A. Global Settlement: Patterns and Sustainability · Global Settlement: Patterns and Sustainability

How the Physical Environment Influences Where People Settle

A3.2About 45 minutes

Learning goals

I can describe how water, landforms, climate, soil, vegetation, natural resources and natural hazards influence where people settle.
I can explain the difference between a settlement's site and its situation.
I can explain why some Canadian cities grew where they are.
I can describe what can happen to a resource town when its resource runs out.

Words to know

site
The physical features of the exact spot where a settlement is built, such as its land, water supply, soil and height above the water.

situation
Where a settlement is compared with the places and features around it, such as rivers, routes, resources and other cities.

topography
The shape and height of the land's surface: flat, hilly, steep or mountainous.

floodplain
Flat land beside a river that is covered with water when the river floods. The soil is often very fertile.

resource town
A community that grew up mainly to extract one natural resource, such as a mineral, oil or timber.

boom and bust
A pattern in which a place grows quickly while a resource is valuable (boom) and shrinks quickly when the resource runs out or loses value (bust).

natural hazard
A natural event that can harm people and property, such as a flood, earthquake, wildfire or hurricane.

Let's start with a question

Why is Montréal where it is? Montréal is on an island in the St. Lawrence River. Just upstream are the Lachine Rapids, where fast, shallow water stopped ships from sailing farther inland. Goods had to be unloaded and moved past the rapids, so the island became a natural meeting and trading place.

Most settlements are where they are for reasons like this. In this lesson you'll use what you learned about the physical environment in Grade 7 to explain where people settle.

White-water rapids flowing over rocks in a wide river, with a city skyline in the distance. — Rapids like these stopped ships from sailing farther up the St. Lawrence, so goods were unloaded at Montréal. A physical feature helped decide where a city grew. AI-generated image

Physical factors that influence settlement

Water. Every settlement needs fresh water for drinking, cooking and washing. Water is also used for farming (irrigation), transportation (ships and boats), industry, and electricity (hydroelectric dams). That is why so many settlements are on rivers, lakes and coasts.
Landforms and topography. Flat land is easier to build on, to farm and to build roads and railways across. Steep mountains make all of these harder. Long ago, some towns were built on hills that were easier to defend.
Climate. People tend to settle where the climate is moderate, with enough rain and a long enough growing season for crops. Very cold or very dry climates support fewer people.
Soil. Fertile soil, such as on floodplains and river deltas, lets farmers grow a lot of food, which can feed many people.
Natural vegetation. Forests provide wood for building and fuel, but very dense forests can be hard to clear and travel through.
Natural resources. Minerals, oil, gas, fish and timber attract workers and create resource towns.
Natural hazards. People may avoid places with frequent floods, earthquakes or wildfires, or they may build in special ways to stay safe.

A schematic map of a good settlement site: a town where a river flows into a lake. The site has fresh water, transportation by water, a flat and fertile plain for farming, a forest for wood and hills nearby. Not to scale.

Site and situation

Geographers describe a settlement's location in two ways:

Site is the spot itself: Is it flat? Is there fresh water? Is it above the flood level? Is there a sheltered harbour?
Situation is the place compared with its surroundings: Is it on a trade route? Is it where two rivers meet? Is it close to resources or to other cities?

A good site helps a settlement get started. A good situation helps it grow.

Site (left) is about the spot itself: flat land, fresh water, safe from floods. Situation (right) is about what is around it: rivers that meet, roads to other cities, resources such as a mine. Schematic, not to scale.

City	Site (the spot)	Situation (its surroundings)
Montréal	An island in the St. Lawrence River	Just below the Lachine Rapids, where river travel inland had to stop
Toronto	A natural harbour sheltered by a long sandbar (today's Toronto Islands)	At the start of the Toronto Carrying-Place Trail, a route used by Indigenous peoples between Lake Ontario and Lake Simcoe and the upper Great Lakes
Ottawa	Beside the Ottawa River, at Chaudière Falls	Where the Rideau and Gatineau rivers meet the Ottawa River
Sudbury	On the rocky Canadian Shield	In a region rich in nickel and copper ore

Site and situation of some Canadian cities.

Resource towns: boom and bust

Some settlements grow because of one natural resource. Sudbury grew around nickel and copper mining. Fort McMurray, Alberta, grew quickly because of the oil sands nearby. Timmins and Kirkland Lake in northern Ontario grew around gold mines.

