set·tle·ment
/ˈsedlmənt/
a place, typically one that has hitherto been uninhabited, where people establish a community.
"the little settlement of Buttermere"
The area now known as Alberta has been inhabited by various Native American (First Nations) groups for at least 10,000 years. European explorers first appeared in the 1750s as the fur trade expanded across western North America. Two rivals, the Hudson’s Bay Company and the North West Company, began building trading posts in the last quarter of the 18th century along the major northern rivers—the Athabasca, North Saskatchewan, and Peace. From 1821, when the companies merged, until 1870, when this region was transferred to the Dominion of Canada, the Hudson’s Bay Company controlled and governed the area, which was populated by First Nations people, Métis, and a few European fur traders, missionaries, and settlers.
Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. (n.d.). History of Alberta. Encyclopædia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/place/Alberta-province/History.
FIrst Nations' peoples share their points of view toward how places come to be "settled." The video above is an example of a legend told by elders about how North America came to be.
No matter what perspective we talk about and look at the subject of settlement from, there are common reasons that places are chosen for settlement.
Ekistics is a fancy word to describe the study of all kinds of human settlements and the formulation of general conclusions aimed at achieving harmony between the inhabitants of a settlement and their physical and sociocultural environments. Basically, ekistics is the study of why people settle where they do; what causes them to choose a particular place to call home.
There are five basic elements of human settlement: nature, including physical geography, soil resources, water resources, plant and animal life, and climate; human biological and emotional needs, sensations and perceptions, and moral values; society, including population characteristics, social stratification, cultural patterns, economic development, education, health and welfare, and law and administration; shells, or structures, in which people live and function, such as housing, schools, hospitals, shopping centres and markets, recreational facilities, civic and business centres, and industries; and networks, or systems, that facilitate life and day-to-day functions of inhabitants such as water and power systems, transportation networks, communication systems, and the settlement’s physical layout.
Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. (n.d.). Ekistics. Encyclopædia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/ekistics.
Beyond ensuring we can provide for our basic needs here in our community of Red Deer, are there other reasons why we've all chosen to call Red Deer our home?
Human beings have certain basic needs. We must have food, water, air, and shelter to survive. If any one of these basic needs is not met, then humans cannot survive. Are there other needs that we have that may not be as "basic?"