Settlement Type and Pattern
North Wales tends to be sparsely populated, with the major settlement
type being the individual farmstead rather than the village as in
England. This is partly due to a different cultural history, where
Saxons banded together in villages and farmed communally, while Celts
tended to live in more isolated settlements and were less sociable.
There is some evidence of rank-size rule in the ordering of settlements
in North Wales. There are no cities or large towns, but considerable
bias in favour of smaller settlements with a few small towns, many
villages and hamlets, and a large number of farms.
Settlement pattern is strongly dependent on relief. Upland plateau's
are dissected by river valleys and most settlements are located on
valley floors or lower slopes. In particular, larger settlements tend
to favour the coast, as in the ports of Barmouth and Harlech, or confluence's,
such as Dolgellau and Festiniog, so the physical landscape plays a
major influence on human settlement patterns. As a result, this has
lead to relatively isolated settlements with poor communications,
therefore relying on self sufficiency.
Population Change
In 1991 the population of Wales was 2.8 million. Gwynedd is thinly
populated with only 8.5% of the total Welsh population. However, the
population of Gwynedd is increasing, growing by 4.3% between 1971
and 1981, and by 1.87% between 1986 and 1988. Despite this, natural
change is consistently negative in Gwynedd with a higher death rate
than birth rate. This indicates inward migration as the main reason
for population change in the area.
Main types of migration:-
- Extreme counter-urbanisation
- Retirement migration
- Pre-retirement migration
Migration from England to Wales has been considerable, with over 250
000 since the 1950s, but migration within Wales has also been a contributing
factor. Like many rural areas this has resulted in an elderly population,
with a rapidly growing population of the >75 age group, causing
implications for health care.
The main process of outward migration is rural depopulation, with
many young people leaving due to lack of jobs, resulting in the knock
on effect of schools closing. With future labour shortages predicted,
youth unemployment may cease to be a problem.
