{"id":43,"date":"2019-08-22T20:24:32","date_gmt":"2019-08-23T00:24:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/settlement\/chapter\/lawsofsettlements_book_lopc_1_location\/"},"modified":"2020-04-22T15:27:50","modified_gmt":"2020-04-22T19:27:50","slug":"lawsofsettlements_book_lopc_1_location","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/settlement\/chapter\/lawsofsettlements_book_lopc_1_location\/","title":{"raw":"Location","rendered":"Location"},"content":{"raw":"
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<\/div>\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_42\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"1000\"]\"Street Guadix, Spain. Image courtesy of Author.[\/caption]\n\n<\/div>\n
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<\/a>26.<\/span> The geographic\/topographic location of a settlement depends on the needs it must serve for itself (its inhabitants, natural setting, etc.) and the larger co-dependent settlement system to which it belongs.<\/strong><\/h1>\n

Geography has played a dominant role in the creation of settlements since their beginning. That the choice of physical location and natural setting depends on the needs of its inhabitants is clear. Settlements founded on water-based trade and\/or industry are located on or near water bodies, for example, while resource towns must be near their specific resource. But this also depends on their role and position within the larger co-dependent system (Law 0<\/span><\/a>). This is apparent in the construction and distribution of Roman settlements around the Mediterranean rim and across Europe, where strategic geographic positions were chosen, leveraging their natural setting and greater role within the Empire (military, trade, etc.).<\/p>\n

Jack Williams\u2019 wonderful examination of small towns along the Appalachian Mountains of the United States in East 40 Degrees: An Interpretive Atlas<\/span><\/span><\/em> clearly demonstrates this law in action within the past three centuries, across various settlements between Alabama and Maine. He even ultimately describes their urban forms typologically, in relation to their role and natural settings. \u201cRiver Town\u201d, \u201cRailroad Town\u201d, \u201cCoal Town\u201d, and \u201cCoastal Town\u201d are a few of the names given.<\/p>\n

Although our ability and willingness to manipulate natural settings to make human settlements have increased aggressively and the \u2018roles\u2019 played by settlements within our global system have increased in complexity, this law is no less true for the settlements being built today. Geographic opportunities and constraints, in tandem with strategic roles (political, commercial, etc.) continue to dictate contemporary building practices.<\/p>\n

Interestingly, and as outlined in Laws 17<\/a>-18<\/a><\/span>, the inertia of settlements allows for changing values towards geography, nature, and role within the larger system to ebb and flow, as they are (re)interpreted by different societies over time (Law 1<\/span><\/a>).<\/span> This is the case for many of the industrial cities that grew from prior settlements with key geographic locations accessing distribution networks, such as Dusseldorf and Detroit. This process, in fact, characterizes the nature of many settlements that survive over the long-term, as Henri Pirenne\u2019s seminal work describing the decline and rebirth of Roman settlements across the Middle Ages demonstrates.<\/p>\n

FURTHER READING (full citations found in reference list<\/a>):<\/p>\n\n