What is housing and human settlements and y it needs to be studied in architecture and

physical planning?

Human settlement is a place where people live where the totality of human community

with all the social, organizational, spiritual, and cultural elements that sustains it. Its
characteristics are defined by their site, location, size, function, form, and structure.

Human settlement is the totality of human community with all the social,
organizational, spiritual, and cultural elements on where people live. Its characteristics
are defined by their site, location, size, function, form, and structure. According to
Doxiadis, there are five principles to shape a human settlement. In shaping his
settlements, man has always acted in obedience to five principles. The first principle is
maximization of man's potential contacts with the elements of nature. TThe second
principle is minimization of the effort required for the achievement of man's actual and
potential contacts. The third principle is optimization of man's protective space, which
means the selection of such a distance from other persons, animals, or objects that he
can keep his contacts with them The fourth principle is optimization of the quality of
man's relationship with his environment, which consists of nature, society, shells
(buildings and houses of all sorts), and networks (ranging from roads to
telecommunications). Finally, and this is the fifth principle, man organizes his
settlements in an attempt to achieve an optimum synthesis of the other four principles,
and this optimization is dependent on time and space, on actual conditions, and on
man's ability to create a synthesis.

Make sure that referencing of important lines of key authors (local or foreign) must be
cited. Say according to bowen, human settlements must be reflect true nature of the
environment and its inhabitant....

PHYSICAL PLANNING
Physical planning is a key component of urban development initiatives and sets
the boundaries that any detailed project must adhere to – such as the legal and
technical guidelines that should be followed. Urban transformation and renewal
must be developed as a proactive element of physical planning as it provides a
practical and sustainable means of preparing for future urbanization.
Planning the housing layout in a neighborhood is a priority task that may be able
to be done quickly without professional planners. If the disaster impact is
widespread, and reconstruction entails extensive infrastructure, public facilities,
relocation, and connectivity issues, then physical planning is required and the
deployment of a professional planning team by one of the means described
above is necessary. Gather data and maps from government planners preparing
for reconstruction of major infrastructure may have GIS data, maps, and/or
satellite images that can be extended into local areas or made available directly
to local planners. Useful data for planning are increasingly available publicly. For
information on this topic, Information and Communications Technology in
Reconstruction. Seek the leadership of an experienced planner or planners
deployed for a short period of time, potentially with support from humanitarian or
development agencies, if local expertise is not available.

Objectives of Physical Planning:

• To enhance economic development.
• To plan cities and towns.
• To facilitate the provision of infrastructure, utilities and services
• To create order where there is chaos.
• Creation of beauty.
• To reduce psychological stress.
• To create a conducive environment for all.
• Conservation of aesthetics.
• Functions of Physical Planning:
• To initiate, formulate and review the National Land Use Policy.
• National and regional planning
• Standard setting.
• Technical support to local authorities
• Technical and administrative support to the Town and Country Planning Board
• Review of the legal framework for physical planning in the country.
• Inspection and monitoring all land based developments in the country to
ensure that they conform to approve planning schemes, laws and regulation.
• To monitor the manner of utilization and development of land by various
ministries and organizations to ensure compliance with national policies,
standards and plans.
• To liaise with local and international organizations including NGOs that have
relevance to physical planning.

Importance & Benefits of Physical Planning:

• Helpful in the fight against urban and rural poverty.
• Helps to address environmental problems.
• Helps to maximize the use of land and other resources.
• Facilitates orderly development.
• Introduces beauty in our settlements.
 • Separates incompatible land uses.
• Eases service provision.
• Plans can be used as a fundraising tool.
• Helps to improve property values.
• Deals with natural selfishness among developers and thus reduces nuisances.
• Helps conserve/preserve important features/areas.
• Sensitization of the public in support of development efforts.
• Protects water catchment areas and protects underground water reserves.

UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT

Human settlement is a place where people live. It refers to the totality of human

community with all the social, material, organizational, spiritual, and cultural elements
that sustain it. Any form of human dwelling, from the smallest house to the largest city,
where group of people reside and pursue their life goals, can be understood as
settlement. Human settlements come in many forms and can be permanent and
temporary, rural and urban, mobile and sedentary, disseminated and agglomerated.

