Download - Settlements and urbanisation
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