Settlements, cities & migration

1. What is the maximum distance that people are prepared to travel to buy a good or use a service: the sphere of influence (range) or the contour interval?

2. In a flood-prone river valley, a settlement built on slightly higher dry ground above the floodplain is called: a dry-point site or a wet-point site?

3. What is a “sustainable city” (eco-city) designed to achieve: meeting residents’ housing, transport, water and energy needs while minimising waste, pollution and resource depletion, or paving over all parks?

4. What do we call a person who has been forced to flee their home country across an international border to escape war, violence or persecution: a refugee or a tourist?

5. What term describes the increasing percentage of a country’s population living in towns and cities rather than rural areas: urbanisation or reforestation?

6. In settlement geography, a village where houses are grouped closely together around a central green, crossroads or harbour is described as having what pattern: a nucleated settlement pattern or a dispersed pattern?

7. Historically, why were many early settlements founded next to rivers, sheltered harbours or fresh springs (wet-point sites): for a reliable supply of fresh drinking water, fishing and boat transport, or to avoid all water?

8. What do geographers call a very large urban agglomeration with a total population of more than 10 million people (such as Tokyo, Delhi or São Paulo): a megacity or a hamlet?

9. Which urban transport strategy reduces traffic congestion and air pollution most effectively: investing in frequent electric buses, metro rail and safe cycle lanes, or removing all pavements?

10. In human geography, what is the correct settlement hierarchy in order of increasing population size and services: Hamlet → Village → Town → City, or City → Town → Hamlet → Village?

11. When several neighbouring cities and large towns expand and merge into one continuous built-up urban region, what is this merged urban area called: a conurbation or an archipelago?

12. Why are urban temperatures often 2 °C to 5 °C warmer than the surrounding countryside, especially at night (the urban heat island effect): dark concrete and tarmac absorb heat and buildings trap warmth while releasing waste heat, or cities are closer to the Sun?