Human Settlements

Own an apartment or a big mansion. Settlement refers to an organised colony of human beings together with the buildings in which they live or use and the paths and streets over which they travel. It includes the temporary camp of the hunters and herders; the permanent settlements called villages; and large urban agglomerations. Human settlements may consist of only a few dwelling units (hamlets), or they may be as large as megalopolis with a big cluster of buildings accommodating millions of people.

Settlements are most commonly classified on the basis of size and functions. Accordingly, settlements are divided into rural and urban or villages and towns. The terms rural and urban are relative. There is no universally acceptable criteria to distinguish rural from urban. Different countries have evolved their own criteria to suit their own requirements. In fact, one finds a continuum of settlement ranging from hamlets to megalopolises. Rural settlements, are chiefly concerned with primary activities, be they agriculture, fishing, mining, forestry etc. On the other hand urban settlements are nodal in character having secondary and tertiary activities. In Canada, settlements less than 1,000 persons are classified as rural, while in the United States, the upper limit is 2,500 persons. In India, a settlement with a population upto 5,000 persons is rural, while in Japan, settlement having a population upto 30,000 is rural. In some countries, size is not the basis for differentiating rural from urban rather it is the economic status or function. The basic difference is that while in villages most of the people are engaged in agricultural work, in towns the chief occupation of the people is nonagricultural i.e. industry, trade and services. Some occupations are found in both villages and towns such as fishing, lumbering or mining. Such villages can, however, be distinguished from towns by the smaller scale of their activities.

The size and functions of settlements are often related to their sites and situations, which themselves are also determined by their functions. Villages dominated by agricultural or farm workers will grow in fertile agricultural areas. Towns may grow for several reasons often closely related to factors of site and situation, e.g. mining towns are sited near mineral resources and fishing ports are sited by sheltered anchorages. Industrial town, on the other hand, may be situated at nodal points where all the raw materials for manufacturing goods can be obtained.

The major functions of towns are trades and commerce, transport and communication, mining, manufacturing, defence, administration, cultural and recreation activities. In many cases a town may have more than one major function and it is then said to be a diversified town.

Rural settlements are most closely and directly related to land. They are dominated by primary activities such as agriculture, animal husbandry, fishing etc. Settlements size is relatively small. As discussed earlier, these settlements may be studied in terms of form, internal structure and functions.

Distribution of rural settlements on a world map reveals two distinct patterns: clustered or compact and dispersed or scattered. Compact Settlements : In these settlements, houses are built in close vicinity to each other. Initially it may begin as a small hamlet at the intersection of two footpaths or near a water body. As new households are added, the hamlet expands in size. Such settlements are commonly seen in river valleys and fertile plains. The houses are closely spaced and streets are narrow. Socially, the people are closely knit.

Most of the river plains of monsoon Asia present compact settlements. In the plains of India, China and Thailand, large nucleated village is the prevailing type. In the Irrawaddy delta, one can see the linear settlements along with nucleated small villages. The Kwanto plain of Japan has the largest concentration of compact settlements. In southern Arabia, human settlements are concentrated close to the coast, where water and good soil are available.

In Europe, compact settlements are typical in the river valley plains of Volga and Danube. The Rhine hilltops are also dotted with compact settlements, leaving plain areas for farming. Scattered Settlements : These are generally, found over hills, plateaus and highlands. They consist of one or two dwelling units knitted together in a common bond by a cultural feature such as a church, a mosque or a temple. In Africa, scattered settlements of this kind are common. In India such settlements are found in hilly terrain such as northern Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim and northern West Bengal. Isolated hamlets are found in mountainous regions of China.