Urban Settlement Patterns

Urban and Rural Interactions

• Agricultural Revolution – cultivation of plants and animals.• More time to specialize in non-farming practices such as making

things they could sell. • People wanted to live in closer proximity to other people (towns).• Improvement of technology allowed more people to move into

urban places to work in manufacturing jobs.• Villages grew into town, towns into cities, etc. • Rural areas – hamlet, village, or town.• Urban areas – suburb, city, or metropolis. • Urban hierarchy (each one is a larger settlement going up the line

than the one before it).

hamlet village town suburb city metropolis

Urban HierarchyBasic Industry – activities that bring money into an urban place. Eg. Hotels, Restaurants, Factories

Non-Basic Industry – activities that do not bring in ‘outside’ money, but circulate existing money. Eg. Local grocery stores, Variety stores.

Urban Hierarchy

Hamlet – less than 200 peopleVillage – 200-800 people – offer low-order goods and servicesTown – 1000–10 000 – offer middle-order goods and servicesCity – more than 10 000 – offer high-order goods and servicesCensus Metropolitan Area – more than 100 000 – Consists of one or more adjacent municipalities centred on a large urban core. Offer specialized services

Low Order Goods or Services – goods that are needed for everyday living and purchased frequently. Eg. food, clothing, hardware, post office.Middle order Good or Services – goods or services only needed from time to time. Eg., doctor’s offices and hair salons.High Order Goods and Services – goods or services that are not needed for everyday living and not purchased often. Eg., cars, furniture, Sick Kids Hospital

Urban Hierarchy• Walter Christaller – Central Place Theory, based on the number of

people needed to keep a store in business. • The minimum number of customers is known as a threshold

population.

Lake Huron

Lake Ontario

Lake Erie

Lake Erie

Lake Huron

Lake Ontario

London

Hamilton

Burlington

Oakville

Mississauga

Cambridge

Kitchener-Waterloo

Transportation Hubs – Where ship, train, and truck routes connect. Eg., Winnipeg – major hub for railways across the country.

Types of Urban Places

Tourist Cities – Where people vacation to as a result of a unique physical or human feature. Eg., Banff – Skiing, scenery, hot springs.

Types of Urban Places

Resource Based Communities – Where there is a presence of a rich natural resource. Eg., Sudbury = Nickel.

Manufacturing Cities – Where goods are mass produced. Eg., Sarnia – oil refining.

Types of Urban Places

Government Centres – Where local, regional and national government services are provided. Eg., Ottawa.

Urbanization• Urbanization – movement of people UP the urban hierarchy. People

general move to cities because of:

Year % Urban % Rural

1853 15 85

1908 50 50

2001 85 15

– reduced need for farm labour due to farm modernization (e.g. tractors)

– improvements in mobility (better transportation systems reduces need for local stores)

– consolidation of goods & services (most things one needs has relocated to urban areas)

Urbanization

NetMigration

Rate

City Size