CHAPTER 2: SETTLEMENTS

UNIT 1: SETTLEMENT GROWTH AND RURAL

SETTLEMENTS (39)
What is a settlement?
A settlement is the place where people live,
work, interact with other members of the
community
It may be a campsite, a village, or a city.
All settlements have a site, situation(or
location), layout and functions.
Many facilities would be added later on.

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Differences between “site” and
“situation”

A site refers to the actual piece of ground

on which a settlement is built. It has more
to do with the kind of landform a
settlement occupies.
A situation refers to the location of the
settlement in relation to the nearby
landforms or the rest of the region.

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SITE
Figure 3.1 shows some of the physical sites on which
most of the settlements are sited
MORE FAVORABLE
Along the sea coast
On the plain
By the side of a lake
Along a river
Mining districts
Industrial regions
Farming areas
Suburbs of cities

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LESS FAVORABLE
On hill slopes
On hill tops
Off-shore islands
Foot of dams

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Some examples of actual sites that favor the
location of settlements are shown in Fig.
3.2
In an oasis
On fertile plain
At the confluence of rivers
By the side of a lake

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Oasis of Huacachina

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FERTILE PLAIN OF ALOR
STAR IN MALAYSIA

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CONFLUENCE OF RIVERS

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Other favorable sites on which some of the
world’s best known cities are sited that
may have physical or economic
significance:
 Sheltered indentations of a coast
 Good natural defensible sites
Natural focus of routes
At the site generating hydro-electric
power
At the site of rich mineral deposits

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Where a river passes through a gap
At the head of ocean navigation

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SITUATION
Apart from a favorable site, for a settlement
to prosper and expand into a larger town
or city, a central situation is important.
Accessibility is most vital for rapid
settlement growth

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Fig. 3.3 (a) shows the situations of the
major towns / cities in Peninsular
Malaysia:
a) Kuala Lumpur
b) Ipoh
c) Georgetown
d) Johore Bahru
e) Kota Bahru

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KUALA LUMPUR,
MALAYSIA

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Fig.3.3 shows the situations of some of the largest
cities of Japan
Tokyo
Osaka
Nagoya
Kitakyushu

The site and the situation of a settlement are often

interlinked.
A good site with a poor situation which makes
accessibility difficult will not attract many
people.
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TOKYO, JAPAN

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KITAKYUSHU, JAPAN

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Suitability of the site to consider when
choosing a temporary camping settlement
by nomadic tribes or scouting troops:
Proximity to the river
Levelness of the ground
Suitability of the area (outskirts of the
cities, attractive countryside)

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A CAMPING SETTLEMENT

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In Malaysia and China, the most popular
sites for villages and towns in well-
situated regions are concentrated:
a. Along roads in farming or industrial
districts
b. Along rivers traversing through
lowlands regions
c. Along the sea coast, away from levels
which can result in floods

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A RIVERINE
SETTLEMENT

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What are the patterns of settlements?
A settlement pattern refers to the physical
layout of the settlement.
It takes into consideration the arrangement
of the buildings.
The layout and spacing of the buildings
give a general shape of the settlement.

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Three distinct patterns of settlements

1. Dispersed settlements

 Buildings are scattered, isolated from

one another by cultivated grounds
 Individual farmsteads in Canada and
Australia
 Footpaths, drainage canals and padi
fields separate padi-growing areas in
Malaysia
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2. Linear settlements

 Linear settlements along drainage channels

of a plantation
 Linear settlement in a padi-growing area
 Developed along roads, either on one side
or on both sides in a straight line pattern
 Quite often, a railway line runs parallel to
the road with some scattered houses around
 Linear settlements are often found along a
river
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LINEAR SETTLEMENT

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3. Nucleated settlements

 A nucleated settlement is most frequently

developed at junctions of roads where
there are facilities for trade or the
exchange of products by the local folk.
 Buildings are often grouped together for
security purposes against intruders or wild
animals as in many plantation areas.

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What is the hierarchy of settlements?

“hierarchy” = levels, ranks or stages

The hierarchy of settlements refers to various
stages of growth of settlements
1. A hamlet (a forest clearing)
a few houses with less than 100 people
2. A village ( less than 10,000)
3. A town (10,000 - 100,000)
4. A city (100,000 – 1 million)
5. A metropolitan (more than 1 million)
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The hierarchy of settlements is determined
by the size of the population and the
function it performs, i.e. the goods and
services that it can provide (+ shops,
facilities, etc.)

The hierarchy of settlements is also based

on each stage’s sphere of influence.

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SPHERE OF INFLUENCE
Sphere of influence refers to the extent of
influence or importance of a particular
settlement to the people living in
surrounding areas
e.g. Students go and study in the city for
their university level because they don’t
have good universities in town.
 the sphere of influence of the city extends
to the towns
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Where do you go to…?

Sphere of influence

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What are the factors which influence the
siting, pattern and growth of rural
settlements?

1. Physical relief
2. Water supply (wet-point settlements)
3. Defence
4. Shelter
5. Mineral deposits
6. Historical influences

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What are the types of rural
settlements?

1. Isolated farmsteads
(crofts, estancias, mono wheat farms)
2. Hamlet
3. Village

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What is rural resettlement?

People start to occupy unused lands in the

rural areas
Transmigration Scheme of Indonesia
resettles people from the overcrowded
parts of Java.
The Federal Land Development Authority
(FELDA) schemes of Malaysia is one of
the most successful rural resettlement
schemes known since the 1980s.
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