GCSE Settlement Vocabulary

Below is a list of key words you will need to know for your examination

Site the physical land on which a settlement is built

Situation the settlement in relation to its surrounding area

Wet-point sites the site of a settlement close to a water supply such as a spring line settlement on chalk escarpment

Dry-point sites the site of a settlemetn which avoids land prone to flooding such as a gravel mound or the valley side

Bridging points a settlement located where a river is forded or bridged

Route Focus where communications focus i.e. roads and railways converge

Catchment area the area that a school, shop or settlement serves

Hinterland the area surrounding a settlement, port etc

Convenience goods goods which are cheap and bought frequently e.g. furniture

Comparisson goods goods which are expensive and bought less frequently e.g. furniture

Communter or dormitory villages villages on the outskirts of a town or city

Millionaire cities cities with over 1 million people where people live but travel to work in the city

Megacities cities with over 5 million people

Informal sector in LEDC’s many people work in the informal sector as shoeshine boys, servants etc

Urban land uses the use of land in towns and cities

Zones areas of land with similar uses

Central Business District (CBD) the heart of a city where the financial and business interests are

Morphology the arrangement of land uses in an urban area.  Different land uses tend to be in distinct zones rather than jumbled up

Burgess’ model a model of urban structure

Hoyt’s model a model of urband structure

Inner city the urban zone outside the CBD in MEDC’s

Suburbs a mainly residential area outside of the innter city in MEDC’s

Rural-urban fringe on the outskirts of an urban area beyond the suburbs where there is a mixture of rural land uses and urban land uses

Recreational facilities sports fields, clubs and leisure complexes

Industrial estates zones of light industry often on the fringes of towns

Core of the CBD the heart of the CBD where the large department stores are located

Frame of the CBD the outer area of the CBD with smaller shops and offices

Decentralization the outward movement of shops and offices from the CBD to the suburbs

Hobby farming small pockets of land in the rural urban fringe owned by townspeople and used for market gardening

Horsiculture the increasing ownership of horses by towns people

Self Help Schemes in LEDCs people who live in shanty towns often improve their homes by building them

Periferia a housing zone in Sao Paulo where shanties have been upgraded

Green Belt an area of land around a large town or city protected from development in an attempt to halt the expansion of towns into the coutryside.

Counter Urbanisation

Rennovation

Gentrification