(a) Outline four ways in which urban settlements differ from one another. (b) Outline three factors that have contributed to the high population density in ...

(a) Four ways in which urban settlements differ from one another

• Size of population: some are small towns, others are large cities or conurbations.
• Function: settlements differ in their main activity, e.g. administrative (capital), industrial, commercial, port, mining, religious or educational towns.
• Site and situation: some are coastal, others inland, on hills, along rivers or at route junctions.
• Morphology (shape/pattern): some are planned with regular street patterns, others grow irregularly; shapes may be linear, nucleated or radial.
• Age and level of development: old traditional towns differ from modern planned cities in infrastructure and layout.

(b) Three factors contributing to high population density in Japan

• Highly developed industry and commerce: Japan is one of the world's leading manufacturing nations, attracting people to industrial cities such as Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya.
• Limited lowland (plains): because Japan is mountainous, people crowd onto the narrow coastal plains, raising density there.
• Intensive, productive agriculture (especially rice) on the fertile lowlands supports a large population.
• Good fishing grounds and a highly developed fishing industry support many people.
• Well-developed transport and trade and a temperate climate favourable to settlement.

(c) Three problems resulting from high population density in Japan

• Overcrowding and shortage of land for housing, leading to very high land and housing costs.
• Pressure on social amenities such as transport, water and health facilities, causing congestion.
• Environmental pollution (air, water and noise) from dense industry and traffic.
• Reclamation of land from the sea and hills at high cost to create more space.
• Traffic congestion in the large cities.