2.Settlement site, Function and Hiearchy

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Settlement-A place where people live, Settlements range in size from Single farmhouses, to small hamlets (a group of buildings), villages,towns and cities.

Site- The actual land the settlement is built on.

Location- Describes where it is in relation to its surroundings.e.g Other settlements, Roads, Rivers.

Site Factors:

Defensive (easy to defend e.g hilltop)

Wet point ( has water supply)

Bridging point( the point where a river could be easily crossed)

Settlement Hierarchy is an arrangement of settlements in order of their size and importance.

The Sphere of influence is the area from which people travel to uses its services

Low Order-Bought frequently, often daily, may be perishable, found near home.e.g Bread, Milk,Newspaper

Middle Order-Bought or used less often; weekly or monthly, willing to travel further to buy.e.g Clothes, cosmetics, hairdressers, cinema

High Order-Bought or used seldom, once a year or less, durable (long lasting), willing to travel a long distance to obtain these. e.g Furniture, theater, Christmas shopping

The range is the maximum distance people travel to obtain a service

The threshold is the maximum number of people needed to ensure that a service will be able to stay in business

The function of a settlement is its main economic activity e.g port, market town, mining town or tourist resort. Large settlements near the top of the hierarchy will have more than one function.

Central Business District

Shops, Offices, Entertainment

Easy access by bus, train,car

Land is expensive because space is limited, so people build sky scrappers.

Inner City

Some buildings old, run down and boarded up, waiting to be redeveloped

Some former housing converted into small offices

Large houses divided up for student housing.

Surburban residential

Some Victorian terraced housing closest to CBD

Semi-detached housing with gardens built in 1920s and 1930s

Detached houses with gardens and garages, furthest away from CBD

Industrial zones

Old industries close to the docks, railways or canals and to terraced housing for workers

Modern single story factories on the edges of the city, on the cheaper land and close to the motorways for transport

The rural-urban fringe

a zone mixed urban and rural land use

space available for a golf course, waste recycling centre, hospital or airport

Problems of litter, vandalism or planning blight cause farmland to be underused.

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