settlement

Aspect The direction a slope faces. In the northern hemisphere a slope with a south-facing slope receives more light and heat from the sun.

Central Business District (CBD) the city centre with shops, offices and entertainments. An area with high population density during the day and high rise buildings.

Conurbation a very large city or group of cities where millions of people live e.g. The West Midlands Conurbation, Wolverhampton, Birmingham and Solihull,

Dry point settlement a site on a gravel mound or valley side that avoids land prone to
settlement flooding.

Function of a settlement the purpose or �work� of a settlement such as a market town a port or a tourist resort.

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

Hierarchy settlements arranged in order of importance, usually based upon population
settlement size, services or sphere of influence.

Inner city The zone around the CBD. In Britain it developed during the Industrial            Revolution when factories were built with many rows of terraced houses to house the workers. A zone of redevelopment today.

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

Rural-Urban Fringe On the outskirts of an urban area beyond the suburbs where there is a mixture of rural and urban land uses.

Settlement A place where people live, anything from an isolated farm to a vast sprawling urban area called a megalopolis.

Shanty town A squatter settlement, slum-like and often illegal, often sited on the fringes of large cities in LEDCs.

Site The physical land on which a settlement is built.

Sphere of Influence The distance people are prepared to travel to use shops and services in a settlement.Sometimes called the trade area.

Sprawl The uncontrolled expansion of towns and cities into the countryside.

Urban zone Particular land uses in a town tend to cluster together into zones giving   industrial areas, housing areas and shopping areas.

Urbanisation A process whereby a greater proportion of people are concentrated into       towns and cities.

Wet point Settlement The site of a settlement close to a water supply such as a spring line settlement on a chalk escarpment.