A linear settlement is a (normally small to medium-sized)
settlement or group of buildings that is formed in a long line. Many of these settlements are formed along a transport route, such as a road, river, or canal. Others form due to physical restrictions, such as coastlines, mountains, hills or valleys. Linear settlements may have no obvious centre.
In the case of settlements built along a route, the route predated the settlement, and then the settlement grew along the transport route. Often, it is only a single street with houses on either side of the road.
Mileham, Norfolk, England is an example of this pattern. Later development may add side turnings and districts away from the original main street. Places such as
Southport
Southport is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. It lies on the West Lancashire Coastal Plain, West Lancashire coastal plain and the east coast of the Irish Sea, approximately north of ...
, England developed in this way.
A linear settlement is in contrast with
ribbon development, which is the outward spread of an existing
town
A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city.
The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...
along a
main street, and with a
nucleated settlement, which is a group of buildings clustered around a central point.
Particular types of linear settlements are linear village, chain village, street village (;
["Poland Population Distribution"]
/ref> ,[ , ), and some others. Different countries have varying classifications of linear settlements.
Sułoszowa, Poland, is notable for its 9 km long, single main street and its thin strips of farmland, inhabited by 3500 people.
]
Cities and city districts
Linear designs have also been proposed for new city and district development projects, such as Arturo Soria y Mata's linear city, Michael Graves
Michael Graves (July 9, 1934 – March 12, 2015) was an American architect, designer, and educator, and principal of Michael Graves and Associates and Michael Graves Design Group. He was a member of The New York Five and the Memphis Group and ...
and Peter Eisenman
Peter David Eisenman (born August 11, 1932) is an American architect, writer, and professor. Considered one of the New York Five, Eisenman is known for his high modernist and deconstructive designs, as well as for his authorship of several archi ...
's linear city, Madrid
Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...
's ''Ciudad Lineal
Ciudad Lineal (, "Linear City") is one of 21 district of Madrid, districts of Madrid, Spain.
Geography
Wards
The district is administratively divided into nine wards:
* Atalaya (Madrid), Atalaya
* Colina (Madrid), Colina
* Concepción (Ma ...
'' district, and Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...
's The Line. Such designs have been criticized as expressing a simplistic understanding of the process of urban growth and ignoring the human factor in design, resulting in inefficiency and limited growth potential.
See also
* Eyeball planet
* Reihendorf
* Ribbon farm
Ribbon farms (also known as strip farms, river lots, long-lot farms, or just long lots) are long, narrow land divisions for farming, usually lined up along a waterway. In some instances, they line a road.
Background
Ribbon or strip farms were p ...
* Zeilendorf
References
Further reading
*
{{Authority control
Urban planning
City layout models
Types of village