The impact of the Australian climate and geography on the first European settlers was generally harsh.
The settlers were not accustomed to the harsh climate and conditions.
They encountered low levels of rainfall, poor soils and faced land forms such as mountains and vegetation which were hard to travel through and manage.
The settlers found that the Australian continent was too large to travel in, which would have increased costs for transport and trade.
Victoria is by far the most densely populated Australian state, and it is surpassed only by New South Wales in total population.
However, Victoria’s rate of increase, especially since the later years of the 20th century.
More than half of Victoria’s population growth has been attributable to immigration from overseas, while natural increase has continued to decline.
Some residents have also been lost to interstate migration.
Isolated Dwelling - Just one home surrounded by countryside.
Hamlet - Perhaps a phone box and a few houses.
Village - Village shop, place of worship, post office.
Small Town - primary school, general store, bank, hotel
Large Town - Shopping centre, secondary school, college, cinema, sports centre,
City - Department stores, cathedral, university, football and other sports stadiums, airport.
Conurbation - A city that has expanded into the surrounding towns (urban sprawl) and is now one big settlement under one name.
The number of services that a settlement provides increases with settlement size.
Small settlements will only provide low-order services such as a post offices, doctors and newsagents. Large towns, cities and conurbations will provide low and high-order services such as leisure centres, chain stores and hospitals.
Larger settlements and conurbations have a much larger sphere of influence than smaller ones. This means they attract people from a wider area because of the facilities they offer. Cities such as Sydney have a global sphere of influence, whereas a small hamlet like or village, like Taradale, may only have a sphere of influence of a couple of kilometres.
Services such as department stores, like Myers, selling high order goods have a higher threshold than those selling low order goods such as newsagents. This means they need a higher number of people to support them and make them profitable, therefore they will only be found in larger settlements. It also means that there are fewer big department stores than small newsagents.
Use the template attached, make sure you compare SERVICE PROVISION with specific examples.
Is the settlement rural or urban?
How do you know?
Can you describe its location? (Site/situation)
What are its functions? Why does it have these functions?
How do you know?
Can you describe the variance between the different settlements
Can you explain the variance between the different settlements
Can you incorporate theory, such as range, threshold and sphere of influence?