This document discusses various topics related to urban settlement and the growth of cities. It describes how most people live in towns and medium-sized cities, but the number of megacities with over 10 million inhabitants has increased. Cities grow and form large urban areas, metropolitan areas, and megalopolises. The urban hierarchy ranks cities from world metropolises down to smaller cities. The document also examines the analysis of cities in terms of location, urban plans like orthogonal and radiocentric, and types of urban construction such as old buildings, blocks, and single-family homes.

1. URBAN SETTLEMENT

2. EVOLUTION OF THE URBAN
POPULATION
• Link

3. FUNCTIONS
OF CITIES
COMMERCIAL
RESIDENTIAL
INDUSTRIAL
POLITICAL AND
ADMINISTRATIVE
CULTURAL
TOURISM

4. THE URBAN POPULATION
• Most of the population lives in towns and
medium-sized cities (less than 500,000
inhabitants).
▫ Salamanca has more than 152,000 inhabitants.
▫ Valladolid has 312,000 inhabitants.
▫ Palencia has around 82,000 inhabitants.

5. THE URBAN POPULATION
•However, the number of cities
with more than 10 million
inhabitants has increased in
the past few decades:
MEGACITIES

7. THE GROWTH OF THE CITIES
• Cities grow and form extensive urban areas:
LARGE URBAN AREAS
METROPOLITAN
AREAS
CONURBATION MEGALOPOLIS

8. METROPOLITAN AREAS

9. METROPOLITAN AREA OF MADRID

10. METROPOLITAN AREA OF BARCELONA

11. CONURBATION IN HOLLAND

12. MEGALOPOLIS OF TOKIO

13. URBAN HIERARCHY
• It´s the organisation of cities in ranks or
categories.
• The number of inhabitants and the extension of
a city´s sphere of influence determine its rank in
the urban hierarchy (worldwide, national,
regional, county or district, etc.)
• A number of urban nuclei, ranked and
interconnected, form an urban network.

14. URBAN HIERARCHY
World
metropolises
National
metropolises
Regional
metropolises
Smaller cities

18. HOMEWORK
• Page 67: ex. 6 and 7
• Page 74: ex. 2 and 3

19. ANALYSIS OF CITIES
Analysis of
cities
Site and
situation
Urban plan
Urban
construction

20. Location of
cities
Site
On a hill
In a valley
On an island
Situation
In the centre
of a country
In a coastal
area
Near a road
• Give examples of cities. intersection

21. URBAN PLAN
• What is an urban plan?
• How many types of plan can we distinguish?
• Name the three types of plan, according to
the overall shape and the arrangement of
roads.

22. • ORTHOGONAL PLAN
• GRID PLAN
• CHECKERBOARD
This plan consists of
straight, wide streets
that cross at right
angles.

23. An example of grid plan: Barcelona

24. • RADIOCENTRIC
PLAN
This plan consists of
central point from
which streets
radiate, like the
spokes of a wheel,
crossed by others
that form concentric
circles.

25. RADIOCENTRIC LAYOUT

26. • IRREGULAR PLAN
This plan does not
have a defined
geometric shape and
is formed by short,
narrow streets and
alleys of irregular
layout.

27. IRREGULAR PLAN

29. URBAN CONSTRUCTION: OLD
BUILDINGS
Houses Palaces Churches
• Name the types of old buildings.
• What kind of value have some of them?

30. URBAN CONSTRUCTION:
BUILDINGS IN THE FORM OF
BLOCKS
Blocks Skyscrapers Shopping centres
• What are blocks used for?

31. URBAN CONSTRUCTION:
SINGLE-FAMILY HOMES
Detached house Semi-detached house Terraced house
• What kind of people live in these type of buildings?
• In which part of the city can we find single-family homes?

32. URBAN CONSTRUCTION:
SHACKS OR SHANTIES
Chabolas in Madrid Favelas in Brazil
Villas Miseria in
Venezuela
• What kind of materials are used to build these type of houses?
• Where are shanty towns located inside the city?

33. HOMEWORK
• Page 67: ex. 8 and 9

34. Principal urban problems
Enviroment Infraestructure Transport

35. ENVIROMENTAL
PROBLEMS
Air
pollution
Noise
Waste