Urban Studies Notes

Settlement patterns
4 Rural areas > -

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> Resources
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>
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Transportation
>
Accessibility
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Tracle/Activities/functions
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D Dispersed

& Linear

& Nucleated

Concepts
1 Describe the four characteristics
of cities (i) Large Pop-size

(ii) High Pop Density

(iii) Built-up Area + Infrastructure

(iv) Types of industries

2 .
Hierarchy of settlements - conurbation

. Rural
3 + Urban settlements
 Cities and settlements
● metropolis, metropolitan (e.g. London)
● megalopolis/conurbation
--> when two or more metropolitan area grow in size they merge to become a megalopolis
How Goods and Services Affect Settlements (Urban and Rural)
1 Range of Goods and Services
.

● maximum distance that people are prepared to travel in order to obtain a particular service
○ how far would you travel/ how frequent do you use these services?
2 Order of Goods and Services
SmallTown
.

Low-order goods and services

Hamlet City
provision shop
provision shop
-

● necessity goods or convenience goods bought frequently -

provision -

shop -
post office
○ Eg bread, stationery, coffee shops -
post office
supermarket
post office
-
-

High-order goods and services

-

supermarket -
Clinic

- Clinic
-
schools
● Luxury or shopping goods bought or used infrequently -
Hypermurt
-
schools
○ Eg cars, surgery, university Hospitals
-

-
Universities
.Threshold Population
3 ...

● minimum number of people needed to provide a large enough demand for a good or service (to stay in business)
Sphere of In uence based on: > high/low order goods and services
● Settlement size •
&
Wealth of people
● Service provided •
*
Transport facilities
● Population density ⑨
• Competition from other settlements
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4
. Sphere of in uence
● area served by the settlement
● Size depends on:
○ Settlement size
○ Service provided by the settlement - high order/ low order
○ Population density
○ Wealth of people
○ Transport facilities
○ Competition from other settlements

Urban growth
● increase in urban pop
OR
● Increase in urban area
Urbanisation: the increase in the proportion of the urban population (%)
● increasing percentage of population in urban areas compared to total population
● Urban population is growing more rapidly than the population as a whole
Urban Growth VS Urbanisation
● when the number of people in urban areas increases ---> urban growth
● When the proportion of urban dwellers increases (with respect to the total population) ---> urbanisation
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Reasons for Urbanisation
1. Rural-urban migration
2. High birth rate in urban cities

Rural Urban Migration

Push factors: forced/want to leave
1. Few services
2. Lack of job opportunities
3. Unhappy life
4. Poor transport links
5. Natural disasters
6. Wars
7. shortage of food
Pull factors: seek a better life
1. Access to services
2. Better job opportunities
3. More entertainment facilities
4. Better transport links
5. Improved living conditions
6. Hope for a better way of life
7. Family links
 Evidence of Housing Shortage
Problems of Urbanisation 1. Homelessness
1. Housing Shortage 2. Slums and Squatter Settlements
Inadequate Housing Causes
2. Housing - Squatter Settlement
1. High birth rates in cities
3. Pollution 2. Rural urban migration
4. Lack of water supply 3. Competing land use
4. Limited land supply
5. Traf c congestion
5. The poor can't afford to pay high rents and developers are profit-
driven and do not cater to the poor
Housing Environmental Problems
Inadequate Housing • illegal makeshift housing shacks are made of planks, plastic
sheets, cardboard, corrugated iron sheets- destroyed in storm
● authorities (gov) not able to provide housing for the
• An eyesore; disorganised
rapidly growing urban population • Lack of proper sanitation and waste disposal- harmful fumes
● Houses are expensive and small due to high demand from incineration
• Poor drainage and water supply, open sewers/drains
(eg. Korea)
• Located near water sources unsuitable sites
● Poor urban dwellers cannot afford some end up --> swampy areas, hill slopes, subject to landslides and floods,
living in squatters outskirts of cities
Squatter settlements Socio-economic Problems
• poor living conditions: congested, poorly ventilated
● substandard, poor living conditions • Spread of diseases
● Houses are made of planks, plastic sheets and cardboards --> vector-borne and water-borne diseases eg dengue fever, cholera
● Lack of proper sanitation, poor drainage and water supply • high infant mortality
• No electricity, use of kerosene lamps- fire hazard
● Fires, diseases spread easily
• Crime-drug and violence
• Low income, $100 per month
• Works in an informal sector - e.g. hawker
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Advantages of Squatter Settlement
● provides temporary, high density housing at no cost/ no rent
● use cheap, recycled mateirals that otherwise would have gone to land lls (sustainability)
● Provide cheap and abundant source of labour that necessary for industries
● Fuel economic growth/ access to jobs, education for kids
● Enables migrants to develop a sense of community as they are integrated into this segment of the city

