Settlement Geography: Key Definitions and Urban Planning Terms

Key Concepts in Settlement Geography

Types of Settlements and Patterns

Rural Settlement Definitions

• Rural Settlement: A type of settlement where people live in villages or in isolated houses in the countryside.
• Hamlet (Aldea): A rural settlement, smaller than a village, with fewer inhabitants.
• Caserío: An isolated rural home or farm with additional buildings, typically surrounded by fields of crops.
• Nucleated Settlement: A settlement pattern where the population lives concentrated in villages.
• Nucleated Village: A village in which houses are built around a central point (e.g., a square).
• Linear Village: A village in which houses are situated on both sides of a transport link.
• Dispersed Settlement: A settlement pattern where the population lives in separate houses, farms, or hamlets, scattered around the countryside.
• Interspersed Settlement: Isolated buildings located between established villages.

Urban Settlement Definitions

• Urban Settlement: A type of settlement where people live in towns and cities.
• Agrotown: A town with more than 10,000 inhabitants, most of whom work primarily in crop farming.
• Dormitory Town: A town mostly inhabited by commuters who travel to work elsewhere.

Urban Structure and Connectivity

City Size and Regional Relationships

• Situation: The position of the city in relation to other places (its external geographical context).
• Conurbation: A large, almost continuous urban area formed by two or more neighboring cities joining, but remaining administratively independent.
• Megalopolis: A very large urban area formed by several conurbations joining together.
• Metropolitan Area: An urban area comprising a main city (*metropolis*) and other smaller, nearby urban nuclei.

City Zones and Functions

• Historic Centre: The oldest part of a city, formed by old buildings; the area where the city originated.
• Outskirts: The parts of the city that are located away from the center.
• Industrial Park (Polígono Industrial): An industrial area on the outskirts of a city containing factories, warehouses, and related facilities.
• Services: Economic activities that do not produce tangible goods but provide services to meet the needs of the population.
• Rush Hour: The time of day with the heaviest traffic congestion.

Urban Planning and Layouts

City Plan Terminology

• Plan: A graphic representation showing the distribution of built-up areas and open spaces.
• Orthogonal Plan: Consists of straight, wide streets that cross at right angles (a grid pattern).
• Radiocentric Plan: Consists of a central point from which streets radiate, crossed by others that form concentric circles.
• Irregular Plan: Does not have a defined shape and is formed by short, narrow streets and alleys of irregular layout.
• Checkerboard Plan (Tablero de Damas): Board used for playing checkers that consists of square, black and white boxes. (Note: This definition refers specifically to the game board.)