Chapter 12: Services & Settlements

Settlement

Permanent collection of buildings where people reside, work, and obtain services

Rural Settlement

community where most people are engaged in agriculture

Urban Settlement

A community where people are employed in secondary and tertiary-sector jobs

Urbanization

An increase in the percentage of people living in urban settlements

What percentage of the worlds population live in an urban settlement?

56

What does the percentage of people living in urban settlement reflect within a country?

level of development (79% in developed vs 52% in developing)

Megacity

An urban settlement with a total population in excess of 10 Million people

Metacity

Urban settlement with a total population in excess of 20 million people

How many megacities and metacities are there according to the U.N,

3 urban settlements in the world as megacities and further identifies 6 of those 33 as metacities

Where are the Rapidly Growing Urban Settlements located

all but 4 of the 100 fastest growing urban settlements are in developing countries

Which settlement is determined to be the fastest growing?

Beihai China

Service

any activity that fulfills a person’s want or need in exchange for money

Three types of service sector of the economy (tertiary sector)

Consumer services, Business services, and Public services

Consumer service

is to provide services to individuals who desire those services and can afford to pay for them, including retail services and education, health, and leisure services

Business service

Facilitate the activities of other businesses, including professional, financial, and transportation services

_____ of all jobs in the United States are in business services

one fourth

Public Services

A service offered by the government to provide security and protection for citizens and business

percent of all U.S. jobs are in public services.

8

Services generate more than_____ of GDP in most developed countries, compared to around ______ in developing countries

1. two-thirds

2. one-half

If services were located merely where people lived, then _____ and _____ would have the most, rather than the United States and other developed countries

China and India

Services cluster in ________ ________ because more people who are able to buy services live there.

developed countries

Geographers see a close link between services and settlements because

providing services is a principal reason that settlements exist

Where is all the growth in employment in the US

Services, primary and secondary has declined

Why has finance and transportation services grown slowly compared to professional services

improved efficiency

Central Place Theory

A theory that explains the distribution of services based on the fact that settlements serve as centers of market areas for services; larger settlements are fewer and farther apart than smaller settlements and provide services for a larger number of people who are willing to travel farther

Who proposed the central place theory and why?

Walter Christaller based on his studies of southern Germany

Central Place

A market center for the exchange of services by people attracted from the surrounding area

Market area/hinterland

The region surrounding a central place of goods and services from which people travel to access those goods and services

Media market area

A region where the population recieves the same TV and radio station broadcast and newspapers and consumes similar content

Range

The maximum distance people are willing to travel to use a service

Threshold

The minimum number of people needed to support a service

How do geographers represent market areas in central place theory

Draw hexagons around settlements

Why draw hexagons to represent market areas in central place theory

Hexagons represent a compromise between circles (Figure 12.3.4) and squares (Figure 12.3.5). Like squares, hexagons nest without gaps. Although all points along the hexagon are not the same distance from the center, the variation is less than with a square.

Rank-size distribution of settlements: rank size rule and ranking

Primate city rule, primate city impact on quality of life/availability of services for residents

Nesting of services and settlements

How can central place theory be applied to North Dakota? Trends?

Rank-size rule

the population of a country’s nth-largest settlement is 1/n the population of the largest settlement.

According to Rank-size rule, the second-largest city is ___, the fourth-largest city is

1. one-half the size of the largest

2. ¼ the size of the largest

Primate city rule

A pattern of settlements in a country such that the largest settlement has more than twice as many people as the second-ranking settlement

Primate City

The largest settlement in a country if it has more than twice as many people as the second-ranking settlement

4 levels of Market area

hamlet, village, town, and city