HUMAN ACTIVITIES AND SETTLEMENTS - 3

1. HUMAN ACTIVITIES AND SETTLEMENTS - 3 HUMAN SETTLEMENTS – 2 ORGANISATION OF SETTLEMENTS Dr. J. Kivelia Department of Geography University of Dar es Salaam

2. Outline • Spatial organisation of settlements • Organisation within individual settlements • Spatial organisation within a region • Hierarchical distributions • size hierarchies • functional hierarchies

3. 1. Organisation within individual settlements • Considers the layout of a settlement in relation to: • Location of homesteads from each other • Distance btn homesteads, paths/roads, etc. • Land use plans • Residential areas • Areas for economic production • Areas for basic social services, e.g. schools, health services, shops, administration, recreation, fuel supply, etc.

4. 2. Spatial organisation within a region • The way various settlements are distributed over a given region, • In relation to each other (distance between settlements) • In relation to urban settlements (towns) Such distributions have a bearing on the socio-economic development of settlements • Settlements distribution can be measured and analysed mathematically using the NNA

5. NNA – uses NNI values to analyse distribution • 0 = no distribution at all; v. compact, no space • 1 = Moderately randomly/regularly distributed • 2.15 = regularly distributed with max. spacing (NNI ≤ 1 = clustered; NNI ≥ 1 = sparsely distributed) • NNI = 2d¯√n/A Where: d¯ = mean distance between settlements in an area n = No. of settlements/villages in an area A = Size of the area

6. The distribution of settlements has implications for socio-economic development. Consider: • Provision of services like education, health, transport, power supply, etc. in compact Viz. dispersed settlements • Spatial interactions, including diffusion of innovations, new ideas, rural-urban linkages, etc. between distantly located settlements Viz. those located close to each other

7. Services provision esp. transport lines, power supply, etc. for distantly & dispersedly located settlements • Administration issues, including tax collection, etc. in compact Viz. dispersed settlements, and between distantly located settlements Viz. those located close to each other

8. 3. Hierarchical distribution • Hierarchical distribution analyses underscore that settlements have grown not at random but in a logical order, such that the resulting sizes and functions relate to an overall regularity • Two types of hierarchical distribution, namely: • Size hierarchies • Functional hierarchies

9. (a) Size hierarchies • Analyses of distribution of settlements based on Size hierarchies = Guided by the Rank-Size-Rule (RSR) • Devp’d by Aubacher 1913; also Zipf’s rule • Pop of nth city = 1/n the size of the largest city; i.e. Pn = P1/n; where n = rank of the city • Pop of 2nd city = ½ the pop of largest city • Pop of 4th city = ¼ the pop of largest city

10. In many regions, size hierarchies are not observed, i.e. do not follow the RSR. Consequently, they end up with irregular size hierarchies leading to: • Primate systems, • only one very large settlement, the remaining are very small, e.g. Largest city with pop of 4 million pple; 2nd largest with 1 million people, 3rd and remainders with less than 400,000 people • Binary systems • Several large cities (2 or more) with almost comparable pop size, the remaining v. small

11. Implications of Size hierarchies for development • Regular distribution, i.e. where RSR is observed, economic growth development is generally even within the region • When RSR is not observed, i.e. irregular distribution, there is uneven economic growth, with larger settlements growing at the expense of the smaller ones. For example:

12. In Primate Systems • Prosperity of primate cities do not go hand in hand with rigorous economic growth of their hinterlands. • Their economic growth offers very little opportunities for backward linkages (linkages with the hinterlands). They are parasitic (through taxation, GNP shares, etc.) • Rural areas contribute much to the development of the primate cities; the cities grow at the expense of the rural areas

13. Primate cities operate as a peripheral element in the core global-periphery economic relationships. • They are channels for the extraction/siphoning of surplus from the region (to their core metropolis) outside the region (dendritic patterns of transport lines).

14. The rapid growth of the primate cities leads to problems of urban management resulting from unchecked rural-urban migration • Congestion • Inadequate services • Proliferation of squatters • Degradation of the urban environment

15. The above implications of size distribution of urban settlements emphasize the need for deliberate planning at regional level/scale to redress the imbalance between the primate cities and the smaller settlements • It is argued that primacy is a stage of development, and with time it is reduced.

16. (b) Functional hierarchies • Analyses of distribution of settlements based on functional hierarchies is guided by Christaller’s (1933) Central Places Theory (CPT) • CPT underscores that: • Specialisation + division of labour = need for exchange of goods and services • Settlements providing goods/services = central places • Central Places (CPs) exist in a hierarchical order based on degree of: • Complexity of goods/services • Specialisation of goods/services

17. The hierarchy (of CPs) is in the order of: • Highest – widest range of goods/services • High – generally wide range • Low – low range of goods/services • Lowest – very low range of goods/services

18. The CPT assumes that: • In a region, CPs are located at certain points, but humans (customers) are spatially diffused • In locating a CP, there is need to: • Minimize distance traveled by customers • Maximise profit at CP • Larger sales require a large number of customers, hence a larger territory; but distant customers will incur higher transport costs. (transport costs = directly proportional to distance)

19. There are more goods/services and customers near CP, and they will decrease with increasing distance, until a point is reached where customers will not be willing to use the CP because of unfavourable distance. The distance beyond which customers will not use the CP is called The Range of Goods/Services The maximum population required to support a CP in terms of goods/services is The Threshold Size

20. Illustration CPs, Range of goods, Distance, Threshold Circles Hexagons

21. Key areas for revision - Settlements • Concept of settlements, growth & decay • Different ways of classification of settlements & how they eventually end up with TWO basic classes • The way various factors influence the choice of location of a settlement and the resulting patterns & morphologies, e.g. • Physical environment factors like water, topography, climate, etc. • Occupational/cultural factors,

22. Theories explaining urban settlement patterns and morphology – their relevance in explaining the patterns & morphology of urban settlements in Tanzania & other LDCs • Size distribution of urban settlements and their implication to socio-economic development – focus on Tanzania • Functional distribution of urban settlements and their implication to socio-economic development – focus on Tanzania

23. Key areas for revision – Human activities • Determinants of human activities and their spatial distribution • Typology of human activities – show & substantiate that classification is based on a continuum of increasing complexity of products/services and increasing distance from direct relationships with the natural environment