SOCIAL SCIENCE
LEARNER GUIDE
rural and urban settlement
KEY CONCEPTS
RURAL SETTLEMENT: This is a settlement in the countryside which is involved in a primary economic
activity and it is generally unifunctional, i.e. involved in one economic activity – farming, fishing,
forestry or mining.
Urban settlement: An area which is more densely populated than the surrounding areas and
where people are involved in a variety of economic activities, i.e. secondary, tertiary and quaternary
activities.
Services to settlements: Services generally provided by the government to help improve
people's standard of living - these would include piped water, electricity, garbage removal, transport
systems, schools and clinics.
Infrastructure: The basic physical, social and organisational structures which are put into place
so that an organisation or a society can function.
Dispersed settlements: Settlements which are located some distances apart.
Nucleated settlements: Settlements, with many buildings, which are close together.
Unifunctional: This involves only one function - eg. farming.
Low-income: People who are considered to be 'poor' where many cannot meet their basic needs.
Middle-income: People are working and can meet some of their basic needs.
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CHIEF DIRECTORATE POPULATION AND DEVELOPMENT
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COPYRIGHT© 2014, Department of Social Development, Pretoria, South Africa
For further information:
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Department of Social Development
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Tel: 012 312 7769/ 7410
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SETTLEMENT
A settlement is a place where people live. The sizes of settlements vary and some may
consist of a few buildings whereas others have lots of buildings which have various functions.
People come together in these settlements - they communicate, they work, they help each
other and they play together. Some of these settlements are large, well planned and are
permanent, while others are unplanned and are temporary and may be large or small.
Introduction
As mentioned in Topic 2, there is a definite distinction between rural and urban settlements
in South Africa.
Pretoria/Tshwane Metropolis
Port Elizabeth/ Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolis
Rural settlements in South Africa
Isolated rural settlement
Nucleated rural settlement
These are unifunctional in that they have one main function and are involved in primary
economic activities, i.e. farming, fishing, forestry or mining. In South Africa a large
percentage of black people live in the rural areas. This is caused by the issue of poor
distribution of resources in South Africa which resulted in urban areas enjoying a higher
quality of life at the expense of the rural areas.
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Characteristics of rural areas:
Lack of basic resources
water, electricity, health facilities,
education facilities, sanitation, housing, transport
LITTLE OR NO GROWTH IN THE ECONOMY
& FEW JOB OPPORTUNITIES
no money to maintain infrastructure;
rise in unemployment
POOR QUALITY OF LIFE AND ILL HEALTH
low standard of living - people easily fall ill
ISOLATION
situated far away from other settlements
and the bigger cities
AGRICULTURAL UNDERDEVELOPMENT
UNSUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURAL PRACTISES & LOW YIELDS
lack of food and malnutrition
overgrazing, soil erosion
You need to know some of the historical background of rural settlements in South Africa,
as this has influenced the types of settlements we have today.
Traditional farms and villages
• These have existed for hundreds of years. The tribal chiefs (Nguni, Sotho and Tswana
people) allocated land to their people and unplanned nucleated settlements were built
close to water or fertile land, so that they could practice subsistence agriculture.
• The first Europeans to arrive in South Africa established a nucleated settlement (Cape
Town) near fresh water (The Liesbeeck River) and a harbour. They had to provide fresh
fruit and vegetables for the sailors, on route from Europe to the East.
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• When the farmers started to move away from Cape Town into the interior, small
isolated farms were established. Here the farmers were located some distance away
from each other, but still sold their produce in town. They were considered commercial
farmers, as they were being paid for their crops.
• As the farmers continued to move further away from Cape Town, they had to become
self-sufficient and provide for all their own food and needs - they would have been
subsistence farmers.
The introduction of Apartheid and its influence on settlements
From 1913 two 'Native Land Acts' were passed, whereby land was set aside for African rural
settlements - 80% of the people were settled on 13% of our land. These settlements were
incorporated into the 'Homelands'
by a policy introduced in the 1950s, eg. Transkei.
Betterment and Closer villages were established to house people around a school and a
clinic, but they were located some distance away from an urban area, which meant
employment opportunities were difficult to find. Very often the people could not keep
cattle, which was the mainstay of their culture and livelihood and the Government did not
provide services such as bus transport or water and electricity.
The Pass laws were lifted in 1986,
which meant many African people
left the rural areas to move to
the cities.
en.wikipedia.org
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Democracy
In 1994 the 'Homeland' policy was dismantled and the people's basic needs became all
important. There have been, and still are, various strategies in place to provide people with
their basic needs.
One of the problems of the former policy of Apartheid was that not all people had equal
access to land. Since then various strategies have been implemented to make ownership of
land more possible across all race groups. The policy of Land Reform was introduced, as
most of the commercial farms were owned by white farmers. This policy involved Land
Restitution as well as Land Redistribution. Land Restitution happens when farms that had
been occupied by African farmers, before Apartheid, could be returned to them, after a
claim was lodged. Land Redistribution involves buying land from farmers or using state
land and allocating this land to other race groups.
