Settlement is a place where people live and carry out various economic activities on a relatively permanent basis. It can be divided into two types: rural settlement and urban settlement. The two types of settlement are differentiated by their size, density of population and employment pattern.
The major difference between a rural place and an urban place is their functions. In rural places, most people are engaged in the work of primary production, eg, agriculture, lumbering and mining. They are often classified into farmsteads, hamlets or villages. In urban places, most people are engaged in secondary and tertiary production. They are classified into towns, cities, metropolises, conurbations and megalopolises.
Characteristics of urban places 1. Form (Physical appearance) (a) The natural landscape is almost totally changed in an urban area. It is a man-made landscape.
(b) Most of the urban land are built-up areas with a lot of high-rise buildings and streets.
(c) Only a small proportion of the urban land is open space which is in the form of planned parks or gardens.
2. Structure (a) The economic structure is characterised by specialised functions.