LI LLIV)

Settlement Site and Situation

A settlement is a place where people live. Site is the physical landscape a setlement is built on.
Situation is the settlement location relative to the surrounding human environment (e.g. other
settlements and roads).

Site Factors determine Where a settlement is located

1) WATER SUPPLY

Many settlements grew up near a river or spring. Also, settlements

are often found at the base of chalk scarps where springs are found.
For example, the Romans were attracted to Havant in the South
Downs because it is sited on a chalk spring.

2) DRY LAND
Settlements are found onareas of higher land
away from marshy areas or areas prone to

JFlood
ooding.Example - Elyin
Cambridgeshire.

3) DEFENCE
Meander
Settlements were built on higher land. This gave a good
view of the surrounding area in case of atack. They are also
sometimes found in the meanders of rivers where the river
forms a natural barrier. Examples Cofe Castle in Dorset,
or Durham which lies in a meander of the River Wear.

4) BUILDING MATERIALS

Originally building would have been made of wood or stone, so villages rew up where
these were available. Wood was also important as fuel. Example–settlements in the
Forest of Dean.

5)GOODFARMING LAND
Thiswas essential to produce foodso many villages grew up in fertilelowlands -
examples are numerous, and include the Vale of Evesham.

6) ACCESSIBILITY and COMMUNICATION

These were essential -villages grew up at bridging points, crossroadsandgaps between

hills. Example- Fordingbridge in Hampshire.

Ihese site factors are no longer as important as they used to be. We can get round
any of them if we want to with the aid of modern technology. Eg, LasVegas is built
In an inhospitable deserteverything is transported in, from waler to golfballs.

Thing are changi

Inhos
nospitablesites aren't always an obstacle to settlementnowadays - look atLasVegas.
ur don't forogt that the vact maiority of settlements were affected by site.

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 Settlements can be Dispersed or Nucleated

NUCLEATED SETTLEMENTS occur where avillan:

ags
is clustered around a central point. They develon
dispersed
either where defence was important, around aa water
supply, or where co-operative farming (where
farmers pool their resources together to buythined
nucleated took place.
LINEAR SETTLEMENTS are where thesettlement
has a linear shape. Is usually follows a road, river
coastline, railway line, canal or valley oor.

linear DISPERSED SETTLEMENTS are those where the

individual buildings are spread out. Theydevelogei
where population was sparse and are common in
areas of hill farming where farms cover largeareas
The term dispersed is also commonly applied tothe
spread of settlements across a landscape aswellas
the shape of individual settlements.

Settlement Hierarchy
A hierarchy is a system of things that are ranked one above the other.
So the settlement hierarchy must be a rank order of settlements -easy.

Settlements are Ranked by Population Size

1) As settlement size increases, the number of
settlemernts decreases so there are many
villages, but few conurbations (large urban urbation
areas formed by cities and towns merging City
together).
Largetown
2) The diagram on the right shows a pattern, Increasing Increasing

insize |Small town innumbe

which is generally true, but be careful
Village
there are examples of cities which are
smaller than towns. Hamlet
|Isolated dwelling
3) The number of services provided in a
settlementincreases with settlement size. h
Large places provide high and low order
High ordergoodsandservices are specialistthingsthat
goods and services, small ones provide low
you don'tbuy /use veryoften, e.g.goods:carsandTVS
order goods and services. services: universities andhospitals.Lowordergoods
and services are things you buy/use often,eg.godsa
newspaperordrink, serices,postof ce.

The size of a settlement affects the number and availability ofservices

Site factors are similar to the factors in population distribution (p66-67).
Don't forget your terms site and situation, dispersed or nucleated.

SECTIONSIX -SETTLEMENT

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 The Settlement Hierarchy
Sphere of In uence is the Area a Settlement Affects
Sphereof in uence is the area that uses the goods, services, administration and
employment provided by a settlement. It also includes the areas that provide agricultural
produceand leisure facilities (such as country parks, golf courses etc.) for the settlement.

Asettlement's Size indicates its sphere of in uence

Smallsettlementshave small spheres of in uence because the goods andservicesthey

provideare low order (i.e. everyday stuff like bread, milk and newspapers). Large
settlementshavelarge spheres of in uence because they provide a wide variety of
servicesand high order goods as well as low order goods and services, and people will
travel further to use them.

village town |city|

1)Thevillagehas a small sphere of in uence it onlyprovidesloworder
(everyday) goods and services. There might be a post of ce, small shop or
primary school, but these are only used by the people of the village.
2) The town has a larger sphere of in uence. It provides higher order goods and
services for itself and for the surrounding villages. There will be shops selling
more expensive things, like furniture or TVs, that people don't buy so often.
3) The city has a very large sphere of in uence. It can be as big as the whole
cOuntry, or even larger for really big cities like London. The city provides the
biggestvariety of goods and services.

school post of ce
Spheres of in uence can be delivery area
catchment
measured by looking at the area TOWN
CENTRE
catchmentareas of schools,
shop delivery areas, hospital
areas and so on. area served
by hospital

Bigsettlements have a big sphere of in uence

Youmight see spheres of in uence described using hexagons in other books. You could
descri
SCribethem that way if you like, but it's a bit out-dated. This page has a more modern way.

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 The Function of Settlements
Settlementscan be Classi ed by Function
A settlement's function is its main economic activity most cities have more thanone.

1) ARETAILFUNCTION – when a settlement is the main shopping centre inthearea

Thesesettlements are easily accessible as they have to attract people from the
surrounding area. Preston is a good example people from the surroundingruralarez
are attracted to the city to shop.
2)ANINDUSTRIALTOWN OR CITY – where manufacturing is the mainemployer.
Many industrial towns are associated with a particular industry, and often itsbecausei
the availability of natural resources in the local area. For example, during theIndustil
Revolution the fast owing streams of the Pennines and the availability of coalandin
ore led to growth of cities like Manchester (cotton industry), Leeds (woollenindustyzd
She eld (steel industry).
3) PORTS are vital to international trade, and the UK's ports became importantplacesin
the 18th and 19h centuries. Ports like Bristol and Liverpool are still major cities because
of this history.
4) CULTURAL CENTRES and UNIVERSITY TOWNS Such as Bath or Oxford havea
reputation for a cultural or educational service.
5)RESORTS are holiday centres, usually on the coast. They have their own distint
characteristics and include Blackpool, Bournemouth and Margate. Resorts nedfaclitis
and services to cope with high numbers of temporary residents and thepermanent
resident population may be small.
6) ADMINISTRATIVE CENTRES Such as county towns employ a high number of civilsenat
and are the centres of local government. For example, Liverpool is theadministrative
centre of Merseyside.

Settlement Function can Change over time

Settlements change for individual reasons, but the causes can be summarised into
threecategories.
Decline of manufacturing industry (e.g. shipbuilding in
Industrial Glasgow) because of cheaper goods being imported.
Change
Old retail centres decline due to the growing numberof
out-of-town retail parks and supermarkets.

Change in
Environmental policy has encouraged development of 'bron
Planning
eld' sites. These are sites of industry, retail or housesthatareno
Policy
|derelict and disused. (Eg. redevelopment of the LiverpoolDods

Social Increased wealth and travel has meant a decline in tourismin

Change Some places (e.g. Morecambe-Britain) and anincreasein
tourism in other places (e.g. former shing villages in Spaim

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