Urban settlements in South Africa
Due to the difficulties in rural areas, people tend to migrate (move) to urban areas in
search of jobs and, generally, a better quality of life. This process of urbanisation is
occurring quite rapidly in South Africa and the rest of the world.
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Push and Pull forces of migration
PUSH
PULL
DROUGHT/ FAILED HARVEST
NOT DEPENDENT ON NATURE
MECHANIZATION -FEW EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES
EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES
LOW WAGES
HIGHER SALARIES AND REGULAR INCOME
FEW SCHOOLS, HOSPITALS
SCHOOLS, HOSPITALS
LITTLE ENTERTAINMENT
ENTERTAINMENT FACILITIES
FOOD AND WATER INSECURITY
FOOD AND WATER SECURITY
LACK OF HOUSING AND INFRASTRUCTURE
HOUSING AND INFRASTRUCTURE
Urban settlements are nucleated and they vary in size.
Village
Town
City
Urban settlements can also have specific shapes.
Linear
Cross-roads
Conurbation
Megalopolis
Planned regular
Functions of urban settlements
Urban settlements are multi-functional as they have many functions. There are secondary
economic activities (eg. making of bread), tertiary economic activities (eg. providing
services such as schools and hospitals) and quaternary economic activities (eg. professional
and intellectual services such as doctors and teachers).
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Secondary economic activity
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Quaternary economic activity
Urban settlements can offer these benefits
• Land area: People living in high density areas occupy less space.
• Efficiency: Cities can provide cheaper access to basic infrastructure and services to a
large section of the population. Energy, water, heating and waste disposal requirements
are provided in bulk over relative short distances.
• Convenience: Living in cities reduces time and expense in commuting and
transportation while improving opportunities for jobs, education and housing. The urban
environment offers easier access to health, social services and cultural events than rural
settings.
Problems associated with urbaniSation
The rapid growth of the urban population increases the concentration of poverty in urban
centres and is accompanied by growing slums that offer inadequate shelter.
Urban growth is responsible for many changes and its effects are strongly related to global
environmental issues. The rapid growth of cities strains their capacity to provide services
such as energy, education, health care, transportation, sanitation and physical security.
While urbanisation has many positive aspects, it also presents many challenges for the world.
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Housing and ownership of land
After the lifting of the Pass Laws in 1986, thousands of people arrived in the cities.
Insufficient, affordable housing resulted in the start of informal settlements or shanty towns.
Challenges of the informal settlements
• Lack of proper housing. Most of the houses are built with salvaged material like wood,
tins and paper and are usually built on the outskirts of cities where land is cheap and
neglected.
• As the informal settlements are far away from the city where the job opportunities and
most of the facilities are, transport costs are high.
• Lack of indoor infrastructure such as water supply, sanitation, drainage, waste disposal
and proper road access.
• Inhabitants live in these awful conditions, which increases the spread of disease.
• Overcrowded housing, with 1.2 million people living in informal settlements.
• Increased school dropouts.
• Social problems such as sexual abuse, abuse of substances and a high crime rate.
The movement of people to urban areas and the resultant shortage of housing meant that
many old office blocks and warehouses were converted into living quarters, but the water
and sewerage facilities were strained. This resulted in 'urban blight', where the buildings
were not maintained and decayed.
With the Reconstruction and Development Programme, after 1994, many small family houses
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were built in new suburbs, outside of town. These houses are not always of the required
standard and there is also a lot of corruption. These two factors have left many people
without houses.
As housing has to be provided for an ever-growing number of people, urban sprawl is taking
place. This is the process whereby more and more of the rural area surrounding an urban
settlement is taken up to build houses, industries, roads, etc. Less and less land is therefore
available to produce food for the people of our country.
Infrastructure
As more and more people move to the cities, the infrastructure is taking more and more
strain. There is not enough water and electricity and the removal of waste is becoming a
serious issue as well. As more people arrived in the city, more cars appeared on the roads
and roads became congested. Roads were not maintained and potholes have become a
major problem in recent years.
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Transport
Private cars have increased in numbers and this has resulted in air pollution and traffic
congestion. The railway system and busses provided transport from the townships to the
cities, but this meant a long walk to the station or bus stop. The introduction of 'the taxi'
system relieved the burden of standing in queues for hours. In major cities the Rapid Bus
Transport system has made transport around the inner city more efficient. The 'Gautrain' in
Gauteng, has provided a solution to a long commute from the city to the airport and has
shortened the travel time from Johannesburg to Pretoria, as there were traffic delays on the
N1 highway between these two cities. This, however, is very expensive.
Services in schools and hospitals
There are too few schools and hospitals to render the necessary services to all the people
arriving in the cities. Those that do exist have been poorly maintained and are understaffed.
Classrooms in schools are overcrowded and learning material is scarce as the education
budget is insufficient to provide quality education. Hospitals have poor equipment and
people have to travel long distances to receive specialist treatment.
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Private Bag x901, Pretoria 0001
SOUTH AFRICA
www.population.gov.za
Tel: 012 312 7769/7410
Fax: 0123127932
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Population Support material