Urban and Rural Landscapes Geography of Canada www

Urban and Rural Landscapes Geography of Canada www. Craig. Marlatt. com/school

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 % R ur al % Ur ba n 1853 15 85 1908 50 50

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 house prices