Settlements

And urbanisation

History of settlements

• Previous to settlement people migrated (nomads, hunter/gatherers)

• Settlement is connected to the invention of agriculture

• This allowed for the diversification of labour• People developed mutually supportive

communites• This gave rise to the first civilizations

Location • Location is

dependent upon the needs of a settlement

• This depends upon when and who built the settlement

• Eg. resources– Communication– Agriculture– Governance

Agricultural settlements (pre-industrial)

• Question: what are the factors influencing rural settlements?

• Water supply• Sites that do not flood• Fertile land for farming and grazing• Fuels and building materials• Defense

Larger settlements• Grew around :• Communications eg. bridges• Centres of government• Religious centres

Industrial settlements• Grew around:• Fuel deposits eg coal• Mineral deposits eg iron ore• communications

Post-industrial settlements

• Grew around:• Communications• Accessible workforces• Tourist attractions• Education and research

facilities

• Can you suggest why these forms develop?

Some examples of settlement functions

• Market towns:• http://www.scalloway.org.uk/sett5.htm

• Ports:• http://www.scalloway.org.uk/sett6.htm

• Industrial towns:• http://www.scalloway.org.uk/sett7.htm

• Seaside towns:• http://www.scalloway.org.uk/sett8.htm

Sphere of influence

• Services: how far people are prepared to travel for the service

• Higher the order = greater the distance• Settlements and their accumulated services

also have a sphere of influence• Larger settlements often have more services

and therefore a greater sphere of influence

Urban zones

1. Central Business District

2. Light manufacturing

3. Low class residential

4. Medium class residential

5. High class residential

CBD

Bid rent theory

• Value of land usually decreases with distance from CBD

• The most valueble point is the PLVI (Peak Land Value Intersection)

• Indications:– Clusters of businesses; chain stores, banks, cinemas– Very few residences– Many tall buildings (unless local laws prohibit these)– Nodes of communication (train, tube and bus stations)– Roads focus on moving towards this point

The inner city• Old factories (converted) and housing• Mostly narrow streets, some larger, little open space• Grid pattern (where not medieval)• Before: empty buildings, derelict land, social and economic

problems*• Now: much redevelopment in these areas in the last 50 years

(brownfield sites)*• Many areas redeveloped and status has been raised

(gentrification)• Air polution once a problem, now reduced

*depends upon where

The suburbs

Suburban street plan

• There are many cultural variations• Layouts vary with time and/or fashion

Medieval street pattern

• Generally unplanned• Often follows

topography or older systems of land ownership

• Typical in the centre of most European cities

Grid street pattern

• Planned cities• Cuts through

topography• Either on new land or

remodelled medieval cities

• Even ancient Greek cities were planned grids

Phases of grid plans

• Ancient Greece and Rome– Part of the ”birth of civilization”

• Renaisence European cities– Rediscovery of ancient Greece/Rome

• 19th and 20th century American cites– Due to Modernism

Models

• As we have seen, simple models can be drawn that explain the layout of settlements

• They divide areas into different land uses• They are used to explain the social layout of

settlements• This can be of help when planning and re-

developing cities in the future

The concentric ring model (Burgess)

• Also known as the zonal model

• Typical for American and European industrial cities

• city grows around the CBD• Factories and low class near

the centre (transition zone)• As industries have moved out

this has led to the degeneration of city centres

• Followed by urban regeneration

The sector model (Hoyt)

• Still centres around CBD• City grows outward in sectors

following routes of transportation e.g. Main roads, rail and subways

• Better access and physical environment = higher land value (bid rent theory)

• Physical features may dictate shape/growth

• Limitations: the model was developed before widespread car ownership

Multiple nuclei model (Harris/Ullman)

• Modified sector model• Increased car ownership

leads to specialization of certain areas

• Smaller CBDs may develop in larger cities

• This forms nodes – collections of businesses around certain functions

Core–frame theory

• This looks more closely at the structure of the CBD• CBD is divided into an inner core and an outer frame

The inner core

• Most intensive land use• Contains the most valueble real estate• Buildings often tall – fit more space into the

same area• Department stores, larger banks, high-rise

offices• Some specialist shops

The outer frame

• Part of CBD with less intensive land use• Higher degree of residential buildings• Smaller shops, cinemas, theatres• Further out: car sales, parking, light industry,

transport terminals (may be in the core if underground e.g. in Stockholm)

Zone of discard

• An area that has lost its CBD status and gone into decline

• Low status shops• Warehouses• Vacant properties

Zone of assimilation

• An area that the CBD is expanding towards• Characterized by redevelopment and

restoration and rising status