SETTELMENT

Introduction :

A settlement is a general term used in archeology, landscape history and other subjects
for a permanent or temporary community in which people live which avoids being
specific as to size, population or importance. A settlement can therefore range in size
from a small number of dwellings grouped together to the largest of cities with
surrounding urbanized areas. The term may include hamlets, villages, towns and cities.

The medieval settlement research group (a British organisation) includes as part of a

settlement, associated features such as roads, enclosures, field systems, boundary banks
and ditches, ponds, parks and woods, mills, manor houses, moats and churches

Settlements can be ordered by size (or some other factor such as availability of services)
to define a settlement hierarchy.

Landscape history studies the form (morphology) of settlements – for example whether
they are dispersed or nucleated.

Settlements
Places where humans live are called the settlements. Each of them is a reflection of the
human intervention in, and impact on, the earth and its environment. All settlements have
locations. It is the characteristics of such locations which provide for patterns of the
settlements.

Site and Situation

The location and growth of an settlement depended upon its site and situation. The site
was the actual place where people decided to locate their settlement. The growth of that
settlement then depended upon its situation in relation to accessibility and availability
of natural resources.
 Site Factors

• reliable water supply

• away from flood risks

• defence

• building materials (stone or wood)

• fertile land

• shelterered from winds

• fuel supply (wood)

• south-facing slope (aspect)

• flat land, easy to build on

• natural harbour

Site. The location of a settlement is considered a site. If we

understand the importance and amenities of a place, we could
understand the cause behind the setttlement. Such causes are helpful
in finding the origin of settlements. However, once the settlements
are developed, they may lose their significance. For instance,
because there is water at the site, a settlement could come about
around a pond. A pond which was of some importance earlier may
lose its importance, with the growth of population, in course of
time. Nevertheless, such settlements do not relocate themselves,
over time. They may develop other sources of water. For example,
new wells and ponds may be created in response to developments.
Commercial Site.
In subsistence agriculture, products were stored close to the fields.
Hence, farmsteads were developed keeping the fields as the site. In mechanised
agriculture, however, there arose a need to sell the surplus. Consequently, the bags of
grains had to be taken to distant places. The surpluses from several villages were
collected at a central village. Consequently, with an orderly commercial activity, the
central village turned itself into a commercial site. In the commercial villages, transport
lines were needed to transfer commodities to places far away. In response,
several commercial villages had emerged in areas of surplus agricultural production. This
was how settlements along the river banks, broad roads, at the confluence of several
roads and railway lines had developed with commerce as their functional base.

Situation.

Situation of settlements refers to the landscapes and the environments around them. Apart
from the landscapes, sunshine, water, land hazards, social relations and the like are parts
of the situation. As the European countries are in the high latitude, temperate lands, the
people of these countries require temperature. Therefore, they build their houses facing
east, to take advantage of sunshine. In India, houses are mostly built facing south as it is a
monsoon land. Similarly, water bodies are a cause for the construction of houses. Several
large cities of today have been in the vicinity of water bodies. London on the Thames
River is a good example. Conversely, settlements are away and at high elevations in the
riverine floodplains and alluvial fans prone to inundations. In India, settlements
developed on the elevated lands in the midst of the valleys of the Yamuna and the
Chambal floodplains. It is recognised that due to the unique characteristics of the
site and situation, settlements acquire special characteristics. Just as the natural
landscapes of hills, valleys and rivers, the cultural features developed by human beings
are also considered as significant among the landscapes. Thus far, we have seen how site
and situation determine the settlement pattern. Based on the functions of settlements, they
may be divided into two basic types: rural settlement and urban settlement.

Situation Factors

• route centre

• gap town

• lowest bridging point on a river

• port

• minerals for export

What is town planning?

Many people have heard the term ‘town planning’ before but may not be exactly aware of
its real meaning or connotations. Town planning is a science of organization which has
been around for hundreds (and perhaps thousands) of years, ever since humans moved
from being hunters and gatherers to settled farmers. With settlement comes the need of
the population for pathways and roads, municipal buildings, water supplies, sewage and
refuse removal plans, and in this day and age cabling for electricity and phone lines. This
is where town planning comes in.

Town planning is not only a reactionary field (that is, one that fixes current problems) but
also an area concerned with prediction. A big part of town planning is the forecasting of
the future needs and requirements of a built up area so that the population will remain
happy, healthy and safe. This means that a great deal of research needs to be done and
maintained so that every aspect of each built up area is monitored. Water levels, traffic
levels, road use, population levels, health and education requirements, police and fire
coverage and new development areas all need to be closely watched.

