Q. What is settlement hierarchy?

(A list/diagram to show) settlements arranged in size/importance/order or a

list of settlements in order of size/importance or settlements arranged in
levels/rank order.

Services
The shops and services in a settlement provide the local population with its
needs. The larger a settlement, the more services are needed to provide
for the population. The diagram opposite suggests a hierarchy based upon
the services in settlements of different sizes.
  Convenience (low order) – goods shops which sell the necessities,
basic foodstuffs for example bread, meat and vegetables which must
be purchased frequently. These goods have a low range as
customers are not prepared to travel far to obtain them. Convenience
goods shops have a low threshold population; this is the minimum
number of customers needed for a shop for it to be successful. They
are most likely to be situated in small local centres.
 Comparative (high order) – goods shops and specialist stores
(department stores) on the other hand, sell both consumer durable
goods which are bought less frequently such as furniture and
electrical goods. Comparative shops tend to group together in large
centres. Both categories of shops, however, offer high order goods
and services which have a wider range and higher threshold
population than convenience goods stores. So therefore comparative
stores compete for the more beneficial sites in the larger shopping
centres in a town.

The following types of services can be identified:

 Local centre – this is the lowest order centre and consists of a small
group of low order shops selling convenience goods.
 Neighbourhood centre –there are likely to be a few specialist stores
but convenience goods shops will predominate.
 Community or district centres - there is a higher proportion of
specialist stores selling goods and services with a wider range
because people are prepared to travel farther to obtain them.
 Regional centre – Comparative goods and specialist stores
predominate and convenience goods are confined to cheap and
inferior sites on the edge of the shopping centre.

Sphere of influence

The sphere of influence is the area served by a settlement. The larger the
settlement, the greater the number and variety of shops and services and
the wider the area from which people have to travel to use the centre.
London’s sphere of influence is the whole country, Newcastle and Leeds
serve local regions, market towns serve smaller villages and farms in the
area and a village only serves itself.
Smaller settlements tend to have fewer shops and services than larger
settlements. As they just might have convenience goods stores, which
provide low-order such as small supermarkets. But in larger settlement
there are more shops and services for example as well as convenience
goods stores they also have, department stores and specialist shops which
provide a whole variety of goods and services and this is called high-order.
The types of goods and services are linked to the following:
1. The threshold population – the minimum number of people required
to support a service so that it remains profitable.
2. The range of goods – the maximum distance people are prepared to
travel to use a shop or service.

Functions of a settlement
The function of a settlement is its purpose, why it is there and the “work”
that it does. It can be assessed by looking at the occupational structure of
the settlement.
 Towns with a balance occupational structure – no single employment
group dominates e.g. Manchester
 Fishing towns – fishing employs over 5% of the workers in the town
e.g. Peterhead
 Engineering town – engineering employs 15% of workers in the town
e.g. Birmingham
 Resort towns – personal service and entertainment employ over 20%
of workers in the town e.g. Blackpool
 Commercial towns – Commerce and finance form the largest single
group, employing over 10% of workers e.g. London
Q. What is the general relationship shown by Fig. 3 between:

the size of population and the number of services;

-– larger settlements have more services/more people mean more services/there is a positive
relationship.

the size of population and number of settlements?

-– larger the population the less settlements/there is an inverse/negative relationship.

Q. Describe three ways in which the type of services in a large town are likely to differ from those in a
village?

Ans- services in a lerge town are likely to be:

Higher order services,

More specialists/ more comparison/ less convenience stores,

Be larger in size/ larger shopping centres,

Have greater variety/ choice,

They are more advanced/ sophisticated,

( comparative eg. Department store compared with general store, secondary school compared with
primary etc,)
Q(b) Study Photographs A, B and C (Insert), which show three different types of shops in the Central
Business District (CBD) of Madrid, the capital city of Spain (MEDC).

(i) For each photograph state whether it shows a specialist shop, a convenience store or a comparison
shop.

Photograph A- comparison (shop)

Photograph B.specialist (shop)

Photograph C- convenience( shop)

(ii) Explain why shops and services in the CBD of a capital city may have a large sphere of influence.

Ans-(ii) Ideas such as:

they are high order services/goods;

they are specialist/they sell comparison goods;

people travel a long way to use them/large range;

as there are none available where they live/villages do not have these services;

they may use them infrequently/goods are high cost;

they are easily accessible/centrally located;

other high order services or tourist sites or work places are available nearby;

they use advertising; wide variety of goods/large in size;

services are more advanced/sophisticated/high quality goods, etc.

(iii) In many CBDs there are pedestrian zones.

Explain the benefits and problems of pedestrian zones.

Ans- (iii) Benefits such as:

safer shopping environment/no danger from cars;

less atmospheric pollution/exhaust fumes;

less noise from vehicles;

easier access for disabled people/wheelchair users;

aesthetically pleasing;

encourages walking which is healthy;

Problems such as:

more difficult access for delivery vehicles/emergency vehicles;

public transport stops may need to be more distant from shops/people may need to walk further;

no passing trade from road traffic;

people have to carry heavy shopping further to their cars/cannot park vehicles outside the shops;

creates traffic congestion elsewhere in the city, etc.

Q. Suggest reasons why redevelopment such as this has taken place in many cities.

Ideas such as:

attracts visitors/tourists/customers;

job creation;

modernise/replace outdated buildings;

previous buildings were in disrepair/were an eyesore;

to separate people from traffic/safety;

to create economic growth/attract investment;

to use a brownfield site/re-use derelict land;

improve the image of the area/makes the area look more attractive etc.

( The emphasis of the question is on why the redevelopment has taken place).
Q.Suggest three possible reasons for the growth of large settlements such as Uruapan.

Ans- Ideas such as:

• flat land/room for expansion;

• industry/factories/businesses;

• markets for surrounding area/trade from surrounding area;

• migration (from surrounding rural area);

• commercial/retail development;

• mining/raw materials/extraction of resources;

• meeting of roads/route centre/transport links meet together;

• central location; etc.

Q. To what extent is the area shown on Fig. 3 typical of a settlement hierarchy?

Explain your answer

Ans -Ideas such as:

It is typical of a hierarchy – reserve 1 mark;

• there are more small settlements/low order than large ones/high order;

• larger settlements are further away from each other than small ones/smaller ones are closer together;
• there is only one settlement over 200000 but there are 9–11 settlements of 10001 to 20000 people or
38–40 settlements between 2501 and 10000 people;

• alternatively could provide comparative examples of distances; •

( NB: Statistics must be comparative or could use terms such as most/least/many/few;)

Explain why people are prepared to travel further for some shops and services than others. Refer to
examples from Fig. 4.

Ideas such as;

• travel further for high order goods;

• it depends on the availability of the services;

• e.g. there are lots of shops selling bread (dev);

• so people will be able to buy it locally (dev);

• main leisure facilities may only be found in large urban areas;

• so have to travel to a nearby city to go to cinema (dev);

• for some goods people go further so they have a better choice/a wider variety of goods in some
shops;

• travel further for a better quality product;

• General frequency of use idea e.g. don’t go there very often so will travel further;

• travel further for a specialized shop not found near where they live;

• travel further for cheaper prices;

• travel further for expensive goods e.g. car; etc NB: Any example used properly is acceptable for
development.