AR6702

HUMAN SETTLEMENTS PLANNING

OBJECTIVES

 To have an overview on the vocabulary of Human settlements To understand the

 various elements of Human Settlements and the classification of Human Settlements
 To familiarize the students with Planning concepts and process in Urban and Regional
Planning.

UNIT I - INTRODUCTION

Elements of Human Settlements – human beings and settlements – nature shells& Network –
their functions and Linkages – Anatomy & classification of Human settlements – Locational,
Resource based, Population size & Occupational structure.

UNIT II - FORMS OF HUMAN SETTLEMENTS

Structure and form of Human settlements – Linear, non-linear and circular – Combinations –
reasons for development – advantages and disadvantages – case studies – factors influencing
the
growth and decay of human settlements.

UNIT III - PLANNING CONCEPTS

Planning concepts and their relevance to Indian Planning practice in respect of Ebenezer
Howard – Garden city concepts and contents – Patrick Geddes – Conservative surgery – case
study – C.A. Perry – Neighborhood concept Le Corbusier – concept and case studies.

UNIT IV - URBAN PLANNING AND URBAN RENEWAL

Scope and Content of Master plan – planning area, land use plan and Zoning regulations –
zonal plan – need, linkage to master plan and land use plan – planned unit development
(PUD) – need, applicability and development regulations - Urban Renewal Plan – Meaning,
Redevelopment, Rehabilitation and Conservation – JNNURM – case studies.

UNIT V - ISSUES IN CONTEMPORARY URBAN PLANNING IN INDIA

Globalization and its impact on cities – Urbanisation, emergence of new forms of

developments – self sustained communities – SEZ – transit development – integrated
townships – case studies.

Human settlement and planning, semester 9 | Ar. Nivedhitha, Asst. prof. MSAJAA 1
UNIT I

INTRODUCTION
WHAT IS SETTLEMENT?

 Settlements inhabited by man

  Cluster of dwellings of any type or size where human beings live
 Created through movement of man in space and definition of boundaries of territorial
interest for physical and institutional purposes

Settlements evolution
In the long history from camp to village a
handful of innovations accelerated the art of
settlement design. In the agricultural societies
such an innovation may be symbolized by the
plow, for it boosted food production enough to
free some people from tilling the soil and
enabled them to attend other pursuits. with the
plow, man put his first lines on the earth‟s
surface. On the flat riverside flood lands-
civilization‟s first tilled soil- the plow etched
parallel furrows which added up to a number of
Figure 1 Aerial view of rectilinear land division in a
farming area. plots, more or less rectangular shape.

Agricultural societies needed a system of easy land division for crop planning and land
ownership. They also needed a system of land plotting for re-division and reapportionment
after the flood, an annual event on the Nile, the Tigris, and Euphrates rivers. Rectilinear
plotting suited all these needs perfectly. It enabled men to plan the use of land.

As the logic of the plow led to rectilinear plotting in the field, the geometry of mud brick
house construction, as well as the need for easy land division, led to rectilinear plotting in the
town. Village dwellers too had to be able to measure and record land plots for ownerships,
transferral, or rudimentary planning. They also had to divide their urban lots into squares,
yards, or gardens. Mud brick, convenient lengths of roofing lumber, and house planning were
all combined in the logic of rectilinear town plotting.

Rectilinear layout is found in the entire history of town planning. It was used in the ancient
and later Greek towns, in Roman colonial out posts, and in the Indian, Chinese, and pre
Columbian cities. But rectilinear was not the only geometric system used in the history.

The grid iron layout was accompanied and probably preceded by an equally important
system, that is the circular form of settlements. The grid had been the product of the farmer;
the circle was originally the product of herdsman, the descendant of the hunter and the
ancestor of the warrior. In the circle was found an ideal form for fencing in cattle, for its
enclosed a maximum of land with minimum of fence. That, however , was not its only
advantage, for a fence could, besides keeping cattle in, also keep an enemy out. The major
role of the circular form of town layout was to be a defensive one. Early fortified towns,
Human settlement and planning, semester 9 | Ar. Nivedhitha, Asst. prof. MSAJAA 2
usually built on hilltops or on islands, had protective walls which were more or less circular
enclosures.

