SETTLEMENTS
DEFINITION OF SETTLEMENT
A settlement is a place where people live together and engage in various social, economic, and political activities.
Examples: Industrial activities, agricultural activities, and educational activities.
TYPES AND CHARACTERISTICS OF SETTLEMENT
The classification of settlements depends on their functions and number of people.
According to the Economic Base Theory, settlements such as towns, cities, or regions perform two broad categories of economic activities: basic and non-basic activities.
Basic Economic Activities
Basic is an economic activity or function that either produces goods or markets a service outside the settlement where it is located or within the settlement. It leads to the growth of the settlement and economic growth. As a result, urban settlements are generated or developed.
Non-Basic Economic Activities
Non-basic is an economic activity or function that produces goods or markets services within the settlement in which it is located. Therefore, it makes little contribution to settlement growth. As a result, rural settlements are generated.
There are two major types of settlements:
Rural Settlement
Urban Settlement
1. RURAL SETTLEMENT
The basic unit of rural settlements is the number of people and functions. In rural areas, the main function or activity is agriculture.
The cultivators most often live in scattered family settlements.
Nature of rural settlements: Isolated settlements, hamlets, villages, and small market towns.
2. URBAN SETTLEMENT
The basic unit of urban settlement is the number of people and economic activities or functions.
This type of settlement is mostly found in large towns and cities and is characterized by continuous buildings and different economic activities such as:
Trade
Commerce
Social activities
Industrial activities
Generally, urban settlements have high population density, while rural settlements have low population density.
CHARACTERISTICS OF SETTLEMENT
A settlement:
Must have social services, such as:
Water supply
Transport and communication
Education
Electricity power supply
Health services
Must have buildings.
Must have different land uses.
CATEGORIES OF SETTLEMENT / SETTLEMENT PATTERNS
Categories of settlements depend on the patterns of structures in relation to population density.
Settlement pattern refers to the arrangement or layout of houses in a given area.
There are three categories of settlement patterns:
Scattered or Dispersed Settlement
Nucleated or Clustered Settlement
Linear Settlement
1. SCATTERED OR DISPERSED SETTLEMENT
It is the arrangement of houses that are randomly spread out over an area.
They are commonly found in the countryside where land is available.
Most of the activities performed by people in these settlements include:
Cultivation
Animal keeping
Honey extraction
2. NUCLEATED OR CLUSTERED SETTLEMENT
Nucleated settlement is also referred to as clustered settlement.
It is an arrangement where houses are concentrated in a group within a relatively small area.
The population of dwellers is high. It is normally found in urban centres such as large towns and cities.
3. LINEAR SETTLEMENT
Linear settlement is one in which houses are developed or built along specific features such as:
Rivers
Railways
Roads
The arrangement may be straight or curved depending on the nature of the feature along which the houses are built.
FUNCTIONS OF SETTLEMENT
All settlements have certain activities or useful functions to justify their existence. Such functions include:
i) Agricultural Collection Centre
These are areas where farmers produce different agricultural crops and animals, which are marketed at agricultural collection centres.
ii) Communication Centre
Some settlements function as communication centres and perform various communication activities.
iii) Residential Function
These are places where people live and share different values and cultural activities.
iv) Administrative Centre
These are centres from which surrounding areas are administered.
Some of these centres can be:
District centres
Regional centres
Local administration centres
v) Commercial and Market Centre
These are places where business takes place.
These centres are composed of:
Shops
Markets
Roads
Telephone facilities
Other means of transport and communication
vi) Mining Centre
These are settlements that develop mainly as a result of mining activities.
These settlements are characterized by the presence of mineral resources.
Examples: Geita, Mwadui, Magadi, etc.
vii) Industrial Settlement / Manufacturing Centre
These kinds of settlements are mainly formed in town areas which grow rapidly with the establishment of industries.
They normally provide advantages to people living around them because they provide:
Employment
Goods
viii) Fishing Centres
River sites such as ports and ocean ports are important for fishing activities.
ix) Social Function Settlement
They provide social services such as:
Health facilities
Hospitals
Clinics
Educational facilities
They can also provide entertainment and recreational centres.
x) Royal Centre
These are traditional residences of:
Monarchs
Kings
Queens
Sultans
Their consorts
xi) Tourist Centres
These centres are mainly characterized by resorts and many hotels that cater mainly for holidays.
FACTORS FOR SETTLEMENT GROWTH
Factors that influence the growth of settlements can be categorized into two:
Physical factors
Human factors
PHYSICAL FACTORS
Physical factors include:
Climate
Soil
Topography
Drainage
Natural resources
Vegetation
Availability of land
Pests and diseases
(a) CLIMATE
Sparsely Populated Areas
Areas receiving very low annual rainfall and experiencing long seasonal drought or unreliable rainfall.
Areas suffering from high humidity or very cold conditions have low population density due to harsh climatic conditions.
