geography revision

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settlement

a site is the actual place where a village or town grew up. a site was chosen if it had some natural resources/advantages. the more natural resources/advantages a place had, the more it was to grow in size.

natural resources/advantages

protection - good views from a hilltop give you warning if you were about to get attacked.

plenty of water - needed for drinking, cooking and washing. water might come from a river, spring or well.

not to much water - sites must not flood or be marshy.

rivers - easy to cross on foot at a bridge.

shelter - a south facing slope will have more sun and will be protected from the cold north wind.

flat land - easier to build on, good for growing crops and travelling to other towns.

supply of wood - needed for fires for warmth and to cook on.

building materials - either wood or stone, useful to be near wood or a rocky hillside.

functions of a settlement

the function of a settlement is the reason why it was built. different types of settlement have different functions. some examples are:

a resort - place where people go on holiday

a port - a place where ships bring things in to and out of the country (imports and exports)

a market town - a place where people, especially farmers use to come to buy and sell things.

an industrial town - where many people work in factories.

the shape of settlements

a settlement pattern is the shape of a settlement.

a dispersed settlement pattern means that all the buildings are spread out.

a nucleated settlement pattern means that all the buildings are grouped together

a linear settlement pattern means buildings are found in a long line.

settlements are divided by size and services they offer. this arrangement is called a hierarchy - putting settlements in order according to their size and importance.

in northern ireland, there are hundreds of hamlets and villages. there are many small towns and a fewer number of large towns. there are several cities in northern ireland. as settlement size increases, the number of that type of settlement decreases.

as settlement size increases, so too does population.

sphere of influence - the area served by a settlement and its services. this can vary in size for each of the functions provided by each settlement.

range - he maximum distance people are prepared to travel to obtain a good or service.

threshold - the minimum number of customers needed to support a service.

services and goods

low order goods:

daily basis

bread, milk, newspapers

corner shop

we do not travel any great distance to purchase them

relatively cheap

may cost more in a corner shop than a supermarket as corner shops only sell a limited variety of goods and can't buy in bulk.

middle order goods:

monthly basis

clothes, trips to cinema/hairdressers, top-up cards

slightly more expensive

people are prepared to travel to obtain them

high order goods:

once a year or less

laptops, cars, furniture, carpet

comparison goods

tend to be expensive

land use zones

what is a land use zone?

it is what an area of land in a town is mostly used for.

what are the main land use zones?

a) C.B.D - central business district. the land here is mostly used for shops and offices.

b) industrial - the land here is mostly used for factories

c) residential - the land here is mostly used for housing.

d) leisure and recreation - may include open land, eg. parks or built facilities such as sport centres.

e) transport - road and rail networks, stations and airports.

f) business and commerce - the building of offices, shops and banks.

g) open space/green belt - an area around the edge of some cities where building is restricted to preserve the countryside.

residential zones can be divided according to the types of houses and amount of open space found there:

a) working class - terrace housing

b) lower middle class - semi-detached

c) upper middle class - detached

settlement

settlement