Defining rural and urban settlement

Overview

Rural and urban settlement in terms of employment structure and settlement's sphere of influence.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   What do geographers mean by an urban settlement?

   Model answer

   A settlement with a large, densely concentrated population living at high residential density, where the great majority of people work in secondary, tertiary and quaternary employment rather than on the land. Urban settlements have a built-up continuous area of land use, a wide range of services and functions serving a large surrounding area, a complex internal structure of distinct land-use zones, and good transport connections.

2. 2

   What do geographers mean by a rural settlement?

   Model answer

   A settlement with a small, sparsely distributed population living at low residential density in open countryside, where a higher proportion of land is under agriculture, forestry or other primary uses. Rural settlements typically have few services, a narrow range of functions serving only a small local area, a simple internal structure, strong local social networks and greater dependence on private transport.

3. 3

   Which criteria are used to decide whether a settlement is rural or urban?

   Model answer

   Population size; population density; land use (proportion under farming, forestry and open space against built-up area); employment structure (proportion in primary work against secondary and tertiary); the range and number of services and functions; the size of the sphere of influence or catchment area; the degree of accessibility and transport provision; and social characteristics such as community cohesion and the pace of life.

4. 4

   Why is population size on its own a poor way to separate rural from urban?

   Model answer

   Because the threshold is arbitrary and varies between countries, so the same settlement could be classed differently depending on which definition is used. Population size also ignores function: a small settlement of a few thousand may act as a market town providing services to a wide rural catchment and behave in an urban way, while a large commuter village of similar size has almost no services at all and behaves in a rural way.

5. 5

   Distinguish between rural and urban settlement in terms of employment structure.

   Model answer

   In rural settlement a comparatively high proportion of the workforce is in primary employment, chiefly agriculture, forestry, fishing and quarrying, with limited local secondary or tertiary work, and many residents commute out to work. In urban settlement primary employment is very small and the workforce is concentrated in secondary (manufacturing), tertiary (retail, health, education, finance) and quaternary (research and information) sectors, with employment supplied within the settlement itself.

6. 6

   What is meant by a settlement's sphere of influence, and how does it differ between rural and urban places?

   Model answer

   The sphere of influence is the area from which a settlement draws people for its services, work and facilities. Rural settlements have a small sphere of influence, often only the settlement itself and a few surrounding farms, because their services are low order and used frequently but locally. Urban settlements have a large sphere of influence because they offer high-order services such as hospitals, universities, department stores and stadiums that people will travel long distances to use less often.

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