The geographically informed person must understand the varying forms of human settlements in terms of their size, composition, location, arrangement, organization, function, and history. People seldom live in isolation. Instead, they live in clusters ranging from small villages with hundreds of people to megacities with tens of millions of people. The organized groupings of human habitation are the intense focus of most aspects of human life: economic activities, transportation systems, communications media, political and administrative systems, education, culture, and entertainment.
Therefore, Standard 12 contains these themes: Functions of Settlements, Patterns of Settlements, and Urban Forms and Functions.
Of great importance to understanding human spatial organization are the relationships among settlements: their spacing, arrangement, functional connections, and economic specialties. Relationships between settlements are shaped by trade and the movements of raw materials, finished products, people, capital, and ideas. Patterns of settlement across Earth’s surface differ markedly from region to region and place to place. Settlement patterns change through time.
Cities, the largest and densest human settlements, are the major nodes of human society. Throughout the world, cities are growing rapidly, but none so rapidly as those in developing regions. Urbanization is changing the current patterns of both rural and urban landscapes around the world.
Settlements and the patterns they etch on Earth’s surface provide not only information on current economic, political, and social conditions, but also a historical record of past conditions. Today’s settlement patterns provide information about past settlement processes and land-use patterns.
Students must understand the processes underlying the patterns of human settlement over space and time. Understanding these themes enables students to see settlements as a record of human history and as the fulcrum of many of the human processes that are changing Earth’s surface.
1. People benefit from living in settlements
Therefore, the student is able to:
A. Explain the benefits gained by living in settlements, as exemplified by being able to
2. Settlements occur where locations provide opportunities and therefore advantages
Therefore, the student is able to:
A. Explain why some locations are better for settlement than others, as exemplified by being able to
3. There are different types of settlements
Therefore, the student is able to:
A. Compare and explain the different types of settlements in the local region and the United States, as exemplified by being able to
4. There are different types of urban land uses
Therefore, the student is able to:
A. Analyze the different ways land is used in the community, as exemplified by being able to
1. Different types of functions can influence the success or failure of settlements
Therefore, the student is able to:
A. Describe the typical functions of settlements and explain how they might influence the success or failure of a settlement, as exemplified by being able to
2. A combination of a favorable location and human activities lead to the growth of settlements
Therefore, the student is able to:
A. Explain the human activities in favorable locations that attracted people and resulted in the development of settlements, as exemplified by being able to
3. There are patterns of settlements in regions
Therefore, the student is able to:
A. Compare and explain the location, number, and sizes of settlements in regions, as exemplified by being able to
4. Land uses in urban areas are systematically arranged
Therefore, the student is able to:
A. Describe and analyze the spatial patterns of land use in cities, as exemplified by being able to
1. The numbers, types, and range of the functions of settlements change over space and time
Therefore, the student is able to:
A. Explain how and why the number and range of functions of settlements have changed and may change in the future, as exemplified by being able to
2. Settlements can grow and/or decline over time
Therefore, the student is able to:
A. Explain and compare the factors that contribute to the growth or decline of settlements over time, as exemplified by being able to
3. The spatial patterns of settlements change over time
Therefore, the student is able to:
A. Compare and explain the changing functions, sizes, and spatial patterns of settlements, as exemplified by being able to
B. Analyze and explain the structure and development of megacities and megalopoli, as exemplified by being able to
4. Urban models are used to analyze the growth and form of urban regions
Therefore, the student is able to:
A. Explain and compare the growth and structure of cities using different urban models, as exemplified by being able to