The immediate descendant of the circular

Figure 2 A circular village ,aerial view of Ba Ila village in
northern Rhodesia. Small huts form the outer circle. The
chief’s compound is in the center. Cattle pens line the outer enough to require a second encircling wall,
circle of the huts.
from ancient Athens or Rome to nineteenth century.
form was the radio centric, the means by
which circular settlement enlarge. The radio
centric pattern develops from the circular
by first growing outward along the radial
routes; the wedge shaped areas between the
radials filling in gradually. Fortress cities,
for example, developed small settlements
around their gates along the road ways.
Eventually these circular settlements grew
and then a third and fourth. This process
kept repeating itself,

FACTORS RESPONSIBLE FOR DIFFERENT TYPES OF

SETTLEMENTS
1.Physical factors

 Nature of terrain: Dispersed type of settlements is found in remote jungles,

 hilly areas. Compact settlements are found in highly productive alluvial plains.
 Altitude:-Dispersed settlements are found in hills of Meghalaya and clustered
 and semi clustered settlements are found in Gujarat plains.
  Climate:-due to frequent droughts settlement may become hamleted.
 Availability of water: Scarcity of water in Rajasthan has resulted in
development of compact settlements.

2.Cultural and ethnic factors

 Caste and tribal structure: due to ethnic factors settlement may become
 fragmented and Hamleted e.g.Chhattisgarh.
 Religion: people of same religion prefer to live together making a settlement
large or small.

3.Security factors

 Defense from invasions and Wild animals: due to defense from dacoits,
wild animals or fear settlements may cluster and form compact settlements.

Human settlement and planning, semester 9 | Ar. Nivedhitha, Asst. prof. MSAJAA 3
SETTLEMENT FORMS

Broadly classified into four types:

1. Shapeless cluster-without any regular street or with an irregular road which comes up
according to the local requirements, it may be of the massive type and dispersed type.

2. Linear cluster-with a straight and specious street running network parallel rows of houses.

3. Square or rectangular cluster-with straight streets running parallel or at right angles to

one another.

4. Settlement formed of isolated or dispersed homestead Settlements can further be

classified according to size and spacing into: clustered or compact and dispersed or scattered.

SETTLEMENT HIERARCHY
i. Isolated dwellings
Such settlement consists of individual units. It can be termed as the initial stage of
development of a settlement.
An isolated dwelling would only have 1 or 2 buildings or families in it.
ii. Hamlets
When many individual units are cluster together they form hamlets. The grouping
may be due to similar occupational patterns, religion, cultural factors etc. A
hamlet has a tiny population (<100) and very few (if any) services
iii. Villages
When many hamlets combine they form a village. The reason for such grouping
may be due to interdependencies of one hamlet on another, thus to form a self-
sufficient unit.
iv. Towns
A town is a larger entity which is more self-sufficient, has a stronger economic
base.
v. Cities
Where large concentration of people exists, multiple economic activities exist.
vi. Metropolis
A metropolis is a large city, with a population of at least one million living in its
urban agglomeration.
vii. Megalopolis
An extensive, metropolitan area or a long chain of continuous metropolitan areas.

TYPES OF SETTLEMENTS

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There is a great variation in the settlement types due to geographical, cultural and economical
factors, settlements can be broadly classified into

• Urban settlements
• Rural settlements

ELEMENTS OF HUMAN SETTLEMENTS

1. The Content: Man, Society and Networks

2. The Container: Physical Settlement (Nature and Shell)

• Natural Elements
• Man-made (artificial) Elements

FOUR BASIC PARTS OF COMPOSITE HUMAN SETTLEMENTS

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CLASSIFICATION OF HUMAN SETTLEMENTS

EKISTICS UNITS

EKISTICS ELEMENTS

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UNIT II

FORMS OF HUMAN SETTLEMENTS

A settlement may be as small as a single house in a remote area or as large as a mega city.

A settlement may also be permanent or temporary (refugee camp). and a temporary

settlement may become permanent over time.

The piece of land upon a settlement is built is the settlement site.

There are many reasons why a site might be chosen for the development of a settlement and
some factors will be more important than others. Also, the importance of this factors may
vary over time.

Wet point sites: these have good water

supply. Example – a river.

Food and Water Dry point sites: these are away from risk of
supplies flooding.

Good source of food: settlers used to look

for sites were food was easy to gather or
hunt

Defensive sites: on higher ground so

enemies could be seen from distance.
Common site
factors Location
Trading centres: often settlements grew
where natural ways and rivers meet,
which helped the development o roads,
canals, etc.

