1. Urban Settlements Achievement Standard 91241 2.2 Year 12 Geography
NCEA Level 2
Urban Settlements
Achievement Standard 91241
2.2

2. Vocabulary Urban Concentration Rural Function Settlement Hinterland
Continuum
Cumulative causation
Migration
Sprawl
Gentrification
Urbanisation
Social
Concentration
Function
Hinterland
Characteristics
Fortified
Civilisation
Evolved
Land-use
Urban renewal
Economic

3. 2 Main Ideas
Characteristics of an urban settlement –location, size, land-use, form and function, and social, economic and structural patterns
Processes that influence an urban settlement: migration, sprawl, urbanisation, planning, gentrification, urban renewal, industrial growth or decline and transport changes

4. What is an Urban Settlement?
Distinct centers of population concentration with a defined form and several functions (with boundaries around it)
They perform social and economic functions which influence areas beyond their urban boundaries (they interact with a wider hinterland, e.g. Christchurch and Canterbury)
They grow or decline at different times as result of the cultural processes that cause changes
Can be towns, cities and mega-cities (megaloplis)
Individual farmhouses, hamlets and villages are rural settlements (there are more of these and less of the urban)
They are distinctly different from non-populated or sparsely populated areas

5. The Urban Continuum
Hamlets
Individual
Farmhouses
Villages
Towns
Megalopolis
Cities

6. a location, surrounded by a
There is a
concentration
of people in
a location, surrounded by a
rural hinterland
area

7. The concentration
of people is
within borders or
confines so that
it has a defined
form or shape

8. Social & economic functions are performed within this form,
e.g. businesses, factories, schools, transport,
housing etc.

9. A focul point
exists in the
centre, CBD

10. Concentration of People
Function
Focal
Point
(CBD)
Form
Concentration of People

11. Shape and Form
Urban Settlements are different sizes, shapes and forms because of natural and cultural factors operating.
Physical features such as rivers, mountains and ports limit or determine shape
Cultural factors like immigration, natural increase, perception and improvements in technology and accessibility also affect the size

12. 3 main ways Urban patterns are described:
- Economic – commercial (shops), business functions, finance centres, industrial areas
- Social – residential and institutional functions and patterns of schools, hospitals, parks
-Structural – Infrastructural networks and patterns of power, water, gas, rail, roads, ports

13. Urban Settlements Throughout History
10,000 years ago, the first so called urban settlements developed when humans settled in one place, domesticated animals and began farming crops, ending the hunting/gathering nomadic lifestyle

14. Permanent dwellings were built, people began to specialise in work and other functions - potters, farmers, carpenters etc, and a system of trade began.

15. 5,500 years ago, first cities developed in Iraq (Babylon, Bam, Ur) and Egypt (Thebes and Memphis)

16. Hydraulic cities, inland and river based, developed in China (An-Yang) and in the Indus Valley (Mohenjo-Daro)
Civilisation began with cities, to be civilised means to have cities

17. Early cities were usually fortified (castle or Pa style), but also needed access to fresh water & resources, good climate (not too extreme) and trade routes for growth

18. Later Cities
Early cities had a central religious focus, populations of 10,000 – 100,000 people, and were governed by religious leaders or officers appointed by religious leaders

19. Ancient cities like Athens and Rome were Port based relying on trade and control of other settlements for growth

20. Medieval Cities in Europe were dominated by the Holy Roman Catholic Church and its associated laws and systems, trade suffered, they were overcrowded, unsanitary, isolated, small (30,000 – 50,000) and few in number

21. 1000s (11th C) large trade cities developed (Hamburg) to trade with larger existing cities like London and Venice. People moved to cities for the opportunity to trade, and for new technologies and foreign trading items with the East.
Trade eventually overshadowed the church, new kingdoms emerged and technology led to the Industrial revolution and the Industrial City.
Later cities, as we know them, have evolved, becoming larger, more complex and having a lot of functions