It is often the case that new residential areas are planned years in advance by councils and
are gone over with a fine-toothed comb by town planners. The increase in population also
means that there is pressure placed on all of the surrounding facilities.
 Basics of town planning
Although town planning is a huge area of interest and there are a large number of specialities
within the industry, there are several key basics which every town planner follows.

One of the first concerns of any town planner is safety. It doesn’t matter how small or large
the project is, or what the town planner’s speciality is, safety is always of a primary concern.
It may be that the population of a particular area needs to be protected from a planned
industrial project, or that the location of an old dump is being considered for a new residential
division. It could be that a proposed road could have related traffic and pedestrian safety
concerns or that there is no longer sufficient police and fire coverage for the expanding
population of a particular area. Even if it appears that the proposed project will have little
safety issues, it should always be considered and mentioned in the plan.

Another concern in town planning is that of vital services such as electricity, sewage and
refuse removal, water supply and even phone coverage. There would be little point in
proposing a new residential area if it could not be adequately supplied with these crucial
services, just as it would be very unpopular with citizens if they moved into their new homes
only to find they had no phone coverage or running water.

Other important considerations include health and education – that is, making sure the area of
development has adequate hospitals, clinics and schools if there is going to be a sedentary
population. Aesthetics too are important, as residents and businesses are often concerned by
proposed developments being unsightly or not fitting with the surrounding area’s visual theme

Classification of Settlements
Rural Settlements: Village Types
There are several types of rural settlements. Farmsteads and hamlets belong to rural
settlements. Typical of rural settlements are the villages. You are aware that India is a
land of villages (Figures 3.1 and 3.2). Villages may be classified on the basis of
the site, situation, size and form as follows.
 Rural Settlement (Thathappanswamy Kovil Street, Sillamarathupatti)

Rural Settlement (Pethanaswamy Kovil (Dhobi) Street, Sillamarathupatt

Compact Village

In this type of village, the buildings and houses are found packed together. High
population density is the indirect cause of such compactness. As the houses and buildings
are built in response to demand from the population, they are huddled together. There are
several families housed in a single dwelling, in such villages.

Nucleated Village

These are villages which grow around some nuclei. The nuclei may be a pond, lake or a
temple. Roads and buildings are constructed around it in a dense fashion. In the oases of
deserts, the nucleus of the settlements is the water source. In Tamil Nadu, Madurai
developed with temple as its centre. Likewise, there are several settlements in India which
had developed with forts and palaces as their centres. St. George Fort was the nucleus of
the city of Chennai is a well known fact.

Grouped or Bunched Settlement

Let us suppose that a family leaves a village and settles down in another place. Over time,
there emerge several houses around it to make a new village. In this manner, several
settlements emerge
near about a village through time. In due course, all these settlements form a group or a
bunched settlement.

Twin Villages

Although such settlements are clustered, they have two definable parts. These parts may
be found on either side of a bridge or on the up and down slopes of the hills. Sometimes,
the two develop independent of each other. They may have the same name with prefixes
such as ‘Upper’, ‘Lower’, ‘East’ and ‘West’. At times, they may have two different names.

Urban Settlements

Urban settlements are far different from those of the rural settlements. There are nationally
and internationally important cities
and towns. Older cities developed amongst the agricultural regions.
Modern cities developed as a consequence of the 20th century
industrial development. Cities provide many different economic
and social services. In fact, several cities emerged in response to
the needs of the time. Examples are: commercial towns, mining
towns, coastal cities, recreational towns and university towns. Most
cities and towns are characterised by narrow streets and tall
buildings. They are densely populated, with activities other than
agriculture dominating the culture. Even though people here live
in groups and in neighbourhoods, there are no closer social
relations. Migrations, social instabilities, class structures and people of differential
wealth are the characteristic features of the towns and cities.
Vancouver Declaration on Human Settlements (1976)

In 1976 in Vancouver, the United Nations held its first conference on the issue of physical
and spatial organization of human life on this planet, and on the national and international
actions needed to accommodate the growing number of population in urban and rural
communities. This conference, called Habitat: United Nations Conference on Human
Settlements, established the concept of human settlements to consist of several elements
that had been previously considered separately from one another - housing, building,
planning and the relationship of these and such other activities as environmental change
and national and international development. Vancouver Declaration defined human
settlements as follows:

Human settlements means the totality of the human community - whether city, town or
village - with all the social, material, organizational, spiritual and cultural elements that
sustain it. The fabric of human settlements consists of physical elements and services to
which these elements provide the material support. The physical components comprise,

Shelter, i.e. the superstructures of different shapes, size, type and materials erected by
mankind for security, privacy and protection from the elements and for his singularity
within a community;

Infrastructure, i.e. the complex networks designed to deliver to or remove from the
shelter people, goods, energy or information;

Services cover those required by a community for the fulfilment of its functions as a
social body, such as education, health, culture, welfare, recreation and nutrition.

