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6.1 - Changes in rural settlements - content
6.1 - Changes in rural settlements - content
Contemporary issues in rural settlements in LICs, MICs and HICs, (e.g. depopulation, service provision) including the impacts of internal migration and the consequences of urban growth.
Settlement Hierarchy
Settlement Hierarchy
Can you identify each settlement type in the Google Earth Download below?
Rural settlements in countries across the development continuum have undergone considerable changes in recent decades for a number of reasons. These reasons include:
Rural–urban migration
Urban–rural migration
Technological change
Rural planning policies
The balance of government funding between urban and rural areas
Many rural areas continue to undergo population decline (rural depopulation). This process can create the negative feedback cycle illustrated below.
Rural Changes in LICs
Rural Changes in LICs
Change in rural areas in LICs
Most changes in rural areas in LICs are due to rural to urban migration. This process can have positive and negative effects.
Positive effects
Population decline in rural areas has reduced pressure on resources, such as food and water in these areas.
Unemployment tends to fall as a result of a smaller population, leading to less competition.
Remittances from people who have migrated to urban areas can provide a large proportion of familial income.
Negative effects
Public (government-provided) and private services close when populations decline, as a result of lack of economic feasibility.
Rural communities age rapidly, as younger more mobile residents are more likely to migrate to urban areas.
Agricultural productivity can fall as a result of labour shortages.
Development schemes tend to focus on more high-profile urban areas, whilst rural areas are ignored or forgotten.
Natural resources and land are often exploited by TNCs or the government, especially in areas where rural communities have few legal rights.
Rural Changes in HICs
Rural Changes in HICs
Changes in rural areas in HICs
• The rural idyll is an idea that people have in their head of the perfect countryside area in an HIC
• Rural society is perceived to be distinctly different from urban society, e.g. – Close community, strong family ties, agricultural, less crime, peaceful. This rural idyll is not as true now as it may once have been due to changes in rural environments.
Main changes in rural settlements in HICs (UK)
1. Rural population has changed in character (gentrification) – the countryside has been repopulated by middle-class groups who took advantage of cheaper housing in the countryside in the 1960’s and 70’s and who now exert a strong influence over the areas they have moved to in terms of the types of services provided.
2. The economy is no longer dominated by agriculture and employment in agriculture reduced– Although farmland takes up 73% of the land area of the UK, less than 2% of the workforce are now employed in agriculture! This is down from 6.1% in 1950. This is mainly due to the increase in mechanization on farms.
3. Farm diversification- As many farmers have struggled to make a living from traditional agricultural practices, a growing number have begun to diversify. This is where they create activities on their land to gain additional income e.g. tourism and recreation such as rent out land for camping or have a farm visitor centre.
4. Higher house prices and lack of affordable housing- As richer middle classes have moved to rural areas, this has increased demand for housing and therefore the house prices have risen in some rural areas. This has meant some original families can no longer afford the housing.
5. Formation of metropolitan/suburbanised villages (due to counterurbanisation)– As counterurbanisation has occurred with people moving out of cities to the countryside, there has been a growth of some villages around the city where people have moved to enjoy the rural areas but still be able to commute to work in the city. These larger villages are often called suburbanised or metropolitan villages
6. Rural depopulation – This was occuring in the past when people began to leave rural areas to move to the city, however this process is being reversed with the process of counterurbanisation.
7. Decline of rural services– Services such as shops, healthcare and education have been declining in rural areas in MEDCs for a number of decades. This has had a massive impact on people in rural areas, particularly those without a car. They have begun to shut due to the increase in large supermarkets close to villages which those with a car can access so they no longer use village shops, and also due to new residents in rural areas still using services from the urban areas they came from.
8. Reduction of public transport- The increase in car ownership in recent decades has meant that public transport such as buses have reduced as fewer people were using it. However, this means people without a car have become isolated
Settlement - Key terms
Settlement - Key terms
Settlement: is a place where people live. A settlement may be as small as a single house in a remote area or as a large as a megacity (a city with over 10 million residents).
Site: is the actual location of a settlement on the earth and is composed of the physical characteristics of the landscape specific to the area. Site factors include things like landforms (the area may protected by mountains or have natural harbour), climate, vegetation types, availability of water, soil quality, minerals, and even wildlife.
Situation: is defined as the location of a place relative to its surroundings and other places. Factors included in an area's situation include the accessibility of the location, the extent of a place's connections with another, and how close an area may be to raw materials if they are not located specifically on the site.
Urban: A built-up area. What is considered urban can vary from location to location, however, urban areas share certain characteristics. They are typically built up, have a high population density, form a transport hub and provide goods and services for the surrounding area.
Rural: The 'countryside' (everywhere outside urban areas). Rural areas may be farmland, forest, desert or savanna depending on where you are in the world. Rural areas do contain small settlements of less e.g. hamlets and villages.
Settlement Hierarchy: One way of arranging settlements into a hierarchy based upon specific criteria such as population size or provision of services.
High Order (Comparison) Goods: Goods that people buy infrequently. They tend to be more expensive and people will normally compare quality and price before purchasing e.g. a phone, car or holiday. They may also include specialist goods such as custom-built equipment like a bespoke suit.
Low Order (Convenience) Goods: Goods that people buy frequently. They don't usually cost much money and people would not normally travel far to buy them e.g. bread and milk.
Services: Facilities that are offered to people e.g. supermarket, cinema, school or train station. Services have a threshold population, which helps explain why bigger settlements have a greater variety and number of services. Services, like goods, can be low or high order, for example, a barbershop is considered a low order service whereas a solicitor would be considered a high order service.
Threshold Population: The minimum number of people necessary before a particular good or service can be provided in an area.
Sphere of influence: The area that people are prepared to travel from to access a service, or buy goods.
Counterurbanisation: The process of population decentralisation, as people move from large urban areas to smaller urban settlements and rural areas.
Rural depopulation: The decrease in population of rural areas, whether by out-migration or by falling birth rates (as young people move away, usually to urban areas).
Green belts: Areas of open land retained round a city or town over which there are wide-ranging planning restrictions on development.
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