GROWTH OF TOWNS

2.1 Origin of Towns. In the cultural evolution of mankind we come across mainly three stages such as 'Stone, 'Bronze and 'Iron Ages' according to the type of materials and weapons used at that time. The 'Ages' have different periods in different parts of the world. The earliest forms of dwellings of 'Savage' hunter were rock-caves. Next job he did was to change the face of the jungle and create the huts of reeds and tents, to protect against weather, wind, beasts and enemies. He started living a settled life mostly on the banks of rivers, which he found to be lifegiving sourcewater for drinking and rich fertile land for cultivation. Man is primarily a social creature. On account of this nature, he always preferred to live in groups, forming camps, hamlets, villages. Human settlements like these as the population increased expanded into towns and towns into cities and finally cities turned into highly populated metropolitans, like Bombay, Calcutta, Madras, Delhi etc. 2.2 Types of Towns. The factors that distinguish one town from another are: (i) Location (ii) Function (iii) Shape and (v) Size. Hill stations, river banks, sea fronts suggest their respective locations. Pilgrim towns, health resorts, education, fishing, industrial, commercial and political towns indicate their function. The shape or pattern of the town is determined by the type of road system which depends upon topographical features. A town is known as linear, rectangular, radial, star, circular or radial & circular ('spider's web*) according to the road system (Ref. Art. 12.7). The size of the town is fixed by the population such as a community with more than five thousand but not more than about one lakh population may be roughly called as a town, that with population of one to ten-lakh a city; that with population more than ten lakh may be called 'metropolitan 2.3 Stages in the Growth of Towns. A town is classified into various categories according to the different stages of development. Sir Patrick Geddes has given three categories such as primary, secondary and tertiary -The primary town is one which produces human necessities such as agricultural village. The secondary town is one which functions as centre of exchange such as marketing town. 10