.
Pattern
Refers to the situation of buildings in relation to each other - are the settlements arranged in a scattered pattern (dispersed) or are they situated close together (nucleated)?
Internal structure and form
Refers to the detailed appearance of the individual settlement e.g. shape, arrangement of buildings and street patterns
Site
Refers to the actual land on which the settlement is built and located and the physical features of the land. Is the settlement on built high laying plateau or on flat land?
Situation of a settlement
Position in relation to the surrounding human and physical features.
Factors affecting settlement patterns
- Physical features
- topography (the build or lay of the land)
Mountainous & hilly areas often have dispersed settlement patterns
level plains have nucleated settlement patterns.
- water
Dispersed settlement patterns are promoted by readily availability of water. In arid regions where water is only available at localized points, nucleated settlements will start up around the source of water.
- soil
Fertile well-drained soil on level plains would normally favor dispersed settlement pattern of farming homesteads - Social factors
Safety used to be a very important reason for nucleated settlements. - Political and economic factors
In countries with socialist policies, individual land ownership is discouraged and rural populations are grouped together in nucleated settlements - Traditional African settlement patterns
Black African rural people traditionally attach more importance to cattle farming than to agriculture. Cattle farming requires large areas of land and nucleated settlements are therefore discouraged. - Political policy
In SA the land areas act assigned specific rural areas as homelands to indigenous cultural groups. This policy changed the settlement patterns in rural areas because people were displaced by the political planning policy and were compelled to move to specific areas. - Religion
Religious ties can draw people of similar beliefs to each other to live in nucleated settlements.
Classification of settlements
Size and complexity
The inhabitants of a rural village will mainly be involved in primary activities e.g. farming, mining, fishing, forestry
Settlement hierarchy
This is when geographers classify settlements according to their size.
Settlement hierarchy ranks settlements according to their size & complexity. High up the hierarchy, size of the settlement increase and the number of similar settlements decreases.
Urban settlements
Places where people are drawn together to live. They are multifunctional and conduct both secondary and tertiary activities
Origin of urbanization
- can only develop when a country has a surplus food, and transport means
- urbanization initially took place very slowly. After the industrial revolution in England, job opportunities in factories became available, resulting in rapid urbanization
- urbanization in SA accelerated after discovery of diamonds & gold.
- in past, drought and economic depression in the country contributed to rural depopulation.
- after ww2, great industrial revolution took place in SA
The main factor influencing the situation of an urban settlement is its site:
- Availability of water: not really relevant these days as water is transported in pipes from anywhere to anywhere
- Soil: people like building on soil that allows water to drain
- Rock structure: sites should preferably be far from sinkholes, fault lines, volcanoes
- Relief: sues with gentle slops are preferred
- Transport and trade: development could for instance occur at a river crossing (facilitating trade)
- Human factors: sites that have historical, cultural or social value attract people
Name the 3 groups towns can be divided into
- Central place towns
- most towns are central place towns
- situated centrally in rural areas and provide basic urban goods and services to surrounding rural areas. Some central place towns are small and provide only low order goods & services
- other central place towns may provide high order goods and services - Trade and transport towns and cities
There are 3 main types:
a) Junctions: type of town is at the intersection of 2 main transport routes.
b) Break-of-bulk towns/cities: this type of town originates where 1 type of transport is linked to another.
c) Gap towns originate at a point of access at a physical barrier
1) gap in a mountain range
2) bridge and fords (drifts) along rivers
3) foothill towns at the foot of hills
3) Special function towns: these towns have one dominant function.
Functions of urban settlements
Education
Stellenbosch in the Western Cape and Potchefstroom in the north west province are university towns
Tourism
Found at the cost as well as in the interior of SA
Administration
Settlements like Cradock, were established as towns to be the home of administrative magistrates or districts
Mining towns
Discovery and mining of minerals led to the development of mining towns. Usually isolated from other towns because they develop to serve only the needs of the mining community
Industrial towns
Most industries developed in established towns established and contributed to the growth tempo and industrial function of the town
Transport
Some towns were established to serve as transport centres. Railway towns were established to maintain and extend the transport system.
Central Business District (CBD)
Urban profile
Is a view of an urban area, from side to side.
The Central Business District (CBD)
Situation
- found in center of town or city where streets of city or town converge.
-all traffic routes lead to the CBD
- train station usually situated near CBD
- area very accessible
- area where city originally started
Characteristics
- tall office blocks and shopping centers in the CBD
- high order services (attorneys, accountants
- many low order services (hairdressers)
- land is expensive and scarce, therefore buildings are high
- heavy traffic, many pedestrians and air pollution are problems connected to the CBD
Transition Zone (Zone of Decay) 8
Situation
This part of city situated just outside CBD & also called slum area or zone of decay
Characteristics
- usually dilapidated (run-down)name buildings are old, as they are part of first buildings built in the city
- slums are common, cause buildings are old and owners not renovate them
- time to time, buildings demolished to make way for CBD
- land expensive cause CBD expanding in the area
- land use is mixed - some warehouses, some industry, some redevelopment
- social problems, e.g. crime is plentiful cause unwanted people are lured to this area by cheap housing
Residential areas (living areas)
Occupy 30% and 50% of city’s total built up area.
Following patterns occur:
- no residence within the CBD
- transition zone around CBD is densely populated with shacks and other low income housing
- area marked “low-income housing/informal settlement” occurs next to CBD. High density area and basic services not always provided.
- squatter camps develop on unoccupied pieces of land near rivers or highways. Illegal settlements
- sometimes blocks of flats erected near CBD
- middle-class single story family homes with gardens
- high income residential areas found on outskirts of city
- cars buses and other transport allow people to live far from the CBD
- site-and-service settlements erected on land made available by the government
