Urban settlements


On this webtask we are going to learn the difference between rural and urban settlements and their development,  why people settle down on a specific place and this place grows until it becomes a city, the types of city patterns and  the services they provide, but also the problems in big cities and how to manage the urban sprawl

   1-  Find information about settlement types and hierarchies on this site. Take into account it has four pages. To find the correct information, you'll have to see the four of them. Then answer these questions:

  1. What is a settlement? Give examples of two very different settlements.
  2. What types of settlements are there?
  3. Why does a refugee camp  can become a settlement?
  4. Give an example of nucleated settlement, linear settlement and dispersed settlement.
  5. Analyze the city of Southampton and explain why it is a good settlement site.
  6. Think of any other city (London, Seville, Barcelone..) and explain the attractive features that made them to be chosen to develop a    settlement.                                                                                                                                                           
  7. What is a settlement hierarchy?  What is bigger, a hamlet or a village? Are there more hamlets than towns?

       Now that you have finished try to do the TEST on settlements and hierarchies 

       What is your score?

     2-   Find information about Urban patterns in MEDS.  There are again four pages on this site. Read them all to be able to answer these questions:

  1. What is the difference between  MEDS  and  LEDS?
  2. What is the meaning of urbanization?
  3. What is an urban area?
  4. What type of countries urbanise more quickly and why?
  5. What is counter-urbanization?
  6. What is the CBD in a city?
  7. What can you find there?
  8. Think of  a city like Seville and give examples of Seville's features of CBD.
  9. What are the two urban land models called?
  10. Give another name for Burgess model. What can you find in zone 5?   Is that true in your own city?
  11. What is the rural-urban fringe?   What is the name of the groups of houses you can find there?
  12. What do people in UK do to stop or control urban sprawl?
  13. As well as the movement of people out of the urban areas, business and services have also also moved .  Find examples of this in Seville.
  14. What is the main consequence of  this relocating factor in the cities?

     Now that you have finished, you are ready for the Test on Urban  patterns in MEDS

         What is your score? 

    FINAL TASK

     But urbanization can cause a number of problems such as transport congestion, lack of sufficient housing, over-rapid growth and environmental degradation.  Authorities should try to make cities more sustainable.  Find out the meaning of sustainable on this site and read the key features of a sustainable city. Then think of your city and write in which way things have to change to make it more sustainable. 

Lola   Aceituno