Human Settlements: Urban and Rural Characteristics

Characteristics of Human Settlements

Human settlements can be classified into two groups:

• Urban Settlements: This group includes towns, cities, metropolises, and megacities. Their functions are:
  • To be political and administrative centers
  • To be secondary and tertiary economic centers
  • To be key transportation facilities and communication centers
  • To be centers of social interaction
• Rural Settlements: This group includes concentrated settlements and dispersed settlements. Their functions are linked to:
  • Food production
  • Extraction of raw materials
  • Secondary economic activities

Cities are a human phenomenon; they do not arise spontaneously but originate in a historical process.

Urban Features

The urban environment is defined as a set of special conditions formed by the group of buildings and people living there permanently.

The Most Important Features of the Urban Environment

a) The city as a population phenomenon: Every city implies the existence of a human crowd. The number of people indicates the size and importance of a city:

• Urban Settlements: According to the settlement population size, it may be a city, town, or a resort (city: >5000 inhabitants, people: between 2001 and 5000 inhabitants, and center: over 250 homes) and dominated by secondary and tertiary economic activities.
• Cabins: As the number of inhabitants are mostly villages (between 301 and 1000 inhabitants). Primary economic activities predominate.

b) The city as heterogeneous media and forms of social organization: In every village, several classes and social groups differ in culture, income level, etc.

c) The city is a construction: Where urban styles of each era coexist.

d) The city as a center of economic activities.

e) The city as a center of social interaction: The city is made up of a wide variety of neighborhoods that interact with each other. The districts are ranked according to land use: They can be residential, commercial, historical, industrial, and/or recreational.

f) The city as a demographic phenomenon: In the city, there is a predominance of the female population, a predominance of the adult population, and the abandonment of downtown by the resident population.

Cities and Their Diversity

The urban morphology indicates the form or appearance which urban centers have. The elements of the morphology are the location and street plan of the city, the level of cities, and their historical origin.

According to the site, it is possible to rank cities according to their degree of closeness to the coast.

According to the plans, the different types of structuring of cities can be identified.

Functions of Urban Centers in Chile

Urban centers can be distinguished by a particular function:

• Urban Function
• Specialized Function (mining town, tourist town, religious sanctuary city, industrial city, etc.)
• Multi-function (large cities)