Key Stage 2 geography · Human and physical geography

KS2 settlements and land use: a guide for parents

A settlement is a place where people live, from a handful of houses to a huge city. In Key Stage 2, children learn to describe different types of settlement, explain why people chose to build in particular places, and see how the land in and around a settlement is used for homes, farming, shops, industry and leisure. They also name and locate UK counties and cities and notice how land use has changed over time.

Settlements and land use, explained

Children start by sorting settlements by size and by what they offer. A hamlet is a few houses, often with no shop. A village usually has a church, a pub or a small shop and perhaps a primary school. A town has a wider range of shops and services, a secondary school and often a market. A city is larger again and often has a cathedral, a university or major public buildings. Putting these in order from smallest to largest is called a settlement hierarchy. There is no single number that separates these types, and in the United Kingdom city status is granted by the Crown rather than earned by size alone, so a few small places are cities and some large towns are not.

The big question is “Why here?” Early settlers needed fresh water, flat and fertile land for crops, building materials, fuel, shelter from the weather and a way of defending themselves. Geographers call the actual spot the site and its position in relation to the wider area the situation. Many towns grew where a river could be crossed by a ford or a bridge, at the meeting point of valleys, on a hill that was easy to defend, or beside a harbour. Roads, railways and canals later made some places grow quickly while others stayed small.

Land use describes what the land is used for. Children sort it into categories such as housing, farming, shops and offices, industry, transport, leisure and open green space, and they learn that many settlements follow a rough pattern: older buildings and shops close to the centre, houses further out, and farmland or woodland around the edge. Schools choose which local or contrasting settlements to study, so ask your child which places their class has looked at.

The curriculum also asks children to name and locate counties and cities of the United Kingdom, along with regions, hills, mountains, coasts and rivers, and to understand how some of these aspects have changed over time. Children might compare an old and a modern map of the same town and see fields turn into housing estates, a railway station close, or a factory become flats. They are encouraged to ask why changes happen and who is affected, which is where land use becomes a real discussion rather than a list.

Words your child will hear

Settlement: A place where people live and build homes, whatever its size.
Site: The actual piece of land a settlement is built on, such as a hill top or a river bank.
Situation: Where a settlement is in relation to its surroundings, such as near a coast or on a main road.
Land use: What an area of land is used for, such as housing, farming or industry.
Rural and urban: Rural means countryside with few buildings. Urban means built-up areas such as towns and cities.
Services: Things that a settlement provides for people, such as shops, schools, doctors and buses.
County: One of the areas the countries of the United Kingdom are divided into, for local government or by tradition, such as Devon or Kent.

What the National Curriculum says

In Key Stage 2, pupils should be taught to:

Describe and understand key aspects of human geography, including: types of settlement and land use, economic activity including trade links, and the distribution of natural resources including energy, food, minerals and water
Name and locate counties and cities of the United Kingdom, geographical regions and their identifying human and physical characteristics, key topographical features (including hills, mountains, coasts and rivers), and land-use patterns; and understand how some of these aspects have changed over time

Objectives from the National Curriculum in England, © Crown copyright, used under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

A worked example: answering “Why is this town here?”

A class studies an imaginary market town, Marlbridge, shown on a map. Its oldest streets sit on a gentle rise where a main road crosses a river, with flat farmland to the south, wooded hills to the north and a railway along one side. An older map of the town is also provided. Why did people settle there, and how is the land used today?

Look at the physical geography first. The river gives fresh water and a way of moving goods. The flat land to the south is good for crops and grazing. The hills give timber for building and fuel, and a place to look out from.
Look at the human geography. The name “bridge” and the main road suggest a crossing point where travellers had to stop. Traders pass through, so a market grows. Shops, inns and workshops follow, and the town becomes larger.
Separate the site from the situation. The site is a gentle rise beside the river, which would stay dry in a flood. The situation is a crossing point between farmland and the hills, which is why the town became a trading centre.
Sort today’s land use. Mark the centre as shops and offices, the streets around it as housing, a strip beside the railway as industry and storage, a park beside the river as leisure, and the outer edge as farmland. Add a key so that each colour is explained.
Think about change. An older map shows only a few streets, so the town has spread. Ask what was lost, such as fields, and what was gained, such as homes, and who might disagree about new building.

People settled at Marlbridge because of its river crossing, water, flat farmland and nearby wood. Its position on a trade route helped it grow into a market town. Today most of the land is housing and shops, with industry beside the railway, a leisure area by the river and farmland round the edge.

Common mistakes and how to help

A city is simply a very big town

Children naturally sort settlements by size, and most examples they know fit that rule. But a city in the United Kingdom is a place that has been granted city status by the Crown, and in the past this was often linked to having a cathedral.

What helps: Say that size is a guide only. Look at a few real examples together, including a small cathedral city and a large town, and talk about why the names are not as simple as the numbers.

Settlements are where they are by chance

A modern town can seem to have always been there. Children may not realise that wells, rivers, hills and routes shaped where the first buildings went.

What helps: When you go through a town or village, ask “Why do you think people built here?” and look for the river, the bridge, the hill or the crossroads.

Land use stays the same for ever

A field or a street looks permanent to a child, so it is a surprise that a farm became a housing estate or a mill became flats.

What helps: Compare old and new maps or photographs of the same place. Ask what has gone, what is new and what has stayed, and why the change might have happened.

The countryside means farmland only

The word “rural” suggests farms, so children forget that rural land also includes woodland, moorland and villages, and that towns contain green space too.

What helps: Sort the land in a photograph into several categories rather than two. A park in a city and a wood in the country are both land use, but of different kinds.

How to help at home

Ask “Why here?” on a journey. On a walk, a bus ride or a car journey, pick a village or town and guess why it is where it is. Look for a river, a hill, a crossroads or a harbour, then check a map when you get home.
Spot land use on a walk. Take a short walk around your area and name what each building or space is used for: homes, shops, school, farm, park or factory. Turn it into a game by counting how many different kinds you can find.
Compare old and new maps. Ask a local library or museum for an older map of your area, or look at a family photograph of a street. Ask what is the same and what is different now, and what might have caused each change.
Build a settlement from household objects. Use paper, boxes or building bricks to make a settlement. Decide where the river, the road, the shops and the fields go and explain the choices. This helps children link physical features to land use.

Builds on

Key Stage 1: Weather and seasons
Key Stage 1: Hot and cold places
Key Stage 1: Coasts, seas and oceans
Key Stage 1: Hills, rivers, forests and soil
Key Stage 1: Towns, villages, farms and ports

Leads on to

Key Stage 3: Plate tectonics and geological time
Key Stage 3: Rocks, weathering and soils
Key Stage 3: Weather and climate
Key Stage 3: Climate change from the Ice Age
Key Stage 3: Glaciation and glacial landforms
Key Stage 3: Rivers and drainage basins
Key Stage 3: Coastal processes and landforms
Key Stage 3: Population
Key Stage 3: Urbanisation and the growth of cities
Key Stage 3: International development
Key Stage 3: The four sectors of economic activity
Key Stage 3: The use of natural resources
Key Stage 3: How people change landscapes and climate
Key Stage 3: How people depend on natural systems