Settlement hierarchy

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Settlement Hierarchy

A settlement hierarchy arranges settlements in order of importance, with individual farms and hamlets at the bottom and the single largest city, which is usually the capital, at the top. Three different measures are often used:

  • The size of settlement in terms of its population
  • The range and numbers of services
  • The sphere of influence or the size of the area served by the settlement

Services

The shops and services in a settlement provide the local population with its needs. The larger a settlement, the more services are needed to provide for the population. The diagram opposite suggests a hierarchy based upon the services in settlements of different sizes.

  • Convenience (low order) – goods shops which sell the necessities, basic foodstuffs for example bread, meat and vegetables which must be purchased frequently. These goods have a low range as customers are not prepared to travel far to obtain them. Convenience goods shops have a low threshold population; this is the minimum number of customers needed for a shop for it to be successful. They are most likely to be situated in small local centres.
  • Comparative (high order) – goods shops and specialist stores (department stores) on the other hand, sell both consumer durable goods which are bought less frequently such as furniture and electrical goods. Comparative shops tend to group together in large centres. Both categories of shops, however, offer high order goods and services which have a wider range and higher threshold population than convenience goods stores. So therefore comparative stores compete for the more beneficial sites in the larger shopping centres in a town.
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The following types of services can be identified:

  • Local centre – this is the lowest order centre and consists of a small group of low order shops selling convenience goods.
  • Neighbourhood centre –there are likely to be a few specialist stores but convenience goods shops will predominate.
  • Community or district centres - there is a higher proportion of specialist stores selling goods and services with a wider range because people are prepared to travel farther to obtain them.
  • Regional centre – Comparative goods and specialist stores predominate and convenience goods are ...

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