Settlements In Rural Areas Research Articles

Settlements in rural areas: Planned landscapes and unplanned changes in South Australia

Rural landscape planning which ignores the needs and aspirations of the people who live and work in the rural areas is less than adequate. At the beginning of this century a rural settlement pattern was planned for the cereal growing and sheep raising area of the Murray Mallee in South Australia. It ensured that every farmer was within about 16 km of a railway and a small trade centre. But this planned settlement system has been modified during the post-war years. The changed status of trade centres between 1954 and 1971 is looked at in detail, the critical threshold levels at which they operate being emphasized. The factors of mechanization and enlargement of holdings, of increased personal mobility and rising rural expectations, and the re-organization of the school system and of the handling of grain by Government and by farmers' co-operatives respectively are singled out as the main agents of change. The planning implications of the changes are considered, attention being drawn to the likely future trends, the critical nature of centres in certain categories and locations, and the need to rationalize the rural settlement system in order to provide basic facilities for the rural population. These changes and adjustments are common to other parts of the wheat/sheep land-use zone in South Australia, in Eyre Peninsula, Yorke Peninsula, the Northern Areas, and generally throughout similar land-use zones in other states of the continent.

Regional and Local Settlement Areas (with particular reference to the Leningrad regional and Pskov local settlement areas)

AbstractPast Soviet attempts to define settlement areas have focused either on urban or on rural population areas. An attempt is made here to define combined urban and rural settlement areas, with particular reference to the Northwest Region, centered on Leningrad. A regional settlement area (centered on Leningrad) and a number of local settlement areas, centered on major cities, are differentiated, with so-called zones of disseminated settlement situated outside the limits of the local areas. The local settlement area of Pskov is discussed in detail, with a breakdown into three concentric zones based on the intensity of linkages with the central city.

THE VIABILITY OF LOWER SIZE‐ORDER SETTLEMENTS IN RURAL AREAS: THE CASE OF NORTH‐EAST ENGLAND

SummaryTHE VIABILITY OP LOWER SIZE‐ORDER SETTLEMENTS IN RURAL AREAS THE CASE OF NORTH‐EAST ENGLANDUsing North‐East England as a study area, it is suggested that certain critical thresholds may be observed with respect to the viability of rural settlements. The first, and most important, relates to the grade 2 centres of sub‐regional market towns which, facing competition from larger industrialised centres, need to be assured of their economic future. A second threshold seems to occur for settlements with a minimum adult population of 450, for these contain a more advanced social provision for a semi‐mobile society which can avoid the need for frequent long‐distance travel to a grade 2 or grade 1 centre. A third seems to occur at about 120–140 adults since this appears to be the lowest notable growth grade and provides the minimum social provision for a non‐mobile society. Lasdy, and simply in terms of population, a setdement of 50–60 adults represents the threshold between moderate and severe losses of population. It is stressed that these conclusions have been reached from research carried out in a region which has suffered from economic decline and structural change since the 1930s. But they might be borne in mind by rural planners in the future restructuring of the patterns of setdement in the countryside.