Settlement & Services Hierarchy
Settlement hierarchy
- A hierarchy is when settlements are ordered and classified based on three principles:
- Population size
- Number of services provided
- Number of settlements
- Move up the hierarchy, and fewer settlements are found
- However, the population, number and types of services provided do increase
- The hierarchy follows a path:
- Dispersed ⇒ Hamlets ⇒ Villages ⇒ Market towns ⇒ Large towns ⇒ Cities ⇒ Conurbations ⇒ Megacities
- The result is a pyramid-shaped model, where there are more cities than megacities and more villages than towns
Services hierarchy
- All settlements offer certain functions and services - the basics of life such as bread, milk, eggs etc.
- The number of services provided by a settlement will be dictated by its size, both physical and population
- The minimum number of people necessary before a particular good or service will be provided in the area is called the threshold population
- A small village or hamlet with a small populous will only provide low-order services such as a post office, general store, pub and possibly a doctor
- Towns will provide low and high-order services such as a church, medical centre, garages, schools and restaurants
- Cities and conurbations will focus on high-order services such as leisure centres, schools, churches, chain stores and hospitals
- There are exceptions to this:
- Some places may have more services than average, such as a small seaside resort
- Others can have less, such as a commuter or dormitory town
Sphere of influence
- This is the area that a settlement serves, also known as a catchment area
- It is the range (distance) that people will travel to obtain a particular service or product
- The larger the settlement, the greater the influence (usually)
- A hamlet or village would normally have a low sphere of influence and therefore, a small field of services
- However, if that village is a tourist spot, then its sphere of influence could be greater than a town
- Low-order goods – things that are bought regularly, such as milk or bread. People are not prepared to travel far to buy a convenience good and there is no real saving in shopping around, the extra cost of ‘shopping around’ outweighs any savings that may be made
- High-order goods – comparison goods such as electrical goods and furniture that the shopper will buy only after making a comparison between various models and different shops. A high threshold population is needed to sustain a shop selling comparison goods, and people are prepared to travel some distance to obtain the goods