Close to resources: important for industry.

Depending on weather conditions and the

Other factors relief settlers would look for: shelter
from cold prevailing winds and rain or
the sunny side of deep valleys.

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SETTLEMENT SITE AND SITUATION:

 The situation of a settlement is its position in relation to the surrounding and physical
features, many of which will have an impact on the settlement‟s type, size and
function.

 However, the importance of many of the factors explained before diminish over time
as technological advances enable people to overcome difficulties.

 For example, a modern settlement does not need to be close to a river because
drinking water is now piped to our homes and waterways are no longer important for
transport.

SETTLEMENT HIERARCHIES:

 Conurbation/metropolitan area – a supercity consisting of multiple cities and

 towns. The population is usually several million.
 Large City – a city with a large population and many services. The population is >1
 million people.
 City – a city would have abundant services, but not as many as a large city. The
 population of a city is over 100,000 people.
 Large town – a large town has a population of 20,000 to 100,000.
  Town – a town has a population of 1,000 to 20,000
 Village – a village generally does not have many services, possibly only a small
 corner shop or post office. A village has a population of 100 to 1,000.
 Hamlet – a hamlet has a tiny population (<100) and very few (if any) services, and
 few buildings.
 Isolated dwelling – an isolated dwelling would only have 1 or 2 buildings or families
in it. It would have negligible services, if any.

Human settlement and planning, semester 9 | Ar. Nivedhitha, Asst. prof. MSAJAA 11
If we group and classify a number of settlements according to their size and shape the result
is settlement hierarchy.

As you move up the hierarchy, the size of the settlement and the distance between similar
sized settlements increases.

The number of services that a settlement provides increases with the settlement size.

TYPES OF RURAL SETTLEMENT IN INDIA

It is a sparsely populated place, like a village, with few built-up areas where the inhabitants
are engaged in primary activities such as farming, fishing and mining. The type of rural
settlements in India is determined by the extent of built-up area and the inter-house
distance. They are of 4 types:

1. Compact, clustered & nucleated Settlements: -

1. Clustered Rural Settlements- a rural settlement where a number of families live in

close proximity to each other, with fields surrounding the collection of houses and
farm buildings.

2. A clustered rural settlement typically includes homes, barns , tool sheds, and other
farm structures along with religious and school structures.

3. Each person that lives on a clustered rural settlement is allocated strips of land in the
surrounding fields. The strips of land are allocated differently, some people own or
rent the land. When the population of a settlement grows too large for the capacity of
the surrounding fields, new settlements are established nearby.

4. Homes, public buildings, and fields in a clustered rural settlement are arranged
according to local cultural and physical characteristics. Clustered rural settlements
are often arranged in one of two types of patterns: circular and linear.

Linear settlements: Grouping of houses along a line, Mostly along roads, railway
tracks, coast or river banks
Nucleated settlements: Grouping of many houses together around a centre area,
Favourable sites at road junctions, focal points of an area or confluences of rivers.

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2. Semi-clustered settlements: -

a. In this type of settlement the built-up area is less compact as compared to the clustered
settlement.
b. It may result from segregation or fragmentation of a large compact village.
c. Some sections of a village society choose or is forced to live a little away from the main
cluster or village.
d. The land-owning and dominant community occupies the central part of the main village,
whereas people of lower status of settle on the outer flanks of the village.

It is also called hamleted clustered or quasi-compact rural settlement. In this typebesides the
main human settlement, one or more satellite settlements (wadi, wasti) are found,which
linked with the footpath may be metalled or unmetlled road.

3. Hamleted settlement: -

a. When a large settlement gets fragmented into several smaller units physically separated
from each other but bears a common name it forms hamleted settlement. b. It occurs due to
social and ethnic factors.
c. These small units of settlements are known as panna, para, palli, nagla, dhani etc.
d. Such settlements are found in Ganga plains, lower valleys of Himalayas.

4. Dispersed settlement: -

a. When a settlement has a few isolated huts it is called dispersed settlement.

b. These types of settlements are found in remote jungles, small hills with a few farms and
pastures on the slope.
c. It results from extremely fragmented and small resource support.
d. They are found in Meghalaya, Uttaranchal, Himachal Pradesh and Kerala.

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RURAL SETTLEMENT CHARACTERISTICS

  Scattered throughout India are approximately 500,000 villages.

