Understanding Rural and Urban Settlements: A Geographic Perspective

Posted on May 2, 2024 in Geography

Lecture 10: Rural Settlements

Culture and Cultural Adaptation

Culture refers to the way of life of a group of people, and cultural adaptation describes how each group adapts to their local environment in unique ways. Studying rural settlements is crucial because:

  1. Rural locations still house a significant portion of the world’s population, particularly in Africa, Asia, and Oceania.
  2. Urbanization, the shift towards urban living, is a relatively recent phenomenon.
  3. Forms of settlement provide insights into culture and cultural adaptation.

Rural Settlement Types

There are two main types of rural settlements:

  1. Dispersed settlements: Characterized by isolated farmsteads, often connected to agricultural activity and land ownership. Examples include the North American pioneers.
  2. Clustered settlements: Also known as nucleated settlements, these were the first cities and include hamlets, towns, and villages. They vary in size and model, such as linear, string, cluster, grouped, or skeleton.

Issues in Rural Settlements

Rural settlements face several challenges, including:

  • Depopulation: Industrialization attracts people to cities for work, while mechanization reduces the need for farm workers. The closure of resource-based industries and the draw of regional economic centers further contribute to depopulation.
  • Youth outward migration: Young people often move to cities for education, jobs, family prospects, lifestyle needs, and recreation.
  • Service deserts and aging populations: School and service closures, limited retail options, and difficult healthcare access impact remaining residents.

Counter-Rural Repopulation

Despite these challenges, some rural areas are experiencing repopulation due to factors such as:

  1. Young adults returning to marry and raise families.
  2. Changes in work geography, with remote work becoming more common.
  3. Affordability concerns in urban areas, with rising rents and house prices.
  4. Development pressures pushing beyond urban greenbelts.

Changes in Repopulating Rural Places

Repopulating rural areas are undergoing transformations, including:

  • Newer housing forms: Gated communities and subdivisions are becoming more prevalent.
  • Rapid development: This puts stress on local governments to provide adequate transit, policing, and sewage services.
  • Changing populations and cultural mixing: Aging populations, young families, and “hipster hobby farmers” create a diverse mix of residents.

Lecture 11: Urbanization and Cities

Urbanization can lead to social isolation, contrasting with the communal nature of rural life.

Defining a City

Cities are characterized by:

  • Large, dense, and concentrated populations.
  • Centers of technological and cultural change and innovation.
  • Hubs of economic activity.
  • Reflections of political, social, and economic diversity.

Cities in Historical Context

The emergence of cities is a relatively recent development in human history, following millions of years of rural living and the agricultural revolution around 12,000 years ago.

First Cities: Mesopotamia

The first cities emerged in Mesopotamia around 3500 BCE, driven by agricultural surplus, labor specialization, and trade.

The Agricultural Surplus Theory

This theory suggests that the transition from nomadic to agricultural societies led to surplus food and labor, enabling the development of urban societies with specialized roles and social stratification.

Cities as Trading Centers

Many early cities grew as key trading centers due to their strategic locations and accessibility.

Civilization

Civilization is characterized by agriculture, cities, food and labor surplus, labor specialization, social stratification, and state organization.

Lecture 12: Urban Growth and Structure

Urban Area

An urban area is the built-up area surrounding and including a city, defined by population density and economic activity.

Urban Change

Urban change is measured by relative and absolute growth. Urbanization refers to the increasing proportion of the population living in urban areas, while urban growth refers to the increase in the absolute size of urban areas.

Today’s Urbanization Levels

Urbanization levels vary globally, with North America, Europe, Oceania, and Japan exceeding 75%, while regions like East Africa and South Asia have lower urbanization rates.

Urbanism

Urbanism describes the complex social and economic ways of life associated with urban areas.

Megacities

Megacities are urban areas with 10 million or more inhabitants, often located in Less Developed World regions.

Urban Structure

Urban structure refers to the arrangement of land uses in cities, influenced by factors such as urban morphology, layout, organization, and density.

Urban Models

Several models describe urban structure, including the Concentric Zone Model, Sector Model, and Multiple Nuclei Model.

Lecture 13: Urban Landscapes and Residential Patterns

Urban Landscapes

Typical urban landscapes include downtown areas, residential areas, industrial areas, and commercial areas.

Neighborhoods

Neighborhoods are characterized by housing homogeneity, shared social values, and similarities in income and ethnicity.

Residential Mobility

People move for various reasons, including changes in the social-cultural character of neighborhoods. The Burgess model of Chicago in the 1920s illustrates how rapid growth and population mixing can impact residential patterns.

Filtering

Filtering refers to the process of housing units being passed down to different income groups. Downward filtering can lead to urban decay and abandonment, while upward filtering, or gentrification, occurs when higher-income residents move into inner-city neighborhoods.

Charter and Minority Groups

The charter group is the dominant cultural group in an urban area, while minority groups differ from the general population.

Residential Segregation

Residential segregation can be involuntary, resulting from structural constraints and discrimination, or voluntary, driven by a desire to preserve culture, access mutual support, and minimize conflict.

Lecture 14: Poverty and Informal Settlements

Causes of Poverty

Poverty can be attributed to economic factors, such as insufficient income, and cultural factors, such as behaviors that perpetuate poverty. Societal and institutional factors, like discrimination and redlining, also contribute to poverty.

Ghettos

Ghettos are urban residential districts with a concentration of low-income ethnic minority groups, often facing issues like abandonment, decay, disinvestment, crime, and violence.

Slums

Slums are heavily populated urban settlements characterized by poor living conditions, crime, and a lack of basic necessities. Slum residents often face health problems, unemployment, and inadequate infrastructure.

Gated Communities

Gated communities are high-status residential subdivisions with restricted access and security measures.

Informal Settlements

Informal settlements are concentrations of temporary dwellings, typically located at the city’s periphery, where residents neither own nor rent the land.