History of Urban settlements

History of Urban Settlements

Lecture 1: Introduction to Urban Settlements Lawrence Ogunsanya lawrencesanya@yahoo.com

Definition: Urban Settlements

History of Urban settlements
Urban Settlement : a geographical area constituting a city or town An urban settlement is an area that is more densely populated than surrounding areas An urban settlement is characterized by higher population density and vast human features in comparison to areas surrounding it. Urban areas may be cities, towns or metropolitans Urban settlements feature an abundance of manmade structures as opposed to rural areas, which contain more open space.

Origins of urban settlements:

History of Urban settlements
Around 10,000 years ago the Neolithic humans began to stop living nomadic lifestyles and began to establish permanent settlements In order for these settlements to grow they needed: A favourable physical environment Advances in technology Social organization Population growth

Origins of urban settlements:

History of Urban settlements
A favourable physical environment. The river valleys provided: fresh water (drinking, cooking, washing, irrigation). Fertile alluvial soils for farming, food supply and a mode of transport for trade Advances in technology. Overtime the development of technology meant that humans were able to go from small scale farming (just for their families) to having surplus food left to trade. Over time advances were made and other industries began to establish themselves e.g. leather, cloth and mining. Social Organisation. Rules and laws were important in early urban settlements. They provided peace, security and order. Population Growth. At the most around 10 million people lived in these early Neolithic settlements. By 1650 AD it had reached about 500 million

Formation of urban settlements:

History of Urban settlements Urban settlements are formed or developed through the following reasons: Physical environment Religious Cultural Political/Military Economic

Formation of urban settlements:

History of Urban settlements
Physical environment river , fertile ground

Maliseet village , South America

Formation of urban settlements:

History of Urban settlements
Ancient Egypt and the river nile

Formation of urban settlements:

History of Urban settlements
Religious - churches, temples, graves

Vatican: Rome

Mount temple: Jerusalem

Formation of urban settlements:

History of Urban settlements
Cultural Heritage sites, ancient civilisations

Athens , Greece

Ile Ife, Nigeria

Formation of urban settlements:

History of Urban settlements
Political/Military King or leaders house, defensive walls

Forbidden city, Beijing

Formation of urban settlements:

History of Urban settlements
Economic Cities or ports of trade and economic activities

Antioch, Turkey

Ancient urban settlements

History of Urban settlements
Prior to modern times most settlements were initially rural then grew into urban areas. First Urban Settlement recorded, Mesopotamia (Iraq)

Other Early Cities: Mycenae, Troy, & Isle of Crete in Greece were Settlements along the worlds great rivers

Ancient urban settlements

History of Urban settlements
Athens - first city over 100,000 by the 5th century BC over 300,000

Ancient urban settlements

History of Urban settlements
Rome - center of a world empire in 200 BC-400 AD

Ancient urban settlements

History of Urban settlements
Medieval Europe - after the fall of Rome, urbanization decrease patterns of castles, walls & narrow street compact space surrounded by walls

Ancient urban settlements

History of Urban settlements
Renaissance-Baroque Cities
Renaissance 15-16th centuries, Baroque 16-18th centuries Development of wide avenues & monuments

Ancient urban settlements

History of Urban settlements
Industrial City

Urban structure Models

History of Urban settlements
Urban structure models are used to help explain where different types of people tend to live in urban areas and the use of land. There are 3 types: Concentric, sector and nuclei models Concentric Zone Model Conceived by E.W. Burgess (1923) City grows outward from a central area in a series of concentric rings Precise size and width of rings vary, but basic types of rings appear in all cities in the same orders

Urban structure Models

History of Urban settlements
Sector Model Developed by Homer Hoyt (1939) City develops in sectors, not rings As cities grow, they do so outward in a wedge from the center

Urban structure Models

History of Urban settlements
Multiple Nuclei Model Conceived by C.D. Harris and E.L. Ullman (1945) Cities are complex structures which has more than one center around which activities revolve Some activities are attracted to certain nodes while others try to avoid them Incompatible land-use activities avoid locating in the same area

Urban structure Models

History of Urban settlements

Durban

History of Urban settlements

Questions