Settlements and Service Provision
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Nucleated settlements
Buildings are clustered closely together around a central point.
Most villages and towns in England have a nucleated pattern — look for a central feature like a green or crossroads.
Nucleated settlements — Key Knowledge
- Nucleated buildings grouped together
- Develops at crossroads, river crossings, around a water source or church
- Reasons defence, shared resources, social interaction
Linear settlements
Buildings are strung out in a line, usually along a road, river or valley.
Common in steep valleys where flat land is only available on the valley floor.
Linear settlements — Key Knowledge
- Linear buildings arranged in a line
- Develops along main roads, rivers, narrow valleys, coastlines
- Reasons transport route, limited flat land in a valley, coastal strip
Dispersed settlements
Buildings are spread out over a wide area with no obvious centre.
Common in upland areas and regions with poor soil or harsh climate.
Dispersed settlements — Key Knowledge
- Dispersed buildings scattered apart
- Develops where poor farmland, isolated water sources, large farm holdings
- Reasons each farm needs lots of land, limited resources spread thinly
Settlement site factors
The site is the actual piece of land a settlement is built on. Certain features make a good site.
Site refers to the land itself; situation refers to the settlement's position relative to surrounding features.
Settlement site factors — Key Knowledge
- Water supply river, spring — essential for drinking and farming
- Flat land easier to build on
- Defence hilltop, inside a river meander, island
- Fertile soil for growing food
- Shelter from prevailing wind and flooding
- Building materials wood, stone
- Above flood level safe from river flooding
Settlement functions
The function of a settlement is its main purpose or economic activity.
Many settlements have changed function over time — e.g. former mining towns becoming tourist destinations.
Settlement functions — Key Knowledge
- Market town centre of trade for surrounding area
- Port located on coast or navigable river for trade
- Mining town grew around mineral extraction
- Resort tourism-based — coastal or scenic
- Administrative centre government, councils
- Route centre where transport routes meet
Settlement hierarchy
Settlements can be ranked by size and the services they provide.
There are many hamlets but few cities — the hierarchy is a pyramid shape.
Settlement hierarchy — Key Knowledge
- Hierarchy order hamlet → village → town → city → conurbation
- Moving up the hierarchy population increases, number of services increases, range of services increases, number of settlements decreases, spacing between settlements increases
Low-order and high-order services
Services are ranked by how often they are used and how far people travel to reach them.
People don't travel far for low-order services but will travel a long way for high-order ones.
Low-order and high-order services — Key Knowledge
- Low-order services used frequently, found in small settlements — corner shop, post office, primary school
- High-order services used less often, found in larger settlements — hospital, university, department store, cathedral
Sphere of influence
The area surrounding a settlement from which people travel to use its services.
A city's sphere of influence can cover hundreds of kilometres; a village's may cover just a few.
Sphere of influence — Key Knowledge
- Sphere of influence the catchment area served by a settlement
- Larger settlements have a larger sphere of influence more and higher-order services attract people from further away
- Overlapping spheres nearby settlements may compete for customers
Threshold population
The minimum number of people needed to support a particular service or business.
This explains why you find corner shops in villages but department stores only in cities.
Threshold population — Key Knowledge
- Threshold population minimum customers needed to keep a service viable
- Low-order services have a low threshold a corner shop needs few customers
- High-order services have a high threshold a hospital needs a large population to justify its cost
Case study required
The spec requires a named example of settlement and service provision.
The case study should show how settlement patterns, hierarchy and services relate in a real location.
Case study required — Key Knowledge
- Settlement and service provision in an area
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Settlements and Service Provision
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