Settlements

Settlements

1. What's a settlement?

   • Settlements are places where people live. During the Neolithic period people began to settle down in one place and build permanent homes. Some people lived in isolated farms while others prefered to live together in villages. Cities were born around 3.500 B.C, but we prefered living in the countryside or rural areas until the last 20th century.

2. Types of settlements

   • According to size
   • According to location
     • http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/guides/z2dmn39/revision
     • Wet point sites
       • A good water supplies
     • Dry point sites
       • Away from the risk of flooding
     • Shelter
       • From cold prevailing winds and rain
     • Resources
       • Good supplies
     • Defensive sites
       • Often on a higher ground
     • Gap towns
       • In a gap between two areas of higher ground
     • Trading centers
       • Grown where natural route ways and rivers meet
     • Aspect
       • On the sunny side of a green valley
   • According to type
     • Permanent
     • Rural
     • Urban
     • Temporary

3. Analysing settlements

   • Urban structure
     • Suburban areas
       • A suburb is a residential area located in previously rural areas that have become urban.
     • Green areas
       • These areas are open pieces of land with few or no buildings and are accessible to the public for recreational use.
     • Industrial areas
       • This area contains factories and bussinesses related to them.
     • Commercial areas
       • These areas primarily composed of commercial buildings.
     • Residential areas
       • These areas are where citizens live, where their households are.
     • Centre
       • This zone contains government buildings and offices, shops, entertainment areas, transport hubs, etc.. that were located here to make them accessible to everybody.
   • Urban construction
     • Single-family homes
     • Shacks / Shanties
     • Buildings in the form of blocks
     • Old buildings
   • Urban plan
     • Irregular plan
       • It is formed by short, narrow streets with a non-defined geometric shape.
     • Radiocentric plan
       • Consists of a central point from which streets radiate.
     • Orthogonal plan / Grid plan
       • It's straight, with wide streets. that cross at right angles. It has got diagonals.
   • Site and situation
     • On a hill, in a valley, on an island, in the centre of a country, in a coastal area, near a road intersection, etc.

Imágenes y archivos del mapa