Abstract
Identification of conditions which explain and predict growth in rural areas is critical to proper planning and maintenance of community services necessary for growth. The primary objective of this paper is to identify factors which influence settlement patterns in rural areas. It is important that decision makers have at their disposal information which will identify the impact of various economic, demographic and sociological factors which influence settlement patterns and thereby impact on the cost and nature of service. Factor analysis is used to evaluate survey responses from 1,156 households to determine the primary factors influencing settlement patterns. Results indicate that quality of services, age of home and availability of services, rural atmosphere and job and family considerations impact most significantly. Analysis of variance indicates that differences exist in the relative weighting of factors by socio-economic, demographic and locational variables.
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Goodwin, H.L., Doeksen, G.A. & Oehrtman, R.L. Determination of settlement patterns in rapidly growing rural areas. Ann Reg Sci 18, 67–80 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01286471
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01286471