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Water supply Pollution
Shortage of water supply Air pollution
● increasing af uence and wastage of water in developed countries • increased vehicles on roads - emission of carbon
● Growing urban pop in the developing countries monoxide, sulphur dioxide and dust particles into air
Low or variable amount of rainfall • Lead to respiratory problems for elderly and asthmatic
● depletion of groundwater leading to shortage of water people
No access to piped water Land Pollution
● use of common stand • increase in domestic and industrial waste inefficient
Poor quality of water due to: refuse collection
● inadequate treatment plants Water Pollution
● Pipes are old and rusty and not maintained - also leading to leakages • dumping of sewage and garbage into canals and rivers
Noise Pollution
Transport • from traffic, construction and industries leading to
traffic congestion stress and hearing problems
• too many cars on the road
• Eg. Seoul, Korea
Inadequate Transport System
• insufficient public transport services
• Leading to overcrowding and longer waiting time
• Leading to lower productivity of workforce
Poor conditions of existing transport facilities
• old vehicles prone to breakdowns
• Pothole on roads, poor tarred roads
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General Types of Urban Land Use
Commercial
● shopping malls/ centres
● Size number of shops and level of specialisation
● Increases with the size of cities
● high order and low order goods and services
Industrial
● Close to railways/ canals
● Access to water (eg, docks, ports)
● Accessible
● edge of town
Residential
● high density (high-rise buildings: HDBs and condos)
● low density (houses on the ground, landed properties: lower oors)
● public housing (HDBs)
● Private housing (private properties, condos)
● Low income housing
○ Slums
◆ legal high congested urban areas
◆ Dilapidated, deteriorated unsanitary buildings
◆ Poverty and social disorganisation

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 ○ Squatter settlements/ Shantytowns Transport Routes
◆ Settle on land, especially public or unoccupied land illegally • roads
◆ Makeshift basic shelters • trains
◆ Often constructed out of discarded, poor quality materials • Airport
◇ Plastic sheets Open Spaces
◇ Corrugated metal • parks
◇ Wood • Special land use
◇ Cardboard
Social Needs
◆ Lack of proper sanitation, water supply and electricity
Housing

Central Business District (CBD)

● a commercial, business and nancial centre of a city
● Economic core of the city that is the most accessible to public transport
Features Private i Eviden
• old historic buildings
● Skyscrapers • Functional grouping
housing,
Transport meet
bed

serve
● Retail • low residential
● Public transport population Industrial ,
• High pedestrian flow to commercial
● Of ces and headquarters • High traffic flow Mic
need
● Vertical zoning • Traffic restrictions

Equilibriis
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 Models of Urban Land Use/Structure
Objective:
To nd out how urban areas are structured in terms of land use
and how this is changing in modern times.
● spacial patterns are recognisable
● Land use and/or social groupings are speci c within a city
● Urban areas evolving/changing economically, socially, culturally
● Distinctive patterns but not all the cities t the models perfectly
Types of Urban Land Use Models
1. Burgess' Concentric Model (1925)
2. Hoyt's Sector Model (1939)
3. Harris and Ullman's Multiple Nuclei Model (1945)

Bid Rent Theory shops and offices

can afford

values of the CBD

Reasons for city centre to have

high land the most expensive land

High
Industry cannot afford the
1 retail 1. Most accessible area by public transport
6 Price of
highest land values so is found
a way from the CBL 2 Less land area available
A distance from the CBD increases ,
.

lam
Manufacturing
there is less competition for ,
land Housing can only
T afford low
Distance from CBD Residential
So values fall land values
Low
decay
<
(distance -
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