Settlement Pattern

ORIGINS OF SETTLEMENTS
Religious - graves, churches, temples
Cultural - schools, libraries
Political/Military - leaders house,

walls
Economic - stores, food

Population and Density (Basic

Element)
The population is not

distributed evenly across

village, town, city, region, and
Country
Settlement patterns are also

vary enormously form large

Population
Distribution
Pop. Distribution the pattern of

where people live in a region or

country.

Two types
Dispersed people are spread out,

example: in an agricultural area

Concentrated people are close
together, example: in a city
Linear concentrated patterns exist
when populations are concentrated
in a line, example: along a major

Population Density vs. Distribution

Pop. Density measures how many

people per square kilometer of land.

Pop. Distribution looks at the

patterns.

Same population density but different

distributions

Types of Settlement Patterns

Rural settlement outside of cities

and towns, low pop. density and

dispersed distribution
Urban settlement in cities and

towns, high pop. density and

concentrated distribution

Rural Settlement
The patterns are effected by three factors
The resources found in the area
The transportation methods that were

available at the time of original

settlement
The role that the government played

Urban Settlement
Patterns
After the Agricultural Revolution there was a

surplus of food therefore not everyone needed

to farm
Instead specialized jobs became more
prevalent, example milling grain
It made sense for job specialist to live in one
area, hence a city formed
Goods and services in the cities are traded
for agricultural products from the surrounding
areas
The area that a city trades with is called its hinterland

DEVELOPMENT OF URBAN
SETTLEMENTS
Athens - first city over 100,000
by the 5th century BC over 300,000
Rome - center of an empire 200 BC-400 AD
all roads lead to Rome
Paris, London, Vienna - all old Roman

sites
Mid-Evil Europe - after the fall of Rome
urbanization decreased
patterns of castles, walls & narrow streets
compact space surrounded by walls

Renaissance-Baroque Cities
Renaissance 15-16th centuries
Baroque 16-18th centuries
development of wide avenues &

monuments
Paris & London rebuilt, Washington D.C.
Industrial City
19th century to present
city designed around industry and

transportation
most modern cities

Distance Between Cities

Determined by two factors
Population density low density

= towns that are far apart

Transportation if main mode of

transport was walking then towns

would need to be closer together.

Definition of the City

Physical Definition of the City - Non-

rural settlement that is, built up,

economically functional, has a local
government, and a legal boundary.
Environmental Definition of the City
urban dust domes
(defined by pollution)
heat island
(defined by increased temperatures)

Growth of the City

Skyscrapers - using vertical space
intensive use of land
shops at street level
professional

offices at higher

levels
Outward Expansion
advent of the automobile &
transportation routes
decline of public transport

URBAN PATTERNS
City Center
best known area, most visually
distinctive
San Francisco, London
original site of settlement
Central Business District
retail & office space
assessable
often a focal point with
skyscrapers

Zones in Transition
mixed use with light industry
transition from business to residential
older neighborhoods (slums)
home to ethnic groups not culturally
integrated
ghettos vs. ethnic neighborhood
Suburbs
residential
nodes of retail services

Three Models of Urban

Structure
Created to help explain where

different types of people tend to

live in an urban area

All three were created using

Chicago as the model

1. Concentric Zone Model
2. Sector Model
3. Multiple Nuclei Model

Concentric Zone Model

Created 1923 Sociologist E. W.
Burgess
Def.- a model of the internal
structure of cities in which social
groups are spatially arranged in a
series of rings

continued

5 zones
1. CBD central business district
Innermost ring- concentration
of non-residential activities
2. Zone in Transition
Industry and poorer-quality
housing
Often subdivided apartment
houses
Often filled by immigrants

continued
3. Zone of Working Class Homes
Modest older houses occupied

by stable families
4. Zone of Middle Class Homes
Newer and more spacious
homes
5. Commuters Zone
Area of people who dont live in
city where they work

Concentric Zone Model- Burgess

Sector Model
Created in 1939 by economist Homer
Hoyt
Def. a model of internal structure of

cities in which social groups are

arranged around a series of sectors,
or wedges, radiating out from the CBD
Certain areas of cities are more
attractive for various activities
Due to chance or environmental

factors originally

continued
As city grows, activities spread outward in

wedges/sectors from the center

Once a high rent housing district is

established, the more expensive new

housing grows on the outer edge of that
sector
Best housing found in a corridor
extending from downtown to outer edge
of city

Industrial and retail activities develop in

other sectors - usually along good

transportation lines

Sector Model - Hoyt

Multiple Nuclei Model

Created in 1945 by geographers C. D.
Harris and E. L. Ullman
Def.- a model of internal structure of
cities in which social groups are
arranged around a collection of
nodes of activities
Cities are complex and include
more than one center around which
activities revolve
Ex. Ports, neighborhood business
centers, universities, airports,

continued

Some activities are attracted to

particular nodes, whereas others try

to avoid them
Bookstores and pizza joints tend to
cluster around Universities
Hotels and warehouses around
airports
High-class housing rarely in same
neighborhood as manufacturing

Multiple Nuclei Model

Harris and Ullman