Categorising Settlements

Settlement Patterns

• A settlement is a place where people live and carry out various activities, such as trade, manufacturing, and agriculture.
• Settlements can be categorized based on their pattern, shape, site, situation, function, and hierarchy.

Factors Influencing Settlements

• Population change, technological developments, changing lifestyles, and expanding urban limits affect modern-day settlement patterns.
• The rise of megacities and urban sprawl contributes to changes in settlement patterns.

Settlement Patterns

• Settlements come in different shapes and sizes, ranging from isolated buildings in rural regions to urban megacities.
• Urban areas, such as towns, cities, conurbations, and megacities, are typically densely populated over a smaller area.
• Rural towns and fringe areas are densely populated over a larger area.
• Villages and hamlets have a lower population density and smaller settled areas.

Physical Geography and Settlement Patterns

• The physical geography of an area dictates settlement patterns.

Form or Shape of Settlements

• The form or shape of a settlement refers to its layout.
• Linear settlements develop along a physical feature, such as a river, railway, or major road, to attract trade.
• Circular settlements grow around a central feature, like a village green or lake, and are organized to maintain accessibility.
• Star-form settlements occur when several roads meet, and houses are built along those roads.
• T-form settlements arise when one road meets another at a junction.
• Y-form settlements develop where two roads meet, and houses are built along those routes.
• Cruciform settlements occur at crossroads, and houses cluster and spread in all directions.

Dispersed Settlements

• Dispersed settlements consist of isolated houses or farms set in fields or along roads, rather than concentrated in one area.
• They are found in sparsely populated rural areas, such as the Sahel region of Africa, the Australian outback, or mountainous regions of Scotland and Wales.
• The break-up of large rural estates led to dispersed settlements in England during the 16th and 17th centuries.
• Dispersed settlements also occur where the physical geography is extreme, discouraging settlement and development.

Linear Settlements

• Linear settlements form when settlements group and form a line along a physical feature, such as a river or a trade and transport route.

Nucleated Settlements

• Nucleated settlements form when settlements tightly cluster around a central feature, such as a village green, a crossroad, or a church.
• They are usually called hamlets or villages, depending on their size and function.
• Nucleated settlements develop due to defence, trade, co-operative community, agriculture, water, work, or floodplain safety reasons.