1. Settlement Hierarchy and Sphere of Influence

2. Learning objectives What is a settlement hierarchy?
What is the settlement hierarchy based upon?
What is a shopping hierarchy?
Learning objectives

3. What is a settlement hierarchy?
A settlement hierarchy is the arrangement of settlements in an order of importance.

4. Identify this type of settlement

5. Learning objectives What is a settlement hierarchy?
What is the settlement hierarchy based upon?
What is a shopping hierarchy?
Learning objectives

6. What is the settlement hierarchy based upon?
The order of settlements within the settlement hierarchy is usually based on one of the following:
the size of the settlement in terms of its area and population
the range and number of services/functions within each settlement
the relative sphere of influence of each settlement

7. Settlement hierarchy population conurbation 1,000,001 +
population and size of settlement increases
100,001 – 1,000,000
city
2,001 – 100,000
town
101 – 2,000
village
11 – 100
hamlet
1 – 10
isolated dwelling
Why is the hierarchy drawn as a triangle with a wide base and a narrow point?

8. Organising a hierarchy by population size
Is it easy to organise a hierarchy by population size?
NO!
The population figures for each type of settlement are really just a guide, as it is difficult to give a cut-off figure for when a hamlet becomes a village, or a village becomes a town.
In some countries, so-called villages can be very big. For example, some villages in India may be as large as a British town.
BUT it is true that the larger the settlement, the fewer of them there are – look again at the pyramid! There are many isolated buildings but very few conurbations.

9. What is the settlement hierarchy based upon?
The order of settlements within the settlement hierarchy is usually based on one of the following:
the size of the settlement in terms of its area and population.
the range and number of services/functions within each settlement.
the relative sphere of influence of each settlement.

10. What shops/services do you find in a …?

11. More shops and services in larger settlements
The number of shops and services in a settlement depends upon the threshold population, which is the minimum number of people required by a shop/service to make a profit. Shops and services are classified according to their threshold population:
department store – people
can be quite far
not often
specialist (high order)
bank – people
reasonable – even the next town
fairly often
comparison (middle order)
general store –200 people.
short
very often
convenience (low order)
example and estimate of threshold population
maximum distance customer prepared to travel
frequency of use
classification

12. Convenience, comparison or specialist?

13. Types of shops and services
Choose which column to put each type of shop or service into.

14. Settlement size and services: their relation
Plot a scattergraph using the following data to work out the relationship between settlement size and services:

15. Basing a hierarchy upon shops and services
Is it easy to base a hierarchy on the number of shops and services?
Yes – but there are some types of settlement that do not conform to the general pattern…
Liss is a large village in Hampshire, approaching the size of a small town as its population exceeds 6,000. It is on the main railway line to Waterloo. The village has been badly hit by the closure of local services. Three banks and the bakery have closed down. Why?
Tourist resorts like Swanage in Dorset have more services than their population can support to cater for tourists. Its population doubles to 20,000 in the summer.

16. What is the settlement hierarchy based upon?
The order of settlements within the settlement hierarchy is usually based on one of the following:
the size of the settlement in terms of its area and population.
the range and number of services/functions within each settlement.
the relative sphere of influence of each settlement.

17. Sphere of influence
Sphere of influence is the area served by a particular settlement.
What factors give Guildford its sphere of influence?

18. Sphere of influence
Sphere of influence is the area served by a particular settlement.
Range is the maximum distance that a customer is prepared to travel.
Competition from nearby settlements
Functions of nearby settlements
Functions of the settlement
Size of sphere of influence
Population size of the settlement and its surrounding area
Transport facilities

19. Learning objectives What is a settlement hierarchy?
What is the settlement hierarchy based upon?
What is a shopping hierarchy?
Learning objectives

20. Shopping hierarchies
As well as a settlement hierarchy, there is a shopping hierarchy!

21. Sphere of influence

22. Sphere of influence of shops and services
Explain why the sphere of influence of the corner shop is much smaller than the department store.

23. Sphere of influence of shops and services
Which grocer has the largest sphere of influence?
Describe the shape of the sphere of influence of ‘grocer 3’.
Why don’t people travel to ‘grocer 3’ from the east?
2km 1
grocer 2
Give some possible reasons why ‘grocer 1’ has the smallest sphere of influence. 3
settlement
bridge
river
sphere of influence

24. How good is your hierarchy knowledge?

25. Key ideas!
Settlement hierarchy refers to the arrangement of settlements in an order of importance based on size, services and sphere of influence.
Services can be classified as convenience, comparison or specialist.
Sphere of influence is the area served by a particular settlement.
Threshold population is the minimum number of people needed to support a settlement or service.
Range is the maximum distance that people are prepared to travel to obtain a particular service.
Shops and services can also be organised into a hierarchy.