Settlement Hierarchy - Example of A Settlement Hierarchy

Example of A Settlement Hierarchy

In this example, an isolated building is at the lowest point, and the ecumenopolis is at the top with the greatest number of people:

(Note: This settlement hierarchy is adapted from the work of Konstantinos Apostolos Doxiadis for the actual current world situation as of 2010 as opposed to Doxiadis' idealized settlement hierarchy for the year 2100 that he outlined in his 1968 book Ekistics.)

• Ecumenopolis - theorical construction in which the entire area of Earth that is taken up by human settlements, or at least, that those are linked so that to create urban areas so big that they can shape an urban continuum through thousands of kilometers which cannot be considered as a megalopolis. As of the year 2009, the United Nations estimated that for the first time more than 50% of the world's populations lived in cities, so if these were linked, the total population of this area would be about 3,400,000,000 people as of 2010.
• Megalopolis - a group of conurbations, consisting of more than ten million people each.
• Conurbation - a group of large cities and their suburbs, consisting of three to ten million people.
• Metropolis – a large city and its suburbs consisting of multiple cities and towns. The population is usually one to three million.
• Large city – a city with a large population and many services. The population is <1 million people but over 300,000 people.
• City – a city would have abundant services, but not as many as a large city. The population of a city is over 100,000 people up to 300,000.
• Large town – a large town has a population of 20,000 to 100,000.
• Town – a town has a population of 1,000 to 20,000.
• Village – a village generally does not have many services, possibly only a small corner shop or post office. A village has a population of 100 to 1,000.
• Hamlet – a hamlet has a tiny population (<100) and very few (if any) services, and few buildings.
• Isolated dwelling – an isolated dwelling would only have 1 or 2 buildings or families in it. It would have negligible services, if any.