case study: settlement and service provision in an area

•case study: North Yorkshire - describe the sphere of influence; key street names with shop names 

•regional / city centre: York (160,000) - services provided: 

          •cinema, secondary schools, hotels, cathedral, swimming pools, cheaters, college, county court, shopping centre, gardens, observatory, dealerships, travel agencies, ghost walk, homeless shelter, tattoo shop

•large town: Malton (13,000) - services provided:

          •art gallery, car dealers museum, gym, hospital, parking, railway stations dental surgeon, castle, skate park, swimming pools, supermarkets  

•small town: Haxby (8754)

          •primary school, shop, takeaways, opticians, dentists, old people’s home, hairdressers, GP, bakery, bank, estate agents, vets, supermarkets, cemetery, pharmacy, park 

•village: Terrington (520) 

          •Old Wells bed and breakfast, doctors, 2 schools, post office, farm shops, village hall 

•hamlet: Bulmer (179)

          •St Martins Church, telephone box, church, Old Glebe Farm 

•elements of York for its lead to becoming the regional centre of the area:

          •river Ouse and Foss means trade has been prominent throughout, so shipping of goods has been possible

          •city centre around 2km to A64, major trading link going to other areas e.g Leeds 

          •railway built in 1841, with connections to London, allowing trade and tourism

give reasons for the hierarchy of settlements and services

•the settlement hierarchy classifies places to the number and size of shops and services that they contain

         •in a city, there is a high order settlement which will provide with high order services and goods 

         •at the bottom end, there will be low order settlements which will provide low order services and goods 

                   •a city may provide a range of services including:

                              •retailing; leisure; educational; medical; financial, real estate; supermarkets

                   •more in demand items / smaller-scaled services are usually low order

         •high order goods have a large sphere of influence and a large threshold population 

•sphere of influence: the area surrounding a settlement that is served by the settlement in terms of its services

          •the sphere of influence depends on: the number and type of services it provides; the transport facilities available; the level of competition from surrounding settlements

          

•higher order settlements have several advantages over lower order settlements because of the high order services they provide: 

          •people will travel further for specialist goods, better quality and specialist services

          •people travel further for comparison goods rather than convenience goods 

          •high-order settlements offer more opportunity for cheaper prices

          •people who live in low-order settlements have to travel further than people in high order’s

                    •the range is important - the maximum distance people are prepared to travel and is dependant on the good / service is needed 

•each good / service has a threshold population - the minimum number of customers to make it profitable

          •this means convenience stores can make a profit by serving a smaller number of people however comparison goods need a higher threshold and must be in a larger settlement

describe and explain the factors which may in uence the sites, growth and functions of settlements

•agricultural land use: the surrounding land provided a food supply for the village. The relief, soils, drainage and accessibility of the site allowed agriculture to take place

•relief (altitude, aspect and gradient): in mountainous regions, the highest areas are too cold for agriculture but the lowest areas are sparsely populated because of poor drainage, diseases, flooding and dense vegetation

           •small gradients mean good drainage, easy to cultivate and easier to build on

           •steep slopes often provide defensive sites or when flat land is in short supply but make transport difficult and be prone to landslides 

•soils: areas with fertile land are more densely settled because greater productivity means a larger population can be supported e.g alluvium

          •they tend to be rich in minerals and well-trained - often in floodplains and deltas 

          •some buildings have to be built next to fertile land since it’s too precious 

          •larger areas may be used for extensive farming of sheep 

•water supply: many first settlements were first established next to a river because transporting water is hard and time-consuming 

          •sites, in otherwise dry areas, with reliable water supplies, are called wet point sites

          •lack of water means low population density   

•accessibility: settlements benefit from contact to buy goods and services, which is why some settlements are linear along tracks and roads

          •where roads meet or at bridging points, larger villages and regional services may develop 

•resources: minerals such as coal, oil, copper and iron ores. 

         •this causes major migration, like steel and iron industries, creating jobs and high population densities e.g the Ruhr in Germany

explain the patterns of a settlement - dispersed, linear, and nucleated settlement patterns

•dispersed: where individual buildings are very spread out, often in rural areas 

•linear: where a settlement is spread out along either side of e.g road in a long line

•nucleated: where individual buildings are grouped together in a circular manner

•dispersed: •may develop where agricultural land is poor and people need to farm large areas 

                   •tradition may dictate that people do not live grouped together

                   •this settlement is also found in modern settlements, where commercial farms are

•linear: •allows each dwelling to have access to a road or track 

            •physical geography may play a part

            •people may not want to waste good farming land so build their homes in line next to fertile land

•nucleated: •people can enjoy the social benefits

                   •they have easy access to services like shops and schools

                   •often develops in areas with rich agriculture, where farmers can live in the village but still be near their fields 

                   •culture might favour this pattern