Human settlement

Human settlement

The study of human settlements is basic to human geography because the form of settlement in any particular region reflects a human relationship with the environment.

A human settlement is defined as a place inhabited more or less permanently. The houses may be designed or redesigned, buildings may be altered, functions may change but settlement continues in time and space.

There may be some settlements that are temporary and are occupied for short periods, maybe a season

CLASSIFICATION OF SETTLEMENTS RURAL and URBAN

It is widely accepted that settlements can be differentiated in terms of rural and urban, but there is no consensus on what exactly defines a village or a town.

Although population size is an important criterion, it is not a universal criterion since many villages in densely populated countries of India and China have populations exceeding that of some towns of Western Europe and the United States.

At one time, people living in villages pursued agriculture or other primary activities, but presently in developed countries, large sections of urban populations prefer to live in villages even though they work in the city.

The basic difference between towns and villages is that in towns the main occupation of the people is related to secondary and tertiary sectors, while in the villages most of the people are engaged in primary occupations such as agriculture, fishing, lumbering, mining, animal husbandry, etc.

Differentiation between rural and urban on the basis of functions are more meaningful even though there is no uniformity in the hierarchy of the functions provided by rural and urban settlements. Petrol pumps are considered as a lower order function in the United States while it is an urban function in India. Even within a country, the rating of functions may vary according to the regional economy. Facilities available in the villages of developed countries may be considered rare in villages of developing and less developed countries.

TYPES AND PATTERNS OF SETTLEMENTS

Settlements may also be classified by their shape, patterns types. The major types classified by shape are:

1. Compactor Nucleated settlements:

These settlements are those in which a large number of houses are built very close to each other. Such settlements develop along river valleys and infertile plains. Communities are closely knit and share common occupations.

2. Dispersed Settlements:

In these settlements, houses are spaced far apart and often interspersed with fields. A cultural feature such as a place of worship or a market binds the settlement together.

Rural Settlements

Rural settlements are most closely and directly related to land. They are dominated by primary activities such as agriculture, animal husbandry, fishing, etc. The settlement's size is relatively small.

Some factors affecting the location of rural settlements are:

Water Supply

Usually, rural settlements are located near water bodies such as rivers, lakes, and springs where water can be easily obtained. Sometimes the need for water drives people to settle in otherwise disadvantaged sites such as islands surrounded by swamps or low-lying river banks. Most water-based ‘wet point’ settlements have many advantages such as water for drinking, cooking, and washing. Rivers and lakes can be used to irrigate farmland.

Water bodies also have fish that can be caught for diet and navigable rivers and lakes can be used for transportation.

Land

People choose to settle near fertile lands suitable for agriculture. In Europe, villages grew up near rolling country avoiding swampy, low-lying land while people in southeast Asia chose to live near low-lying river valleys and coastal plains suited for wet rice cultivation.

Early settlers chose plain areas with fertile soils.

Upland

Upland which is not prone to flooding was chosen to prevent damage to houses and loss of life. Thus, in low-lying river basins, people chose to settle on terraces and levees which are “drypoints”.

In tropical countries, people build their houses on stilts near marshy lands to protect themselves from floods, insects, and animal pests.

Building Material

The availability of building materials- wood, stone near settlements is another advantage. Early villages were built in forest clearings where wood was plentiful

Defense

During times of political instability, war, the hostility of neighboring groups villages were built on defensive hills and islands

In India, most of the forts are located on higher grounds or hills.

Planned Settlements

Sites that are not spontaneously chosen by villagers themselves, planned settlements are constructed by governments by providing shelter, water, and other infrastructures on acquired lands.

The scheme of villagization in Ethiopia and the canal colonies in the Indira Gandhi's Canal command area in India are some good examples.

Rural Settlement Patterns

Patterns of rural settlements reflect the way the houses are sited in relation to each other. The site of the village, the surrounding topography, and terrain influence the shape and size of a village.

Rural settlements may be classified on the basis of a number of criteria:

1. On the basis of setting: The main types are plain villages, plateau villages, coastal villages, forest villages, and desert villages.
2. iOn the basis of functions: There may be farming villages, fishermen’s villages, lumberjack villages, pastoral villages, etc.
3. On the basis of forms or shapes of the settlements: These may be a number of geometrical forms and shapes such as Linear, rectangular, circular star-like, T-shaped village, double village, cross-shaped village, etc.

1. Linear pattern:

In such settlements, houses are located along a road, railway line, river, canal edge of a valley, or along a levee.

2. Rectangular pattern:

Such patterns of rural settlements are found in plain areas or wide intermontane valleys. The roads are rectangular and cut each other at right angles.

Problems of Rural Settlements

Rural settlements in developing countries are large in number and poorly equipped with infrastructure.

They represent a great challenge and opportunity for planners.

The supply of water to rural settlements in developing countries is not adequate.

People in villages, particularly in mountainous and arid areas have to walk long distances to fetch drinking water.

Water-borne diseases such as cholera and jaundice tend to be a common problem.

The countries of South Asia face conditions of drought and flood very often.

Crop cultivation sequences, in the absence of irrigation, also suffer.

The general absence of toilet and garbage disposal facilities causes health-related problems.

The design and use of building materials of houses vary from one ecological region to another.

