Cambridge IGCSE Geography
10
Settlements and service provision
Settlement patterns
Settlement definitions Unless you live a nomadic life, you will be living in a fixed place such as a village, town or city. If you live in a town or city you live in an urban area, a large built-up area with large areas of land being used for housing. If you live in a hamlet or village, or on a farm you live in a rural area, a small settlement in the countryside. A small number of clustered houses form a hamlet, a larger number form a village, along with some basic services such as places of worship and small shops to buy everyday goods. Nucleated settlements are made up of a cluster of buildings, usually around a central point, such as a crossroads or the bridge over a river. Many have developed in lowland areas where land is fertile. These Nucleated and dispersed settlement
areas attracted people many years ago to settle here and farm. Each parish farmed a similar amount of land around it to feed a similar population. This led to a pattern of clustered villages at fairly equal intervals across the landscape. Linear settlements are long and thin (ribbon shaped). These develop along a road or a river valley or in an area where flat land is limited. Areas of dispersed settlement, such as farms and isolated buildings, are scattered across the countryside and surrounded by farmland. Dispersed patterns are often found in upland areas where settlement is difficult. Here people settled in small farms and hamlets in areas that may be sheltered, or provide a route through the hills or have some potential for growing crops or grazing livestock. Settlements are small, randomly located and isolated due to the difficulties of living there. A linear settlement
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Contrasting settlement patterns in sub-Saharan Africa
Wellingara Bantanding Toranka
Nyang’ande
Kisumu East, Kenya Houses Houses Built-up area Built-up area 0 1 km
0
1 km Mdungu Kebbe, Gambia Mdungu Kebbe, Gambia Town or village 0
1 km
Town or village
TASK 1: Study Sources and a Write definitions of the following words: Urban Rural b Describe the shapes of the rural settlements in Sources A and B. Use the following words in your answer: Nucleated Linear Dispersed TASK 2: Study Source a Compare the population density of the two areas. b How are the settlement patterns in Kisumu East and Mdungu Kebbe different?