Welcome to Land Use in Geography!
Have you ever looked out of a car window or looked down from a hill and noticed how different areas of land look? Some areas have tall buildings, some have buzzing roads, and others have wide green fields with sheep grazing. In this chapter, we are going to explore land use — what people use land for, how land is divided across the United Kingdom, and how you can spot different land uses on a map!
Don't worry if some of these ideas seem new or tricky at first. We will take it step-by-step with clear examples, fun memory tricks, and helpful tips!
1. What is Land Use?
Land use means the function or purpose of a particular piece of land. In simple words: what is the land being used for?
To understand land use, geographers look at two important kinds of features:
• Physical Features: Things that occur naturally in our world without human help (for example: rivers, mountains, cliffs, and natural forests).
• Human Features: Things that are made, built, or changed by people (for example: roads, houses, farms, and bridges).
Watch Out: Appearance vs Function!
It is easy to confuse what something looks like with what it is used for. For example, trees in a woodland are a physical feature of nature, but the land use might be forestry (growing wood for timber) or recreational (a public park where families walk their dogs).
Key Takeaway: Land use is always about the purpose or job that humans have given to that area of land.
2. The Main Types of Land Use
Geographers divide land into different categories. Here are the main types you need to know for Key Stage 2:
• Agricultural: Land used for farming. This includes growing crops (arable farming) and raising livestock like cows and sheep (pasture farming).
• Residential: Land where people live. This includes houses, flats, driveways, and private gardens.
• Recreational: Land used for fun, games, and leisure. Examples include parks, playgrounds, football pitches, and golf courses.
• Transport: Land used for moving people and goods from place to place. This includes motorways, train tracks, bus stations, and airports.
• Commercial / Retail: Land used for buying, selling, and business. Examples include high-street shops, shopping centres, banks, and office buildings.
• Industrial: Land used for making, processing, or storing things. Examples include factories, manufacturing plants, and large storage warehouses.
• Forestry: Land used for planting, growing, and managing trees to produce wood and timber.
Memory Tip: Remember the 7 Land Uses!
Try using this handy rhyme to remember them all:
"All Residents Read Tales Concerning Interesting Forests"
(Agricultural, Residential, Recreational, Transport, Commercial, Industrial, Forestry)
Key Takeaway: Almost every piece of land you see has a specific purpose, from farming crops to shopping or living in a house.
3. How is Land Used in the UK?
If you walked across the whole United Kingdom, which type of land do you think you would see the most? Many people guess cities and houses, but the real numbers might surprise you!
UK Land Use Ratios:
• Crops (Arable Farmland): Covers about \(27\%\) of UK land.
• Pasture (Livestock Farmland): Covers more than \(25\%\) of UK land.
• Woodland: Covers approximately \(10\%\) of UK land.
• Residential (Homes and Gardens): Covers approximately \(5\%\) of UK land.
Did You Know? The "Human Food" Misconception!
When you see big fields of golden crops, you might imagine they are all turned into bread, cereal, or pasta for humans. But did you know that about \(40\%\) (which is \(\frac{2}{5}\)) of all crops grown in the UK are actually used for animal feed to feed farm livestock like cows, pigs, and chickens?
Key Takeaway: Over half of all land in the UK is used for farming (crops and pasture combined), while houses and gardens make up only around \(5\%\)!
4. Settlements and Land Use
A settlement is a place where people live and build communities. The size of a settlement affects what kinds of land use you will find there.
Settlement Sizes (From Smallest to Largest):
1. Hamlet: A very tiny settlement, often just a handful of houses and no shops or services.
2. Village: A small settlement in the countryside, often with a primary school, a local shop, and a village green.
3. Town: A larger settlement with hundreds or thousands of houses, secondary schools, shopping streets, and train stations.
4. City: A very large, bustling settlement with a high population, hospitals, universities, large commercial centres, and lots of transport links.
5. Megacity: A giant city with a huge population of over \(10\text{ million}\) people!
Watch Out: The "Urban vs Rural" Trap!
It is easy to think that the countryside (rural) only has farms and that cities (urban) only have shops and houses. In reality, land use is often mixed!
For example, rural countryside areas often have industrial land uses like stone quarries or wind farms generating green energy.
Key Takeaway: Settlements grow from tiny hamlets to huge megacities, and most areas contain a mixture of different land uses.
5. Finding Land Use on Maps
Geographers use Ordnance Survey (OS) maps to study how land is used in different parts of the country.
Using the Map Key
A map key is a handy reference box that explains what the colours and small symbols on a map mean. For example:
• Blue lines show rivers and canals (water / transport).
• Small tree symbols show woodland and forests.
• Orange, yellow, and red lines show different types of roads (transport).
• Yellow or green shading often represents open countryside or parks.
Grid References
To pinpoint the exact location of a specific land use, we use grid references. You will use two main types:
• Four-figure grid references: These point you to a whole square on the map (for example, identifying a large farmer's field or a woodland).
• Six-figure grid references: These give you an exact, precise spot inside a square (for example, locating a single building, factory, or post office).
Golden Rule for Map Reading:
"Along the corridor, then up the stairs!"
Always read the numbers along the bottom (Eastings) first, before reading the numbers going up the side (Northings).
Key Takeaway: Map keys and grid references help you quickly spot and share the exact location of different land uses.
6. Quick Chapter Review
Let's double-check the big ideas from this chapter:
• Land use is the function or purpose people give to an area of land.
• The 7 main types of land use are: Agricultural, Residential, Recreational, Transport, Commercial, Industrial, and Forestry.
• More than half of the UK's land is used for agriculture (crops \(27\%\) and pasture \(>25\%\)), while only about \(5\%\) is residential.
• About \(40\%\) (\(\frac{2}{5}\)) of UK crops are grown to feed animals, not humans directly.
• Settlements range from tiny hamlets to massive megacities with over \(10\text{ million}\) people.
• Use an OS map key and grid references (along the corridor, then up the stairs!) to discover land use on maps.