Characteristics that define human settlements are their site, location, size, function,
form, and structure.
 Site refers to the exact location of where a settlement first started. Settlement
sites are chosen because there are many good reasons for locating a settlement there
such as water supply, flat and arable land, building supply, protection, shelter from
weather, bridging point, crossroad – intersection of roads.
 Situation refers to the location of a settlement in relation to the surrounding
area.
 Size refers to the number of people living in a settlement or it can refer to the
area that settlement occupies. Size of settlement may vary from several people to
more than ten million people.
 Function of the settlement describes all the main activities that occur in it.
These can be grouped into a number of headings, such as residential, recreational,
retail, government, entertainment, and industrial. Some settlements have one
predominant function – in history some towns performed important defensive
functions, while others were ports or important trade centers. Today, most settlements
are multifunctional and perform a range of different functions. Many settlements have
found that their functions had to change over time.
 Form refers to physical characteristics that make up built-up areas, including
the shape, size, density, and configuration of settlements.
 Structure describes the spatial arrangement and configuration of elements of
streets, blocks, and buildings. As settlements develop and grow, they form identifiable
settlement patterns. Layout of the settlement can encourage social interaction, but it
can also act as a form of social control. The term structure can also refer to social
structure of inhabitants.

According to their characteristics, it is possible to establish the hierarchy of human

settlements and distinguish between two main types – rural and urban settlements.

Constantinos A. Doxiadis

The Principles
In shaping his settlements, man has always acted in
obedience to five principles. The first principle is maximization of man's potential
contacts with the elements of nature. TThe second principle is minimization of the effort
required
for the achievement of man's actual and potential
contacts. The third principle is optimization of man's protective
space, which means the selection of such a distance from
other persons, animals, or objects that he can keep his
contacts with them The fourth principle is optimization of the quality of man's
relationship with his environment, which consists of
nature, society, shells (buildings and houses of all sorts),
and networks (ranging from roads to telecommunications). Finally, and this is the fifth
principle, man organizes his settlements in an attempt to achieve an optimum
synthesis of the other four principles, and this optimization is dependent on time and
space, on actual conditions, and on man's ability to create a synthesis.

Architecture

Norberg-Schulz’ (1979) concept of dwelling outlines that

Man dwells when he can orientate himself within and identify himself with an
environment, or, in short, when he experiences
the environment as meaningful.
From architectures ability to stimulate the mind, discussed through Breuer’s
‘Hooper house’. The positive psychological response the occupant may feel through a
home’s connection to nature, as shown in Wright’s ‘Falling Water’. To the utilization of
human scale to intrinsically connect the occupant with the built form, as discussed
through Le Corbusier’s Unité d’habitation. The architectural methods analysed within
this paper highlight the impact architecture has on the perception of space, and thus the
perception of space to be home. Yet these methods are in no way a complete list or
complete analysis of potential ways in which architecture can have a positive impact on
an occupants association of home. The brief analysis conducted throughout this paper
proposes an architectural way of thinking, instead of a guide to design. Through the
words of Frank Lloyd Wright “do not try to teach design, teach principles” (Wright
1955 pp.258). This way of thinking is that of occupant driven design. A critical
acclaimed architectural dwelling may not be considered home to its intended occupant if
it does not fit within their life. The way they occupy space, their social lives, their
habits and their beliefs must all be at the forefront of any residential design. Therefore,
as stated earlier, a home is created within the balance of thoughtful architecture and a
profound understanding of the individual.
The issue that arises from this architectural mentality is the ability for an architect
to truly understand the individual. The commonly perceived disconnection between the
architectural way of thinking and the everyday human way of thinking, renders a
difficult task. Therefore, this paper suggests that it may be within the education of
the architect, instilling a sense of ‘architect knowledge’, that a disconnection between
the house and the home is created.
This is not to state that ‘architect knowledge’ is misplaced within the design of the
home, but instead, a combination of both ‘human knowledge’ and ‘architect
knowledge’ must be present and analysed. An analysis of ‘human knowledge’
must preface that of architectural principles in the design of the home. It can then
be suggested that through a better understanding of ‘human knowledge’,
architects may develop a deeper understanding of the occupant. From this,
architectural principles such as, but not limited to those discussed within this paper can
then be decided upon that suite their individual needs and thus a home may be
designed.

Živković J. (2019) Human Settlements and Climate Change. In: Leal Filho W.,
Azeiteiro U., Azul A., Brandli L., Özuyar P., Wall T. (eds) Climate Action.
Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Springer, Cham.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71063-1_88-1