Urban and Rural
Landscapes
Geography of Canada
Define the Following
• All “Key Terms” listed in purple at the top of pg
224 in the LEFT hand column.
• Plus the terms Concession System, and Urban.
• Answer pg 233 # 1a, and 2
• Make point form note from pg 228 on Concession
System of Southern Ontario.
Urban and Rural Landscapes
1. Settlement Patterns
2. Provinces and Territories
3. Where Do You Want to Live?
Urban and Rural Interactions
• There has been significant movement of people in
Canada between urban and rural areas over time.
In most cases, people in rural areas live in a
hamlet, village, or town. People in urban areas
live in a suburb, city, or metropolis. These
different types of places to live are known as the
urban hierarchy (each one is a larger settlement
going up the line than the one before it).
Urban Hierarchy
hamlet
village
town
suburb
city
metropolis
Urban Hierarchy
• Why are large cities generally located far apart?
• Why are small towns generally located close
together?
• German geographer Walter Christaller created
the central place theory, based on the number of
people needed to keep a store in business.
• The minimum number of customers is known as a
threshold population.
Urban Hierarchy
• Does Christaller’s theory work in the “real world”?
• Let’s take a look at a map of southcentral Ontario
and see if we can apply his theory to the
settlements that exist here.
• Draw lines on the base map according to this
legend:
Lake
Huron
Lake
Ontario
Lake
Erie
Lake
Huron
Mississauga
Kitchener-Waterloo
Cambridge
Oakville
Burlington
Lake
Ontario
Hamilton
London
Lake
Erie
Urbanization
• Urbanization is the movement of people UP the
urban hierarchy. This has been the main
migration pattern of Canadians since the creation
of our country.
• The chart below illustrates the overall percentage
of Canada’s population living in rural and urban
areas.
Year
% Rural
% Urban
1853
15
85
1908
50
50
2001
85
15
Urbanization
•Why did people leave the countryside to live in
the big cities?
– reduced need for farm labour
due to farm modernization
(e.g. tractors)
– improvements in mobility
(better transportation systems
reduces need for local stores)
– consolidation of goods &
services (most things one
needs has relocated to urban
areas)
Counter-Urbanization
• Counter-urbanization is the movement of people
DOWN the urban hierarchy (metropolis→ hamlet).
While our cities are still getting larger, some
people are choosing to move away from cities.
• In general, there are now three categories of
people living in rural areas.
– Newcomers - retain ties to urban core, younger, well
educated, well off, managers/professionals
– Homecomers - young families returning to provide
rural upbringing to children
– Ruralites – have never lived in an urban core
Counter-Urbanization
• Why are people leaving the cities to live in smaller
towns and villages?
– health issues, security,
“community”
– “back to nature” movement
(desire to live in the country)
– increase in telecommuting
(less need to be at an office)
– cheaper land and house
prices
Quiz - Thursday
• Definitions:
• Demographics
• Population
Density
• Population
Distribution
• Natural Increase
• Net Migration
• Push Factor
• Definitions:
• Pull Factor
• Economic
Immigrant
• Family Immigrant
• Refugee
• Interprovincial
Migration
Quiz - Thursday
• Definitions:
• Survey System
• Urbanization
• Other Items:
• Know how to read
a population
pyramid.
• Know why people
might come to
Canada (Charts)
• Other Items:
• Know why people
might leave Canada
(Charts)
• Charts: Historical
Trends in
Population
• Natural Disasters
• Human Disasters
• Know 2 or 3 things
from each.