Question 2
(a)(i) Define settlement.
(ii) Name four types of settlements classified according to pattern.
(b) Explain four factors that are considered in the location of rural settlements.
(c) Outline three problems that may arise from poorly planned settlement.
Observation
This question was attempted by few candidates and most of those who attempted the question performed poorly. Some of them could not correctly define settlement as a place containing one or more buildings where people live. The types of settlements according to pattern they were expected to have listed included:
- nucleated/compact/dense
- isolated
- dispersed/scattered
- linear/elongated
- ring-like/circular/annular
Some of the candidates just listed the factors of settlement location without giving the ones that were peculiar to rural settlements. The expected answers were:
- source of water supply
- fertile farm land
- defence possibilities/security
- relief/well drained lands
- accessibility
- natural focus of routes
- absence of disaster/diseases
- availability of natural resources
- government policy/influence
- favourable climatic condition
- availability/ease of building materials
The Problems that may arise from poorly planned settlements are:
- difficulty in movement/overcrowding
- poor road network
- traffic congestion
- poor sanitation
- difficulty in accessing utilities
- flooding
- easy spread of diseases e.g. tuberculosis, dysentery, etc
- easy spread of pests e.g. bed bugs, lice etc
- accommodation problems
- poor waste management
- pressure on social amenities
- increase in government expenditure
- pressure on land/land dispute
- development of slums and ghettoes/shanti towns
- land degradation/soil erosion
- prone to fire outbreaks/difficulty in controlling fire outbreak
- fall in the standard of living
- environmental pollution
- pressure on infrastructural facilities
- difficulty in identifying streets and houses
- numbering of houses is difficult
- unsafe/sub standard building