Human settlement / Transportation

Human settlement / Transportation
(1)
- Urban development along the coast resulted in increasing importance of sea transport.
- Local ports were a key part of infrastructure
- The steam engine allowed for more efficient delivery of materials across settlements and therefore allowed urban developments to spread even further.


Human settlement / water
(2)
- for prehistoric populations, it was important to make settlement in close proximity to game, and to large bodies of water.
- large bodies of water (polynyas):
- "The factor linking polynyas and human settlement is the presence of available and potential food resources in the open water area. As Kane (1856: 244) noted “To these spots, the seal, walrus, and the early birds crowd in numbers”."
- In early human settlement, the presence of water indicated presence of food.
(obviously fish, but also other animals that may feed on the fish or drink from the water)


Transport / water
(3)
- A substancial portion of a country's revenue comes from water transport, including both domestic and material transport.
- A water-transport system allows a profitable and well functioning settlement, because of the access to other settlements and other resources.



Works Cited:


"Human Settlements and Transport." Department of Environment and Natural Resources. http://www.environment.sa.gov.au/education/pages/modules/humans/transport_02.html (accessed December 10, 2010).

Schledermann, Peter. "Polynas and prehistoric settlement patterns.." Arctic Institute of North America. arctic.synergiesprairies.ca/arctic/index.php/arctic/article/viewFile/2562/2539 (accessed December 7, 2010).

"BTS | Water Transport Profile." RITA | Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS). http://www.bts.gov/publications/national_transportation_statistics/html/table_water_transport_profile.html (accessed December 10, 2010).



Mario Arnone


November 9th 2010

Don't really know how relevant this will be...but interesting solution for transporting water taken from a website on how to deal with a nuclear war.

Carrying 80 pounds of water in two burlap bags, each lined with two larger plastic trash bags, one inside the other. (Photograph) 

A way to make the bag

more to come?

Cresson Kearny. "Nuclear War Survival Skills." Oregon Institute of Science and Medecine. www.oism.org/nwss/s73p919.htm (accessed December 8, 2010).

D.Rosen

why would someone end up in a slum?

-ideal settlement in rural areas

-three gorges dam displacement

-climate immigrants

-Palestinians forced into slums into slums for political reasons

upon arrival scene

talk about the settlement of the slums i.e. the opposite patterns of normal settlement 

housing

-haiti

-Turkish overnight houses

-

water

-purification

-piping

-public/private access

-inequality in distribution

-sanitation

-latrines http://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/3549/1/thesis%20book_w-revisions_smaller2.pdf pg. 89

solar water bottle purifcation

transportation

-bicycles

-shoes

-motorcycles

work

-motorcycle taxi service Malawi

-black market water

Kowloon Walled City

     Kowloon walled city is a perfect example of the type of human settlement that can occur even with minimal water and transportation. It existed from about 1898 to 1993.

During World War II, the 0.3km^2 piece of ungoverned territory surged in population. Over the successive years it developed into an impressive makeshift megastructure lived in by 33 000 residence as of 1987. It had become a lawless city, thriving on crime yet also self-moderating. For residents there there were no taxes, no laws, and no official rules of any kind. There were unliscenced doctors and dentists, opium dens, brothels, gambling parlors, and everything else imaginable. The lower regions of the city had to be artificially illuminated; so many layers were built that no light could penetrate to the ground. The only thing that capped the buildings' height at fourteen storeys was the nearby airport and its low-flying aircraft.

     A region this dense and completely improvised in its urban design could probably not have existed without a municipal water supply. Water was one of a few services Hong Kong provided; the other was mail delivery. This shows how crucial water is to urban settlement. When compared to a typical slum, the only real difference in Kowloon Walled City is the availability of water. This alone allowed the population to soar, density to increase, and businesses and communities to thrive in an environment not extremely different from an officially regulated city – all things considered.

     Methods of transportation in the walled city were TK. The growth of the city was limited by the small patch of territory on which it could legally sit, so there was no need for high speed transportation (and no possibility for it in the narrow alleys). All travel was on foot, either through the labrynth of alleys on the ground or across the network of ladders that joined the rooftops of the roughly 350 buildings. This “infrastructure” was apparently viable on a small scale. It would be interesting to see the development of transportation routes had the city's growth not been limited.

Though there are slums worldwide, none developed in the same way that Kowloon Walled City did, and that is because of two fundamental differences: the availability of water and the restricted size, removing the need for transportation. Without either one of these, the city would not have been able to sustain itself over so many generations.


Works cited:


Basler, Barbara. "Hong Kong Journal; The Walled City, Home to Huddled Masses, Falls - New York Times." The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. http://www.nytimes.com/1992/06/16/world/hong-kong-journal-the-walled-city-home-to-huddled-masses-falls.html (accessed December 10, 2010).


"Kowloon Walled City - Daily dose of inspiration." as i am - and as i want. http://www.as-i-am.fr/dose/index.php?post/2009/05/05/Kowloon-Walled-City (accessed December 10, 2010).


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Alex Willms
8 December 2010

1.3 million displaced in China

Right now our presentation opens with someone having to leave their home, I think we should elaborate on exactly people find themselves in the desperate situations that slum occupants do. One example of this is the Three Gorges Dam in China, scheduled to be fully operational next year. Currently 1.2 million people have been displaced and another 4 million are being encouraged to move to the near by Chongqing metropolitan area. I think we should present a few different situations, maybe three. Soil degradation could be another good one which a previous post has touched on.


"Three Gorges Reservoir To Result In The Displacement Of 4 Million People - Green Diary." Green Diary: Your guide to sustainable living. http://www.greendiary.com/entry/three-gorges-reservoir-to-result-in-the-displacement-of-4-million-people/ (accessed December 7, 2010).


Pasternack, Alex, New York, and NY. "Three Gorges: China's Own Dam Problem : TreeHugger." TreeHugger. http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/11/chinas_dam_problem.php (accessed December 7, 2010).


Tristan Robeton 07/12/2010