Densely Populated Areas
Areas where rainfall is reliable and evenly distributed throughout the year, with no temperature extremes, have high population density due to good climatic conditions.
Examples: Mbeya, Kilimanjaro, Mwanza, etc.
(b) SOIL
Sparsely Populated Areas
Areas with frozen soil, thin soil in mountainous areas, leached soil, and areas experiencing severe soil erosion discourage people from living there because the soil does not generally support agriculture.
Densely Populated Areas
Deep humus and deposited silt influence settlement because the soil supports agriculture.
Examples: Morogoro, the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro, and areas around Lake Victoria.
(c) WATER SUPPLIES
Sparsely Populated Areas
Areas lacking permanent clean and fresh water discourage people from living there.
Lack of money and technology to build reservoirs can also contribute to low population densities.
Densely Populated Areas
Population is more likely to increase where there is a reliable water supply.
Settlements are mostly found around coasts, lakes, and rivers.
(d) VEGETATION
Sparsely Populated Areas
Areas with dense forests, such as the Amazon, coniferous forests of Northern Eurasia, and Northern Canada, experience low population density.
Densely Populated Areas
Areas with scattered trees and grassland tend to have higher population densities than areas with dense forests or deserts.
(e) PESTS AND DISEASES
Sparsely Populated Areas
Areas affected by pests and diseases such as mosquitoes, tsetse flies, and Salmonella typhi experience low population densities because pests and diseases discourage people from settling there.
Densely Populated Areas
Areas free from pests and diseases are more populated because they attract settlement.
(f) TOPOGRAPHY
Sparsely Populated Areas
Highland and mountainous areas tend to have conditions that may not be favourable for human survival.
Areas experiencing volcanic activities tend to discourage settlement.
Densely Populated Areas
Areas with gentle slopes and flat surfaces that experience moderate temperature and rainfall attract settlements.
(g) RESOURCES
Sparsely Populated Areas
Areas with few or no natural resources such as minerals, energy supplies, and fishing centres tend to discourage settlement because the available resources do not favour human survival.
Densely Populated Areas
Areas with natural resources such as minerals, energy supplies, and fishing centres tend to encourage settlement because the available resources favour human survival.
HUMAN FACTORS
Human factors include:
Political factors
Economic factors
(h) POLITICAL FACTORS
Sparsely Populated Areas
Areas experiencing frequent civil wars and political disorders have a negative impact on settlement growth because people do not want to live in areas with insecurity.
Densely Populated Areas
Areas free from civil wars and political disorder and with a high level of civil rights attract many people to live there.
(i) ECONOMIC FACTORS
Sparsely Populated Areas
Lack of centres of economic development such as trading centres, industrial centres, and mining centres discourages settlement.
Densely Populated Areas
Availability of centres of economic development such as trading centres, industrial centres, mining centres, and fertile soils attracts people to live there.
PROBLEMS FACING HUMAN SETTLEMENT
Shortage of land/lack of space.
Inadequate social services, e.g. water and electricity.
Risk of disasters, e.g. floods and earthquakes.
Employment crisis due to the increase in the number of people.
Poor housing, especially in rural areas.
Presence of social disorders, e.g. crime and robbery.
Environmental problems, e.g. pollution and erosion.
Poor transport and communication.
Rural-urban migration due to shortages of employment.
Spread of diseases, e.g. cholera and AIDS, due to shortage of water.
URBANIZATION
Urbanization is the process whereby an increasing proportion of the total population in a country settles in towns.
CAUSES OF URBANIZATION
Availability of employment, e.g. trade and industries.
Availability of social services.
Shortage of employment opportunities in rural areas.
Overpopulation in rural areas.
Low level of modern contraceptive use and limited education.
Natural increase in birth and death rates in urban centres.
PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH URBAN GROWTH / URBANIZATION
Rise in transport problems, e.g. traffic congestion.
Presence of unplanned houses.
Lack of enough water supply, leading to serious diseases.
Shortage of social services, e.g. schools and health centres.
Overcrowding/overpopulation leading to crimes such as prostitution, robbery, and theft.
Unemployment.
Rural-urban migration leading to scarcity of labour in rural areas.
Environmental deterioration.
WAYS OF OVERCOMING PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH URBAN GROWTH
Emphasizing family planning programmes.
Improving rural areas, e.g. employment opportunities and social services.
Educating people about the dangers caused by rapid population growth.
Providing adequate social services in rural and urban areas.
Improving the living standards of people.
Maintaining the cleanliness of the environment.
Population redistribution.
Enforcing laws to restore unpleasant settlements.
MERITS / ADVANTAGES OF URBANIZATION
They are centres for change, e.g. modernization and fashion.
They are centres for commerce.
They greatly attract tourists from different parts of the world.
They are centres for importing and exporting.
They are centres of manufacturing industries.
Most urban centres are administrative areas.
There is good provision of social services.
They are centres for cultural change.