System settings are there but they are limited in terms of what they can
do. You need CCSM to set the number of workspaces, desktop effects, add
grab handles etc. The basic setup is workable without CCSM, but it is
locked down. Canonical wants to lock it down but users have demanded that
it be opened up. Similarly in Unity 2D you need gconf editor to change the
basic setup. In GNOME Shell you need Gnome-tweak-tool.

I am in Fedora with OTB GNOME Shell and cannot check all of what CCSM does
at the moment.