Settlement Hierarchy

A settlement hierarchy is a way of arranging settlements into a hierarchy based upon their population or some other criteria. The term is used by landscape historians and in the National Curriculum [ [http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/local/secondary/docs/geo9.doc Geography, Year 8, Unit 9] ] for England. The term is also used in the planning system for the UK and for some other countries such as Ireland, India and Swaziland. The term was used without comment by the geographer Brian Roberts in 1972 [B. K. Roberts, "Village plans in County Durham", (Medieval Archaeology, Volume XVI, 1972)] .

The greater the population in a settlement, the larger geographic area, the higher the status and the greater the availability of services. Position in a settlement hierarchy can also depend on the sphere of influence. This is how far people will travel to use the services in the settlement, if people travel further the town becomes more important and ranks higher in settlement hierarchy.

Example of a settlement hierarchy

In this example, an isolated building is at the lowest point, and a conurbation is at the top with the greatest number of people.

*Conurbation/metropolitan area – a supercity consisting of multiple cities and towns. The population would generally be several million.
*Large City – a city with a large population and many services. The population would be >1 million people.
*City – a city would have abundant services, but not as many as a large city. The population would be over 100,000 people.
*Large town – a large town would have a population of 20,000 up to 100,000
*Town – a town would have a population of 1,000 up to 20,000
*Village – a village would not have many services, possibly only a small corner shop or post office. The population would likely be in the hundreds.
*Hamlet – a hamlet has a tiny population (<100) and very few (if any) services, and few buildings.
*Isolated dwelling – an isolated dwelling would only have 1 or 2 buildings or families in it. It would have negligible services, if any.

Problems with concept of a settlement hierarchy

Using size of a settlement can be misleading in some cases as not all population boundaries fit. Some cities (eg Norwich) have a smaller population than some towns (eg Luton). In addition, there is no agreement as to the number of levels in the hierarchy or what they should be called. Many terms used to describe settlements (eg village) have no legal definition.

Hierarchy and Status

Position in an accepted settlement hierarchy implies status [Michael Aston, "Interpreting the Landscape" (Routledge, reprinted 1998, page 44)] which in turn reinforces the position of the settlement in the hierarchy. Status can derive from being the residence of a King or high ranking member of the nobility or from being the location of a major religious establishment. A formal hierarchy of settlements appears to have been common in 10th century England [Andrew Reynolds, "Later Anglo-Saxon England" (Tempus, paperback edition 2002, page 81)] . The centre of an estate (often called a "caput") could be supported by subsidiary settlements sometimes given specialised roles. For example, a Saxon royal estate might be supported by settlements specialising in production of cheese or barley or maintaining flocks of sheep [ Della Hooke, "The Landscape of Anglo-Saxon England" (Leicester University Press, reprinted 2001, page 52)] .

ettlement hierarchy in the UK planning system

The position of a settlement in the hierarchy is intended to inform decisions about new developments such as housing. Rather than define the hierarchy by population, an alternative way to construct the hierarchy is based on the services that are available within each settlement. Settlements are described as "level 1", "level 2", etc rather than using terms such as village or town [ [http://www.eera.gov.uk/Documents/About%20EERA/Policy/Planning%20and%20Transport/PlanHome/PlanTranStud/GeoStud/LSC/M11Corr/KeyIss/Map2.07.pdf EERA planning map] ] . The Government planning statement (PPS3) does not specifically mention "settlement hierarchies", but talks about the availability of services to small rural settlements. The term is used a number of times in the guidance for preparing evidence for planning decisions.

ee also

*Ekistics

Notes

External links

* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/geography/urbanrural/settlementtypesrev5.shtml "BBC - GCSE Bitesize | Settlement hierarchy"]