 The Census of India regards most settlements of fewer than 5,000 as a village.
These settlements range from tiny hamlets of thatched huts to larger
 settlements of tile-roofed stone and brick houses.
 Most villages are small; nearly 80 percent have fewer than 1,000 inhabitants,
 according to the 1991 census.
 Most are nucleated settlements, while others are more dispersed.
 It is in villages that India's most basic business--agriculture--takes place.

Dominant Functions:
- mainly primary activities
( eg farming, mining and lumbering)

Amenities:
- few amenities, poor accessibility
- gets water from rivers and wells
- may not have schools and clinics
- travel long hours to get to nearest amenities in town or city
- footpaths, unpaved and narrow roads used to move around

Way of life:
In LDCs (least developed countries):
- simple way of life, slower pace of life
- less traffic, less pollution
- open interaction between people in the same community
( eg, children play in an open space in a rural settlement in china)
- family unit tend to be closely knit and community activities throughout the
year draw people together
In DCs ( Developed countries):
- higher standards of living
- greater access to amenities and services
( eg, healthcare, education)

TYPES OF URBAN SETTLEMENTS IN INDIA

Its is a densely populated area, like a town or city, where the inhabitants are engaged in
secondary industry such as manufacturing and tertiary industry such as tourism.

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As per Census of India 2001-Urban area adopted is as follows:
(a) All statutory places with a municipality, corporation, cantonment board or notified town
area committee, etc.
(b) A place satisfying the following three criteria simultaneously:
  A minimum population of 5,000;
 At least 75 per cent of male working population engaged in non-agricultural
 pursuits;
 Density of population of at least 400 per sq. km. (1,000 per sq. mile).

Urban population in NSS (National Sample Survey) consumption expenditure surveys have
been classified in three size-class of towns,

1.population less than 50000 -small towns

2.population between 50000 and one million –medium towns
3.population above one million -large towns

CLASSIFICATION OF INDIAN TOWNS ON THE BASIS OF THEIR EVOLUTION

Ancient towns: -
a. Towns which are more than 2000 years old and have long history of existence are
termed as ancient towns.
b. These towns developed as religious and cultural centres.
c. Important towns are –Varanasi, Ayodhya, Prayag, Pataliputra, Madurai, etc.

Medieval towns: -
a. Towns which emergedduring medieval period as headquarters of kingdoms are
termed as medieval towns.
b. Important towns are –Delhi, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Lucknow, Agra, etc.3.

Modern towns: -
a. Pre-independence towns: these towns were developed by the British and other
Europeans rulers. They were port towns such as Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Surat,
Goa, and Pondicherry. Later some hill stations and summer resorts were developed by
them such as Shimla, etc.

Post-independence towns: -
i. These towns were developed as administrative centres such as Chandigarh,
Bhubaneswar, Gandhinagar.
ii. ii. Some developed as industrial towns such as Jamshedpur, Durgapur,
Bhilai, Sindri, Barauni.
iii. iii. Some old towns also developed as satellite towns around metropolitan
cities such as Ghaziabad, Rohtak, Gurgaon around Delhi.

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DIFFERENCE BETWEEN URBAN AND RURAL INDIA
 Population
  Land use-growth pattern –rural mostly organic and urban is planned
 Physical planning
  Infrastructure and services delivery-water supply and sanitation system
 Health care
 Education
 Environmental planning
  Housing design (kutchha –pucca houses) and construction technology
  Cultural heritage
  Administration
 Occupation in rural areas is agriculture (primary source of income)while in
 urban areas industrial sector and others(Secondary and tertiary sector)
 Living conditions
 Community facilities
 Socio-cultural facilities

Urban areas can include town and cities while rural areas include villages and hamlets.

Rural areas may develop randomly on the basis of natural vegetation and fauna available in a
region, urban settlements are proper, planned settlements built up according to a process
called urbanization.

Unlike rural areas, urban settlements are defined by their advanced civic amenities,
opportunities for education, facilities for transport, business and social interaction and overall
better standard of living. Socio-cultural statistics are usually based on an urban population.
While rural settlements are based more on natural resources and events, the urban population
receives the benefits of man‟s advancements in the areas of science and technology and is not
nature-dependent for its day to day functions.

Rural areas do not have pollution or traffic problems that beset regular urban areas.

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