Settlement Patterns

geographyrocks.ca/notes/Settlement%20Patterns.ppt, Craig Marlatt.com, Muston

• Canada’s population is not distributed evenly
across Canada.

• Settlement patterns in Canada vary enormously

– form large cities to rural areas.
 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
highway.
• Pop. Density measures how many people per
square kilometer of land.
• Pop. Distribution looks at the patterns.

Dispersed/Scattered Linear Concentrated

Same population density but different distributions

Population
Distribution of
Canada
 Urban and Rural Landscapes

1. Provinces and Territories

2. Where Do You Want to Live?
 CH 7 Rural Settlement Patterns

• Aboriginals – lived with nature – no need to divide

it up or cut down forests

• Europeans came – cut down forests, wanted to

set up farms
 Types of Settlement Patterns - Rural

• Rural – means any area has less than 1000

people
• If the town or village is > 1000 people it is called
an urban area

• settlement outside of cities and towns, low pop.

density and dispersed distribution

• COPY
 Types of Settlement Patterns - Urban

• Urban – settlement in cities and towns, high pop.

density and concentrated distribution
 Settlement patterns - Rural

• Three rural settlement patterns

– Long lots of Southern Quebec
– Concession in Southern Ontario
– Section system on the Prairies

• 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
 Quebec long –lot system

• Quebec long – lot system

• Developed along the St. Lawrence River, before
trains
• Transportation by water, fish, irrigation
• Long thin strips of land along the river to get
access to the river
• When a farmer died it would be divided among his
sons = this practice made very narrow farms
• Long Lots
 Ontario – Concession System

• Ontario –Township
• Surveyors used the St. Lawrence river, Lake
Ontario, Lake Erie, Lake Huron as the foundation
• Townships are areas of land divided up in a grid =
tend to be rectangular
• Strips of land called concessions were measured
off north of the baseline (drawn parallel to a lake)
• Concessions = roads
• Each concession divided into farms = lot
Ontario -Township
Aerial view of a farmland, Ontario, Canada
http://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://us.123rf.com/400wm/400/400/vividus/vividus0803/vividus080300109/2782748-aerial-view-of-a-farmland-ontario-
canada.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.123rf.com/photo_2782748_aerial-view-of-a-farmland-ontario-canada
 Section System of the Southern
Prairies

• This area was surveyed, using the section

system, before any settlement took place
• Section system
– Land was divided into blocks that were 9.6 km by 9.6
km (92 square kilometers in area)
– Each block of land was divided in to 36 sections
– Each section was then divided into 4 lots called
quarter sections
• Originally each land owner had one quarter
section, however in order to be successful they
soon realized that they would need to acquire
more land
 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
 Urban and Rural Interactions

• There has been significant movement of people in

Canada between urban and rural areas over time.
• In most cases, people in rural areas live in a
hamlet, village, or town. People in urban areas
live in a suburb, city, or metropolis.
• These different types of places to live are known
as the urban hierarchy (each one is a larger
settlement going up the line than the one before
it).
 Urban Hierarchy

hamlet village town suburb city metropolis

 Mega City

• Over 10 million
inhabitants
• There 19 mega cities in
the world today

South Asian megacity - Dhaka

http://www.dw.de/growing-risks
-facing-south-asias-mega
cities/a-5852359

Tokyo, Japan
 Delhi, India

Sao Paulo, Brazil

World Cities
 Urbanization

• Urbanization is the movement of people UP the

urban hierarchy. This has been the main
migration pattern of Canadians since the creation
of our country.
• The chart below illustrates the overall percentage
of Canada’s population living in rural and urban
areas.
Year % Rural % Urban
1853 15 85
1908 50 50
2001 85 15
 Urbanization

•Why did people leave the countryside to live in

the big cities?
– reduced need for farm labour
due to farm modernization
(e.g. tractors, jobs in
factories)
– improvements in mobility
(better transportation systems
reduces need for local stores)
– consolidation of goods &
services (most things one
needs has relocated to urban
areas)
 Counter-Urbanization

• Counter-urbanization is the movement of people

DOWN the urban hierarchy (metropolis→ hamlet).
While our cities are still getting larger, some
people are choosing to move away from cities.
• In general, there are now three categories of
people living in rural areas.
– Newcomers - retain ties to urban core, younger, well
educated, well off, managers/professionals
– Homecomers - young families returning to provide
rural upbringing to children
– Ruralites – have never lived in an urban core
 Counter-Urbanization

• Why are people leaving the cities to live in smaller

towns and villages?
– health issues, security,
“community”
– “back to nature” movement
(desire to live in the country)
– increase in telecommuting
(less need to be at an office)
– cheaper land and house
prices
 Land Use Patterns

• Almost 80% of Canadians live, work, travel, shop, and

spend leisure time in cities.
• Therefore cities must have the facilities to meet these
needs.
• All of the facilities fall into six categories
– Residential
– Transportation
– Institutional and Public Buildings
– Open Space and Recreational land
– Industrial
– Commercial
 Residential Land Use

• All the places where people live

• Takes up 40% of developed land
• Residential Density – affected by two factors
– The value of the land
– Age of the development
 Transportation
Land Use

• About 1/3 of the land use in most cities is taken

up by roads and highways
 Commercial Land Use

• About 5% of a cities land is used for commercial

activities
• These activities include the buying and selling of
goods and services
 Commercial Land Use

• There are five main types of commercial uses:

– Local Service Centers – Convenience Stores
– Neighborhood Plazas and Ribbons – Strip malls
– Community Shopping Centers – Malls like ours
– Regional Shopping Centers – West Edmonton Mall
– Central Business District –
Downtown
 Industrial Land Use

• Most important feature

• About 6% of land use in most cities
• Four types of industrial land use types
– Suburban Business Parks
– Suburban industrial Parks
– Central Business Districts
– Ribbon Industries
(see fig. 17-10 p.229)
 Other Land Uses

• Institutional and Public Buildings – 10% Of Land

is used for schools, hospitals, government
buildings and churches
• Open Space and Recreational Land – 7% of land
inside cities is used for this
 Factors Affecting Land Use

• Land Value
• Zoning – laws that control what kind of
development can happen and where it can
happen
• Technology
• Climate