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 Hierarchy Basic 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 people Village – people – offer low-order goods and services Town – 1000– – offer middle-order goods and services City – more than – offer high-order goods and services Census Metropolitan Area – more than – 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 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 – 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)