Settlement Functions

Function These can be grouped into a number of headings, such as residential,recreational, retail, government, entertainment andindustrial. Some settlements have one predominant function. This was particularly thecase when settlements were first established. Some towns performed important defensive functions, others were ports and others were important route centres for further exploration of a country (such as the gateway cities of Canada e.g. Calgary and Edmonton).

Multi-Functional Most settlements now are multi-functional, which means that they perform a range of different functions, however some may be more important than others to a particular settlement. For instance a tourist town will perform all sorts of functions, but its main ones are concentrated towards the tourists.

What Happens? Many settlements around the world have found that their functions have had to change over time. One such example is that of small farming villages finding that their residents are moving out to find jobs in the cities.

What Happens? This leaves the village empty, apart from the older population. The village then may become a retirement centre, or commuters may move in and it could become a commuter village. Two good examples of the changing functions of a settlement can be seen in Benidorm (Spain) and the South Wales mining towns.