IGCSE settlement: site, situation and pattern

1. Settlement: Site, situation and
Patterns.

2. A settlement is…
►A place where people live.
A Village
A Town.
A City

3. Site: Where a settlement is
placed.

4. Site Factors:
►1 - Protection
► It
was especially important to protect
settlements from those who wished to
attack. A good vantage point to watch for
this was a hill, and many castles and forts
were built on hills to watch for attackers.
Climatically, these settlements were prone
to wind and harsher weather.

5. Site Factors
►2 – Plenty of Water
► Washing,
drinking and cooking all need
water, and it was vital to have an adequate
supply especially during the summer.
Springs, wells and rivers provided supplies.
Nowadays, settlements have water piped to
them, but it is still a consideration to be near
to the mains supply or in a region that
actually has adequate rainfall to sustain a
supply.

6. Site Factors
►3 – Not Too Much Water
► It
was important then and is still important to
ensure that settlements are not built on
areas that will flood, or are marshy (as the
settlement will sink). This isn't always
possible to see, particularly if the floods only
occur every few years, or there isn't a flood
whilst building the settlement.

7. Site Factors
►4 – Rivers
► Rivers
can be useful supplies of water in
themselves, or agents of flooding. But what
is important about rivers as a site factor is
that they can be crossed, either by bridge or
ford. A river that couldn't be crossed would
have been a problem for early settlements,
if they couldn't escape across a river during
an attack. Rivers can now be crossed by
building bridges, but these are expensive.

8. Site Factors
►5 – Building Materials
► Either
wood or stone was needed to build
early settlements, so a forest, wood or
hillside with crags was needed to provide
the materials. This is not so important today,
as houses are built of brick and slate, which
are easily provided.

9. Site Factors
►6 – Supply of Wood
► Not
as important today, but early
settlements would need wood for fuel. It
was therefore vital that the settlement was
near trees.

10. Site Factors
►7 – Flat Land
► It
is extremely difficult to build a settlement
on land with a gradient (such as a hillside)
and so land should be flat wherever
possible. This should not be confused, as it
often is, with low-lying land: the top of a high
hill or plateau could be flat too. It is possible
to build a settlement now on a gradient, but
it is much more time consuming and
expensive.

11. Site Factors
►8 – Shelter
► It
is important the direction that the
settlement faces, and this is geographically
known as aspect. In early settlements, it
was important that agricultural land faced
south so that the sun shone directly on the
land. Building a settlement in a valley
provided a way to keep out of harsh winter
winds.

12. Situation
The location of a settlement in
relation to the surrounding area.
E. g. ‘bridging point’ or ‘route
centre’.

14. Pattern
The shape of the settlement.

15. There are 4 types of settlement
patterns…
► Nucleated…..
► Linear…
► Dispersed….
► Isolated

16. Nucleated.
► When houses are
very close to each
other.
► Usually around a
central point, like
a cross roads.
= Houses
ROAD

17. Linear.
►
►
►
Like the word says,
along a line.
Maybe along a road,
river or the bottom
of a valley.
The houses would
slowly be built along
the road.
= Houses
ROAD

18. Dispersed
► When the
houses are far
apart.
► So your
neighbour could
live a few miles
away.
► E.g. Farms
= Houses

19. Isolated
► This is usually a
farmhouse
found either in
areas of
extreme
adverse
physical
conditions or in
areas of pioneer
settlement
where land was
divided into
planned lots.
= Houses

20. So what do you now know?
► Which of the following is a settlement
pattern?
(Click on your answer)
A – Linear
B – Along a line
C – lenghty

21. Wrong!!!
Try again…

22. Well Done!!
Try this one…

23. Number 2…
If you were in a place that had dispersed
buildings, what do you think the buildings
would be?
1. Garages
2. Farms
3. Schools

24. Wrong!!!
Try again…

25. Well Done!!
Try this one…

26. Number 3…
Using the map,
decide which one of
these settlements is
nucleated.
1. Porthloo
2. Maypole
3. Old Town

27. Wrong!!!
Try again…

28. Well Done!!
The end is nigh…

29. Well Done.
You have now finished this section of work, remember to visit
this again for revision.