3.1 Changes in rural settelements Flashcards
What are there unemployment issues in rural areas?
unemployment and underemployment - often in agriculture. Population growth and resulting pressures. Urbanisation leads to depopulation, low capital investment - creates vicious cycle. Lack fertiliser, decreased yields, lower outputs and sales, less investment and less fertiliser in cycle. Human diseases are also a huge factor in the workforce as they reduce the amount of people who can work as well as kill people. Wars and government corruption also have significant effects on investment and wellbeing.
Why are there issues in supplying services in rural areas?
Provision of services: lack clean piped water, sewerage, electricity, roads, clinics and schools. May also be food shortages due to soil exhaustion, drought, flooding, cyclones, pests, diseases, use of biofuels. Social changes may have also caused problems as young people may want to move out of rural areas. Also, land allocation systems may be unequal and cause failures in crops.
Why have there been changes in rural settlements? What are they normally like?
Rural urban migration, urban rural migration, urban growth, technological changes, rural planning policies (greenbelt), balance of government funding between rural/urban areas.
Traditionally, rural areas are close knit, homogenous communities with similar language, beliefs, opinions, family ties, religion. The class differences are less pronounced and there is much less mobility so in a social sense it is more tightly knit and harder to move up in employment.
What are some key features for the development of rural sites? (and sites in general as they start as rural)
Site - land it’s built on, including gradient, aspect, water, bridge points, fjords, natural resources and situation - transport routes, agricultural productivity
Agriculture: most villages start as agricultural settlements to provide food however as commercial farming grew settlements became dispersed around the land owned by those living there. On better settlements, there were nucleated patterns around key features.
Mining, fishing, tourism, defence, good altitudes, aspect, soils, water supply, drainage and flooding as well accessibility - linear settlements develop along transport routes
What are farmers doing to reduce decline?
73% of land use yet 2% of employment and the size of farms are rising but employment is decreasing and wages are falling so farmers try to diversify farms, introducing tourism, holidays, recreational centres, museums, restaurants, marketing, delivery, processing, resources, lakes, livestock, crop yields improving which may have all tried to further develop
Why is there decline in agriculture?
Mechanisation reduces employment, lower wages, unemployment and fewer opportunities, poor quality services shut down due to falling populations, lack of demand, high transport costs - services more expensive, average age increases.
These factors all create a downward spiral of depopulation. Space may also be lost for recreation, tourism and environmental conservation. The in-migration of the middle class has pushed up house prices and changes the market, leading to gentrification eroding away local communities.
What is the social hierarchy of settlements?
Conurbation, Capital City, City, Town, Village, Hamlet, Isolated Dwelling
How do metropolitan villages form?
There is an original village core which then leads to development of infills, modifications and accretions around the core. Ribbon development occurs around main roads extending from the core and the adjuncts develop beyond the infills and modifications around the core but not on main roads. Isolates may also be build outside of the area.
What is the general model of rural depopulation?
Unmarried adults migrate out of the area for better opportunities -> population decreases, ages and births fall below replacement -> reduced demand and services -> key social provisions cut -> loss of services induce more out migration -> ageing population -> more unmarried people migrate
What is counter urbanisation?
Reversal of rural urban migration - in migration section. In most HICs people move for many complex reasons. People often are pulled out of cities within the commuting range just beyond green belts, causing rural settlements to grow substantially and creating metropolitan villages in the Hudson model which have changed character.
What may be the impacts of counter urbanisation?
High housing costs allow people to sell city properties and buy larger houses in the countryside, increasing the population.
New transport links like motorways mean that main cities are interconnected to the countryside, causing businesses and services to expand due to increased demand.
The original population resent the bigger population and services may shut down. Life is congested and fuel usage has implications on the environment.
Many of those who live in the village buy goods from outside the area and work outside the area, causing leakage and not bringing much to the area in terms of value. Wealthy pensioners continue to this problem as they do not work, and create ageing populations - services shut down, roads are busier, community and old buildings are lost and house prices rise.
Advantages may be that it reduces pressure, limits unemployment and underemployment, provides valuable source of income through remittances.
What are the 4 main problems of counter urbanisation?
Services: decline in industry due to arrival of supermarkets and better alternatives. Residents also more mobile so travel further and have different shopping patterns and expectations so previous services decline
Transport: car ownership reduces investment into public transport affecting poor, elderly and young in rural areas as the costs rise due to less usage and increased congestion
Housing: lack of affordable housing so young often move to market towns or larger urban centres - locals may be driven out of the area.
What are disadvantages of rural-urban migration?
Depopulation, ageing population, closure of services - public and private, insufficient labour to maintain agricultural industry.
What factors have caused rural poverty?
Political instability, conflict, discrimination, property rights, asymmetrical land ownership, corruption, economic policies discriminating against rural poor, large and rapidly growing families, external shocks like climatic change and economic issues.
What are the positive and negatives of second home ownership?
Positives: new employment opportunities, new business and customers, specialised shops to cater for residents, less demand on local services as leave area, pay taxes, renovated old buildings, rural residents sell of high value land.
Negatives: new costs such as sewerage, water, electricity lines + maintenance, higher (house) prices, future schemes hindered by higher land prices, agricultural land split up by other uses, visual degradation, destruction of environment, distracts local workforce from local area, different values may cause resentments.