The houses made up of mud, wood and thatch, remain susceptible to damage during heavy rains and floods, and require proper maintenance every year. Most house designs are typically deficient in proper ventilation. Besides, the design of a house includes the animal shed along with its fodder store within it. This is purposely done to keep the domestic animals and their food properly protected from wild animals

 

Urban Settlements

Rapid urban growth is a recent phenomenon.

Settlements reached the population size of more than a few thousand inhabitants.

The first urban settlement to reach a population of one million was the city of London by around. A.D. 1810 By 1982 approximately 175 cities in the world had crossed the one million population mark. Presently 48 percent of the world’s population lives in urban settlements compared to only 3 percent in the year 180

Classification of Urban Settlements

The definition of urban areas varies from one country to another.

Some of the common bases of classification are the size of the population, occupational structure, and administrative setup.

Population Size

It is an important criterion used by most countries to define urban areas.

The lower limit of the population size for a settlement to be designated as urban is

1,500 in Colombia,

2,000 in Argentina and Portugal,

2,500 in U.S.A. and Thailand,

5,000 in India and

30,000 in Japan.

Besides the size of the population, the density of 400 persons per sq km and share of non-agricultural workers are taken into consideration in India.

Countries with a low density of population may choose a lower number as the cut-off figure compared to densely populated countries.

In Denmark, Sweden, and Finland, all places with a population size of 250 persons are called urban.

The minimum population for a city is 300 in Iceland, whereas, in Canada and Venezuela, it is 1,000 persons.

Occupational Structure

In some countries, such as India, the major economic activities in addition to the size of the population in designating a settlement as urban are also taken as a criterion.

In Italy, a settlement is called urban, if more than 50 percent of its economically productive population is engaged in non-agricultural pursuits.

India has set this criterion at 75 percent.

Administration

The administrative setup is a criterion for classifying a settlement as urban in some countries.

For example,

In India, a settlement of any size is classified as urban, if it has a municipality, Cantonment Board, or Notified Area Council.

In Latin American countries, such as Brazil and Bolivia, any administrative center is considered urban irrespective of its population size. Location Location of urban centers is examined with reference to their function.

CLASSIFICATION OF TOWNS ON THE BASIS OF FORMS

An urban settlement may be a linear, square, star, or crescent-shaped. In fact, the form of the settlement, architecture, and style of buildings and other structures are an outcome of its historical and cultural traditions.

Types of Urban Settlements

Depending on the size and the services available and functions rendered, urban centers are designated as a town, city, million cities, conurbation, and megalopolis.

Town

The concept of ‘town’ can best be understood with reference to ‘village’.

Population size is not the only criterion. Functional contrasts between towns and villages may not always be clear-cut, but specific functions such as manufacturing, retail and wholesale trade, and professional services exist in towns.

City

A city may be regarded as a leading town, which has outstripped its local or regional rivals. In the words of Lewis Mumford, “ the city is, in fact, the physical form of the highest and most complex type of associative life”.

Cities are much larger than towns and have a greater number of economic functions.

They tend to have transport terminals, major financial institutions, and regional administrative offices. When the population crosses the one million mark it is designated as a million city. 

Megalopolis

This Greek word meaning “great city”, was popularized by Jean Gottman (1957) and signifies a ‘super- metropolitan’ region extending as the union of conurbations.

The urban landscape stretching from Boston in the north to south of Washington in the U.S.A. is the best-known example of a megalopolis.

Million City

The number of million cities in the world has been increasing as never before. London reached the million mark in 1800, followed by Paris in 1850, New York in 1860, and by 1950 there were around 80 such cities. The rate of increase in the number of million cities has been three-fold in every three decades – around 160 in 1975 to around 438 in 2005.

Problems of Urban Settlements

People flock to cities to avail themselves of employment opportunities and civic amenities. Since most cities in developing countries are unplanned, it creates severe congestion.

Shortage of housing, vertical expansion, and growth of slums are characteristic features of modern cities of developing countries.

In many cities, an increasing proportion of the population lives in substandard housing, e.g. slums and squatter settlements.

In most million-plus cities in India, one in four inhabitants lives in illegal settlements, which are growing twice as fast as the rest of the cities. Even in the Asia Pacific countries, around 60 percent of the urban population lives in squatter settlements

Economic Problems

The decreasing employment opportunities in the rural, as well as smaller urban areas of the developing countries, consistently push the population to the urban areas.

The enormous migrant population generates a pool of unskilled and semi-skilled labor force, which is already saturated in urban areas.

Socio-cultural Problems

Cities in developing countries suffer from several social ills.

Insufficient financial resources fail to create adequate social infrastructure catering to the basic needs of the huge population.

The available educational and health facilities remain beyond the reach of the urban poor. Health indices also, present a gloomy picture in cities of developing countries.

Lack of employment and education tends to aggravate the crime rates.

Male selective migration to the urban areas distorts the sex ratio in these cities.

Environmental Problems

The large urban population in developing countries not only uses but also disposes of a huge quantity of water and all types of waste materials.

Many cities of the developing countries even find it extremely difficult to provide the minimum required quantity of potable water and water for domestic and industrial uses.

An improper sewerage system creates unhealthy conditions.

The massive use of traditional fuel in the domestic, as well as the industrial sector, severely pollutes the air.

The domestic and industrial wastes are either let into the general sewerages or dumped without treatment at unspecified locations.

Huge concrete structures erected to accommodate the population and economy play a very conducive role to create heat islands.