Settlement Patterns

Nucleated or clustered settlements often

form at crossroads or route centres.

Dispersed settlements have no obvious

centre and are often hamlets spread over
fertile farmland.
 Linear settlements: settlements grow along
a road (e.g. in a narrow valley) or along
the coast. Ribbon development is when
housing grows out from a town along a
main road.

Barcelona's Site and Situation

Site Situation

 Hill for defence  Port

 Reliable water supply for drinking  Route Centre
and power  Limestone quarries
 Fertile farmland
 Flat land for building  Close to wealthy NW European
 Sheltered by hills to the north markets
 South-facing slope
 Natural harbour
 Construction material

 Bridging point

Physical and Economic Site Factors

Physical Economic
 Water supply  Route centre
 Dry-point sites  Bridging point
 Aspect  River confluence
 Shelter  Gap in hills
 Defence  Port
 Meander bend  Resources e.g. coal
 Flat land

 Natural harbour
Broadened Concept of Human Settlements as a Framework for Economic and Social
Development

Over the years, this concept of human settlements has been broadened to become a
framework for an overall national socio-economic development in the context of
formulating global shelter strategies for the year 2000. It is now contended that human
settlements are the spatial dimension as well as the physical expression of economic and
social activity. No creative act takes place without being influenced by settlement
conditions. In turn, the creation of workable human settlements inevitably becomes an
objective of, an indicator of and a prerequisite for social and economic development.
Settlements are an objective of development in that places where people can live, learn
and work in conditions of safety, comfort and efficiency are a fundamental and elementary
need. Settlements are also an indicator, in that they are the most visible expression of a
society's ability to satisfy some of the fundamental needs of its members: they can mark
accomplishments as well as expose destitution, neglect and inequality. Finally, settlements
are a prerequisite for social and economic development, in that no social progress for
sustainable economic growth can occur without efficient settlements systems and
settlement networks.

Urbanization

Urban population in the Asia and Pacific region is growing at an average annual rate of 3
per cent, having doubled between 1960 and 1980 from 359 million to 688 million. The
total urban population in the region at present is about 850 million containing 40% of the
world urban population. By the year 2000, an estimated 300 million more population will
be added during the decade in urban areas in the region, including 14 of the world's 22
mega-cities with more than 10,000,000 people.

However, in spite of high population growth rates in many of the large cities, developing
nations in the region - even economically fast growing countries - are still characterized
by low urbanization levels, if compared to Latin America. This would mean that the
growth potential of urban populations is vast. Currently, less than 30% of the region's
population live urban areas; the rate will increase to more than 40per cent in 20 years.

Urban population growth rates are markedly higher than overall national population
growth rates. In some countries, notably Bangladesh, cities grow at double the national
rate. This rapid urban growth is accompanied by problems of urban congestion,
environmental degradation, regional imbalances and a burgeoning population of under and
unemployed workers and sprawling slums and squatter settlements.

Ministerial Conference on Urbanization

The first Ministerial Conference on Urbanization in Asia and the Pacific , at Bangkok in
1993. The Ministerial Conference adopted the Regional Action Plan on Urbanization in
Asia and the Pacific as a guideline for countries to address the issue of urbanization in the
region. It was the first conference on the subject which officially involved local
authorities, NGOs, research and training institutes and the media together with
representatives of the national governments.

The Regional Action Plan on Urbanization emphasizes building of partnerships between

various levels government and the civil society, strengthening of local governments,
addressing the issue of urban poverty and the environment. It also emphasizes the need for
regional cooperation in promoting sustainable and participatory development of human
settlements, particularly urban areas.

Habitat II: The Second United Nations Conference on Human Settlements

Habitat II was held in April 1996 at Istanbul, Turkey. Popularly called the "City Summit"
it brought together high-level representatives of national and local governments, private
sector, NGOs, research and training institutions and the media. The Conference adopted
the Habitat Agenda, a global action plan to realize sustainable human settlements. The
Regional Action Plan and the Habitat Agenda have become the major guide for countries
of the region to improve the quality of life and promote the sustainable development of
human settlements in the Asia and the Pacific region. What is now required is to follow-up
the recommendations the Habitat Agenda and the Regional Action Plan in the country or
city context with appropriate actions.