Chapter 12 Services

What are services? Service: Space: Locating a service Any activity that fulfills a human want or need and returns money to those who provide it Space: Where services are located in space, creates a link between services and settlements Rural villages to megalopolis Why services are clustered??? Proximity to market Optimal location for services is near customers Locating a service Uses more precise geographic skills than Industry Tend to be specific places “location, location, location” Distribution must be where people live Also driven by socio-economic factors

Where did Services Originate? Services provided in all societies In MDCs majority of workers engaged in the provision of services North America 3/4th of workers in services % in LDCs less than 1/4th Services provide more than 2/3rd of the GDP in MDCs Less than ½ in LDCs Three types of services: Consumer services Business services Public services

Types of Services Consumer Services Types: Definition: purpose to provide services to individual consumers who desire them and can afford to pay them Nearly 44% of jobs in US are in consumer services Types: Retail and Wholesale Services 15% of jobs in US Department stores, grocers, clothing Education Services 10% of jobs in US Health Services 12% of jobs Health care, primarily hospitals, nursing homes Leisure and Hospitality Services 10% of jobs Restaurants and bars, lodging and entertainment

Business Services Definition: Types: Professional Services Purpose is to facilitate other businesses 24% of all jobs in US Types: Financial services 6% of US jobs Called “Fire” for financial, insurance, real estate Financial = banks Professional Services 12% of US jobs Technical services: law, accounting, architecture, engineering, design, and consulting Support Services: clerical, secretarial, custodial Transportation and Information Services Businesses that diffuse and distribute 6% of US jobs Transportation Mainly trucking Can also include: Publishing/ broadcasting Utilities such as water and electricity

Public Services Definition: Purpose is to provide security and protection for citizens and businesses 17% of jobs in US Mainly Federal government, state, or local government

Changes in number of employees Between 1972 and 2009 All growth in service sector Decline in employment in primary and secondary jobs Business Services Expanded in professional services most rapidly Engineering, management, law Grew more slowly in finance and transportation services Mainly due to improved efficiency Consumer services Rapid increase in health care Including nursing homes and home-health care Other large increases in Education, Entertainment, recreation Public services Declined over past two decades

Services in Contemporary Rural Settlements Before establishment of Permanent settlements people lived as nomads At some point, people decided to build permanent settlements Were they established because of need to services? Based on archeological studies settlements built first for consumer and public services Later came business services

Early Consumer Services Earliest permanent settlements may have been established to offer consumer services Specifically burial of the dead By 5,000 years ago many settlements existed Settlements also may have been places to house families People also needed tools, clothing, shelter, containers, fuel, and other material goods Settlements became manufacturing centers The variety of consumer services expanded as people began to specialize

Early Public Services Public services probably followed religious activities into early permanent settlements Everyone in settlement vulnerable to attack so some members became soldiers Settlement likely was a good base from which the group could defend nearby food sources against competitors Might build wall around settlement for extra protection Settlements became citadels Centers for military power

Early Business Services Everyone in settlements needed food Initially brought in through hunting and gathering What about extra supply? Led to storage Settlements also became a place where people could trade goods and services Eventually led to record keeping, currency system, and setting fair prices

Services in Early Urban Settlements Services in Ancient Cities Earliest Urban settlements First documented ones in Mesopotamia Ur, Uruk Evidence suggests that cities were well-planned

Services in Early Urban Settlements Ancient Rome Rise of Roman Empire encouraged urban settlement Settlements established as centers of administrative, military, and other public services As well as retail and consumer services Trade encourages through transportation With fall of Rome, urban settlements declined Trade diminished Ancient Athens First Mediterranean settlements established 2500 B.C.E. Oldest include Knossos, Troy, and Mycenae Trading centers for thousands of islands Organized into city-states Athens Largest city-state Provide consumer services and cultural activities

Services in Early Urban Settlements Urban life revived in 11th century Europe Feudal lords established new urban settlements Feudalism Rise of small towns to facilitate trade by 14th century Large Medieval urban settlements served as power centers for lords and church leaders Most important services in town square Church, palaces

Key issue #2- Where are contemporary services located? Services are clustered in settlements Rural Settlements Centers of agriculture Provide small amount of services Urban Settlements Centers for consumer and business services

Services in Rural Settlements A clustered rural settlement is a place where a number of families live in close proximity to each other A dispersed rural settlement is characterized by farmers living on individual farms isolated from neighbors Typical in North America

Clustered Rural Settlements Typically includes homes, barns, tool sheds, and other farm structures Includes consumer services such as religious structures, schools, and shops May have a handful of business services Often these settlements are called a hamlet or village

Circular Rural Settlements Circular form consists of a central open space surrounded by structures Example: kraal villages Enclosures for livestock in center, surrounded by ring of houses Example: German Gewanforf settlements Consists of core of houses, barns, and churches, encircled by different types of agricultural activities Von Thunen observed this in his agricultural studies

Linear Rural Settlements Comprise of buildings clustered along a road, river or dike to facilitate communications Fields extend behind the buildings in long, narrow strips Can be seen today along St. Lawrence River in Quebec French long-lot system Houses erected along river Narrow lots established perpendicular to river so that each settler had access to river

Colonial American Clustered Settlements New England built clustered settlements centered on an open area called a common Settlers grouped their homes and public buildings around common In addition to houses, each settler had a home of 1 to 5 acres Contained barn, garden, and enclosures for feeding livestock Favored for several reasons: Settlers typically traveled in groups Colonists wanted to live close together To protect from Indian attacks Outsiders could only obtain land by permission of the town’s residents Contemporary New England landscape contains remnants of the old clustered rural settlement patterns

Dispersed Rural Settlements United States Middle colonies settled by more heterogeneous groups than New England Led to land being bought individually Dispersed pattern spread to Mid-West and later New England Worked better with larger populations People less interested in religious and cultural values Great Britain Converted to improve agricultural production Led to enclosure movement Consolidated individual land into one large farm Brought efficiency but destroyed village life Coincided with Industrial Revolution Outside of New England, dispersed rural settlements were more common in the American colonies In New England and Great Britain, clustered rural settlements were converted to a dispersed pattern Many disadvantages to clustered pattern Farmers lost time moving between fields Villagers had to build more roads to connect smaller lots Farmers were restricted in what they could plant

Services in Urban Settlements Population of urban settlements exceeded that of rural settlements for the 1st time in human history in 2008 1800- 3% 1850- 6% 1900- 14% 1950- 30% 2000- 47%

Services in Urban Settlements Differences between urban and rural settlements Differences identified by Louis Wirth in 1900s Defined cities by three characteristics Wirth argued these characteristics produced differences in the social behavior of urban and rural residents Large size Rural – small Urban- medium/ large High density Rural- low pop density Urban- high pop density Only way people can be supported is through specialization Social heterogeneity The larger the settlement the greater diversity of the people

Increasing # of people in cities MDCs have a higher % of urban residents BUT LDCs have very large urban settlements Eight of the ten most populous cities are in LDCs Buenos Aires, Dehli, Dhaka, Calcutta, Mexico City, Mumbai, Sao Paolo and Shanghai Fueled by people migrating from countryside for economic opportunities Also connected to high natural increase rates Process by which the population of urban settlements grows is called urbanization Two dimensions Increase in number of people living in cities Increase in the % of people living in the cities Distinction important because they occur for different reasons and have different global distributions Large % of people living in cities reflects a country’s level of development