Unit 5: Settlement Geography

1. Origin of Settlements

The study of settlements is a core component of Human Geography, focusing on the spaces where humans live, interact, and organize themselves. A settlement can range from a single isolated dwelling to a massive megalopolis.

Historical Evolution

• Paleolithic Era (Hunting and Gathering): Early humans were nomadic. Settlements were temporary, relying on caves or makeshift shelters based on the movement of game and availability of foraging resources.
• Neolithic Revolution (Agricultural Transition): The domestication of plants and animals (circa 10,000 BCE) marked a pivotal shift. Sedentary agriculture required humans to stay in one place to tend to crops, leading to the first permanent settlements.
• River Valley Civilizations: The earliest permanent settlements emerged in fertile river valleys due to the availability of water, fertile soil, and transportation. Notable examples include the Tigris-Euphrates (Mesopotamia), Nile (Egypt), Indus (India), and Hwang Ho (China) valleys.

Factors Influencing the Origin and Location of Settlements

• Site: The actual piece of land on which the settlement is built (e.g., a hill, a riverbank). Physical factors include topography, climate, soil fertility, and water supply (wet point vs. dry point settlements).
• Situation: The location of the settlement in relation to its surrounding environment and other places (e.g., proximity to trade routes, defensive positioning).

2. Classification of Settlements

Settlements are broadly classified into two main categories based on their primary economic activities, population size, density, and way of life.

Rural Settlements

• Economic Base: Primarily dependent on primary sector activities (agriculture, fishing, forestry, mining).
• Characteristics: Lower population density, stronger social ties, traditional way of life, and a closer relationship with the natural environment.

Urban Settlements

• Economic Base: Dominated by secondary (manufacturing) and tertiary (services, trade, administration) activities.
• Characteristics: High population density, complex social structure, fast-paced lifestyle, and extensive built environments.

(Note: The exact statistical criteria distinguishing rural from urban—such as population threshold—vary significantly from country to country).

3. Types and Patterns of Rural Settlements

A. Types of Rural Settlements

The "type" of settlement refers to the degree of dispersion or nucleation of the dwellings.

1. Compact or Clustered (Nucleated): Houses are built very close to each other. Found in highly productive alluvial plains (e.g., the Indo-Gangetic plain). Usually surrounded by agricultural land. Promotes strong community living and defense.
2. Semi-Compact (Semi-Nucleated): A transitional phase between clustered and dispersed. Often results from the fragmentation of a large compact village or the addition of newer houses on the periphery of an older village.
3. Hamleted: A settlement fragmented into several smaller units (hamlets) physically separated from each other but bearing a common name. Often driven by social or ethnic factors (e.g., caste-based segregation in parts of India).
4. Dispersed or Isolated: Consists of isolated farmhouses or scattered dwellings separated by large areas of land. Common in mountainous regions, dense forests, or areas with extensive agriculture (e.g., Prairies of North America, Steppes).

B. Patterns of Rural Settlements

"Pattern" refers to the geometrical shape formed by the arrangement of houses, streets, and fields.

• Linear Pattern: Houses are arranged along a line, such as a road, railway line, river, or canal edge.
• Rectangular Pattern: Develops in plain areas or inter-montane valleys. Roads are straight and intersect at right angles (grid-like).
• Circular Pattern: Houses are built around a central feature like a lake, pond, or a central village green/temple. Often serves a defensive purpose, keeping cattle safe in the center.
• Star-like Pattern: Emerges where several roads converge. Houses are built along all the radiating roads, forming a star shape.
• T-shaped, Y-shaped, Cross-shaped Patterns:
  • T-shaped: Forms at a tri-junction where one road meets another dead-end road.
  • Y-shaped: Forms where two roads converge into a single road.
  • Cross-shaped: Develops at crossroads where houses extend in all four directions.

4. Classification of Urban Settlements

Urban areas can be classified based on two major parameters: Size and Function.

A. Classification Based on Size

The terminology reflects the demographic scale and physical spread of the urban area.

1. Town: A settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city, with a predominantly non-agricultural economy.
2. City: A large, densely populated urban area with complex administrative, legal, and economic systems. (Often defined as having a population of over 100,000, though this varies).
3. Million City: A city whose population crosses the one million (1,000,000) mark (e.g., London was the first in 1800, followed by Paris in 1850).
4. Conurbation: A term coined by Patrick Geddes (1915). It refers to a continuous, extended urban area formed by the coalescing of originally separate towns and cities (e.g., Greater London, Tokyo-Yokohama).
5. Megalopolis: Coined by Jean Gottmann (1957). A "super-city" consisting of a chain of roughly adjacent metropolitan areas and conurbations. (e.g., the BosWash corridor in the USA—from Boston to Washington D.C.).

B. Classification Based on Function

While most modern cities are multi-functional, they are often classified by their dominant function.

1. Administrative Towns: National or provincial capitals established primarily for governance (e.g., Washington D.C., New Delhi, Canberra, Brasilia).
2. Defensive/Garrison Towns: Historically established for military purposes or strategic control (e.g., Mhow, Ambala).
3. Cultural and Religious Towns: Centers of pilgrimage, religion, or education (e.g., Mecca, Varanasi, Jerusalem, Oxford, Cambridge).
4. Industrial Towns: Driven by manufacturing and heavy industries. Located near raw materials or power sources (e.g., Pittsburgh, Jamshedpur, Manchester).
5. Commercial Towns: Centers of trade and commerce, acting as major markets or financial hubs (e.g., New York, Frankfurt, Mumbai).
6. Transport/Port Towns: Located on coasts or major rivers, facilitating import and export activities, or major railway junctions (e.g., Rotterdam, Singapore, Suez).
7. Resort/Recreation Towns: Focused on tourism, health, and leisure (e.g., Miami, Shimla, Monaco).

5. World Pattern of Urbanisation

Urbanisation refers to the increasing proportion of a country's population living in urban areas, driven by natural growth and rural-to-urban migration.

Historical Trends

• Pre-18th Century: Urbanization was slow. The world was overwhelmingly rural.
• The Industrial Revolution: Triggered rapid urbanization in Western Europe and North America in the 18th and 19th centuries due to the rise of factory systems and the need for concentrated labor.
• Mid-20th Century to Present: Urbanization exploded in developing countries (Asia, Africa, and Latin America) due to post-colonial economic restructuring, globalization, and rural distress.

Current Global Patterns

• The Global Milestone: In 2007, for the first time in human history, the global urban population exceeded the rural population (crossing the 50% mark).
• Developed vs. Developing World:
  • Developed Countries (North America, Western Europe, Australasia): Highly urbanized (often 75-90%). The rate of urbanization has slowed down, and phenomena like counter-urbanization (movement back to rural areas/suburbs) are observed.
  • Developing Countries (Africa, Asia): Currently have lower urbanization levels (around 40-50%) but exhibit the highest rates of urban growth. These regions are experiencing rapid, sometimes unplanned, urban expansion leading to the proliferation of slums and informal settlements.
  • Latin America: An anomaly in the developing world, as it is highly urbanized (over 80%), resembling the developed world in terms of urban proportion.

Spatial Distribution (Mega-cities)

• The center of gravity for large cities has shifted. In 1950, most mega-cities were in the Global North (e.g., New York, London).
• Today, the vast majority of the world's mega-cities (population >10 million) are in the Global South, particularly in Asia (e.g., Tokyo, Delhi, Shanghai, Dhaka, Mumbai) and Latin America (e.g., São Paulo, Mexico City).