A resource town can boom when the resource is valuable and bust when it runs out or its price falls. Uranium City, Saskatchewan, grew around uranium mining. When the main mine closed in the early 1980s, most people moved away and only a small community remains. Towns that do well over the long term often diversify: they add other jobs, such as health care, education, government services, tourism or technology. Sudbury, for example, is now also a centre for health care, education and mining research.

Living with natural hazards

People don't always avoid hazards. Many large cities are in earthquake zones or on floodplains, because those places have other advantages. Instead, people adapt:

In earthquake zones, such as Japan and coastal British Columbia, building codes require buildings that can bend and sway without falling down.
On floodplains, communities build dikes and levees, raise buildings, or keep the land closest to the river as parks instead of homes.

Worked example

Example: Let's choose a site

Pretend map: A group is choosing where to build a new town. Site A is on a high, rocky ridge with no stream. Site B is on a flat plain beside a river, a little above the level of spring floods, with a forest nearby. Site C is on the river's low floodplain, which is underwater most springs. Which site is best? Explain using physical factors.

Check water: A has no fresh water. B and C are beside the river.
Check land: A is rocky and steep, so it is hard to build on and farm. B and C are flat.
Check hazards: C floods most springs. B is above the spring flood level.
Check resources: B has a forest nearby for wood and fuel.

Site B is best: it has fresh water, flat land, resources nearby and is above the usual flood level. Site C has fertile soil, so it could be used for farm fields or parks, but not homes.

Hands-on activity

Why is my community here?

You need: a map of your area (paper or online), paper, a pencil and, if possible, a grown-up to talk with.

Find your community on a map. Look for water (river, lake, coast), landforms (flat land, hills, escarpments), and routes (highways, railways).
Look up a short history of your community (your municipality's website or your public library often has one) or ask an older relative or neighbour what they know.
Make a two-column chart: Site and Situation. List at least two things in each column.
Write one sentence that begins: "My community grew here because..."

What to look for: most Ontario communities began near water, a mill, a railway, a crossroads or a resource. A good answer uses both site and situation.

Just for fun

Montréal basically began with a traffic jam: boats heading upriver hit the Lachine Rapids, and everybody had to stop and unload. It may be the most successful "Everybody out!" in Canadian history.

Your turn

List four physical factors that influence where people settle.

Give three ways settlements use water.

What is the difference between a settlement's site and its situation?

Why did Montréal become an important trading place?

What is a resource town? Give one Canadian example.

Why is flat land attractive for settlement?

Name one way people adapt to living in an earthquake zone.

More practice: warm-up

What is a floodplain?

Why do many people live where the soil is fertile?

Name one Canadian city that grew where rivers meet.

What does boom and bust mean?

Is "Toronto has a sheltered natural harbour" about site or situation?

More practice: on your own

Explain why very few people live in the high Himalayas, using two physical factors.

A town's only employer is a gold mine that will close in five years. Suggest two things the town could do to survive.

Why might a community keep the land closest to a river as a park instead of homes?

Toronto's location at the start of the Carrying-Place Trail is an example of a good ___. Explain.

Give one advantage and one disadvantage of building a town on a river delta.

Challenge

Many large cities, such as Tokyo and Vancouver, are in earthquake zones. Why do people keep living and building there?

Fort McMurray and Sudbury are both resource towns. Explain why diversifying the economy helps a resource town survive a bust.

Using site and situation, explain why a place with a good site might stay a small village while a place with a poorer site becomes a big city.

Check your understanding

Quiz

Which of these is about a settlement's site?

Why do so many settlements start beside rivers and lakes?

What happened to Uranium City, Saskatchewan, after its main mine closed in the early 1980s?

Which physical factor makes it hard to settle the high Himalayas?

Why did Montréal become a trading centre?

How do communities in earthquake zones often adapt?

For parents and teachers

Big idea: A3.2 asks students to identify and describe some ways in which the physical environment can influence the general location and patterns of human settlements, including water, climate, soil, landforms, natural resources and hazards. This builds directly on the Grade 7 physical geography unit.

Common difficulties:

Mixing up site and situation. Site = the spot (zoom in). Situation = the surroundings (zoom out).
Giving only one factor. Most places have several reasons; encourage "and also...".
Thinking people always avoid hazards. Many big cities are in risky places because of other advantages; people adapt.

How to help: On a drive or walk, ask, "Why do you think this town is here?" Look for the river, the old mill, the railway or the harbour. The "Why is my community here?" activity is a great chance to share family or local history.