22. Industrial Cities
Many were medieval cities that grew larger (1 – 10 million)
Others, like Manchester (UK) emerged due to their proximity to resources like iron ore, coal and water
Factories attracted workers and populations boomed
Hastily built housing developed into slums with unsanitary conditions
Crime, pollution and grime increased so wealthy people built on the edges of cities to avoid the worst bits of the city
Transport was limited to walking for most (some cars around and rail was underdeveloped) so people lived close to where they worked, working class and merchant class became evident

23. Edinburgh and older industrial cities maps – wealthy sections and old dirty sections

24. Cities like Chicago, Auckland and Singapore emerged after the industrial revolution and have grid patterns of streets and blocks and distinct industrial, residential and port zones.

25. Mega Cities / Megalopolis
A recent development where large cities sprawl into each other like BosNYWash (Boston, New York and Washington) or Tokohama (Tokyo and Yokohama)

26. Mexico City has a population of 16 million people and together with other third world huge cities and the megacities, are the most recent developments of human urban settlement development

27. Characteristics of Urban Settlements
All urban settlements are different, but people have come up with models as a guide to understanding urban settlement characteristics.
Characteristics can include shape, form, interactions, functions and economical, social and structural patterns
The hinterland is the area surrounding the urban settlement

28. Christaller – Central Place Model
Urban Settlements influence and are influenced by their hinterlands
An economic model that relies on the maximum distance people will travel to trade (range) and the minimum amount of trade a business needs to survive (threshold)
A larger urban settlement like a city is more accessible to more people (people will travel far to go to one) and it also has more functions (tertiary education, hospital etc) than a smaller urban settlement, such as a town.
Smaller towns often make up the hinterland of a larger city (Christchurch has Rangiora, Kaiapoi, Rolleston as satellite towns that provide smaller functions to a rural community, but for larger functions (hospitals, shopping malls etc ) people will travel to Christchurch)

29. Christaller Diagram

30. Urban Hierarchy
Develops Christaller’s model further
The larger the place the more services and functions it provides therefore the more important it is
There are less large cities with a full range of specialist services (luxury car showrooms, specialist shops, range of healthcare options etc) and more smaller towns that offer low order, (dairy, butcher, garage but no high school or hospital for e.g.)
People will travel much further even if it is not very often in order to gain access to a specialist service than they will for a lower order service like a bottle of milk
A large city can have several towns as its hinterland or it can have whole regions (as Canterbury is to Christchurch), or nations (Auckland interacts with the rest of NZ) or even an international hinterland

31. Urban Hierarchy Diagram

32. Rank Size
Countries rank their cities in terms of size (population)
There is a rule which suggests that when you have ranked cities form highest to lowest (population) then the 2nd city should be half the size of the 1st one, the 3rd should be 1/3 the size of the 1st and the 4th one ¼ of the size and so on, which implies that a lower ranked city has fewer functions
This rule works best in industrialised, developed countries with large populations
Primacy
A primate city is one that dominates all others in terms of size, function, socially and economically.
Auckland is a primate city, it has over 1,000,000 people & then Wellington has less than 500,000 people
Often occurs in developing countries, small countries & or when a country has a colonial past

33. Rank Size Diagram

34. Linearity
Not all relationships between cities are centrally based
A linear pattern can occur when port cities are settled first and then more settlements are developed as people push inland
A line pattern develops as a result of roads, telephone and rail lines & is often influenced by physical features such as mountains or rivers
A transfer city is often settled between the port and the other linear towns to distribute goods from the port city to the country (rural settlements) and the raw materials form the rural settlements to the port for export (as Hamilton is the transfer city for Auckland).

35. Linearity Diagram

36. Burgess Model - Concentric Zone Model
Zones of land use radiating out from the CBD (central business district)

38. Case Study 1: Christchurch, NZ

40. Case Study 2: London, UK