Settlement hierarchy

A settlement hierarchy is a way of arranging settlements into a hierarchy based upon their population or some other criteria. The term is used by landscape historians and in the National Curriculum for England. The term is also used in the planning system for the UK and for some other countries such as Ireland, India and Swaziland. The term was used without comment by the geographer Brian Roberts in 1972.

The greater the population in a settlement, the larger geographic area, the higher the status and the greater the availability of services. Position in a settlement hierarchy can also depend on the sphere of influence. This is how far people will travel to use the services in the settlement, if people travel further the town becomes more important and ranks higher in settlement hierarchy.

In this example, an isolated building is at the lowest point, and the ecumenopolis is at the top with the greatest number of people:

(Note: This settlement hierarchy is adapted from the work of Konstantinos Apostolos Doxiadis for the actual current world situation as of 2010 as opposed to Doxiadis' idealized settlement hierarchy for the year 2100 that he outlined in his 1968 book Ekistics.)

Using size of a settlement can be misleading in some cases as not all population boundaries fit. Some cities (e.g., Norwich, England) have a smaller population than some towns (e.g. Luton, England). In addition there is no agreement as to the number of levels in the hierarchy or what they should be called. Many terms used to describe settlements (e.g. village) have no legal definition, or may have contradictory legal definitions in different jurisdictions.

Position in an accepted settlement hierarchy can imply status which in turn reinforces the position of the settlement in the hierarchy. Status can derive from being the residence of a King or high-ranking member of the nobility or from being the location of a major religious establishment. A formal hierarchy of settlements, known as a multiple estate appears to have been common in 10th century England. The centre of an estate (often called a "caput") could be supported by subsidiary settlements sometimes given specialised roles. For example, a Saxon royal estate might be supported by settlements specialising in production of cheese or barley or maintaining flocks of sheep.

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