ABSTRACT
Studying the spatial-temporal evolution of settlements in mountainous areas can reflect land use change and broader patterns in the relationship between human communities and the natural environment. Based on toponymy records, historical materials, and fieldwork data, a database of settlements in the Zhangjiu River Basin in Yunnan Province has been established. This chapter reconstructs a temporal and spatial record of changes in the basin over the past 300 years. The results show that the increase of settlements in the Zhangjiu River Basin occurred in three stages: a slow-growth period from 1700 to 1800, a fast-growth stage from 1800 to 1950, and again a slow-growth period after 1950. Spatially, the middle and lower reaches of the river valley had greatest density of settlements, and the expansion of new settlements occurred in a pattern that generally exhibited movement from the downstream to the upstream and from lower to higher elevations. Settlements located at heights between 2,200 m and 2,500 m and gradients of 20 degrees or more represented important limiting factors for the expansion of settlements. Immigration and population expansion were the main driving forces that impelled settlement to expand in the river basin.
