SCOPE OF SETTLEMENT GEOGRAPHY

By
Prof. A. Balasubramanian
Centre for Advanced Studies in Earth Science,
University of Mysore,
Mysore-6

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Introduction:

More than "one billion human beings still lack

adequate shelter. They are living in unacceptable
conditions of poverty” thus reports the UN
Habitat Agenda, in a specific context.

The vast majority of these people live in

developing countries and an increasing number of
people live in urban areas.

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Indeed, the sprawling informal settlements and
slums of developing countries are the most visual
manifestations of poverty itself.

According to an old UN-HABITAT report, some

924 million people were living in slums and
informal settlements during 2001 all over the
globe.

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This is a major reason why the improvement of
living conditions of slum dwellers was identified
as a major target area in the Millennium
Declaration, adopted by world leaders in 2000.
It is here, the subject of settlement geography
plays an important role.

The primary aim of studying settlement

geography is to acquaint with the spatial and
structural characteristics of human settlements
under varied environmental conditions.

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 It is also to enable people to diagnose special
issues related to rural and urban settlements.
An understanding of this subject will certainly
help to develop the socio-economic well-being of
human communities and planning of human
settlements.

The subject of settlement Geography contains 5

major areas of study as:
1. Definition of Rural and urban settlements-
merits and limitations

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2. Settlement site and structure- Internal
morphology and external form, field patterns,
functions and house-types.
3. Spatial organization- size, spacing and
hierarchy of settlements, emergence and
characteristics of urban settlements.
4. Settlement-environment relationship- global
and regional pattern, policies and programmes.
5. Salient Features of Human settlement in India.

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1. DEFINITION OF RURAL AND URBAN
SETTLEMENTS- MERITS AND
LIMITATIONS

Human beings in the process of settling, occupy a

land and construct a structure for shelter.

Human settlement means cluster of dwellings of

any type or size where human beings live. For this
purpose, people may construct houses and
command some area or territory as their economic
support-base.
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Urban settlements are generally compact and
larger in size. They are engaged in a variety of
non-agricultural, economic and administrative
functions. They are functionally linked to all rural
areas around them. Thus, they are connected
directly as well as indirectly with the villages and
also with each other.
Urban geography deals with the study of the site,
evolution, morphology, spatial pattern, and
classification of towns. Historically, three themes
may be distinguished:
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a) the quantitative, descriptive approach,
establishing the spatial organization of the city;
b) the behavioural method, emphasizing the
decision‐making process within the perceived
environment; and
c) the radical tradition, which stresses not only the
spatial inequalities within a city and the
inequitable distribution of resources, but suggests
strategies to remedy these inequalities. Some
geographers look for diversity of the urban form,
modelling urban morphologies.

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This subdiscipline of geography examines the
places we live, the structure of our cities, and the
pattern of cities on the landscape.

Urban geography is generally categorized as part

of human or cultural geography and is closely
related to economic geography, transportation
geography, and rural geography.

Urban geography is the study of areas which have

a high concentration of buildings and
infrastructure.
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 These are areas where the majority
of economic activities are in the secondary
sector and tertiary sectors. They often have a
high population density.

The basic differences between urban and rural

settlements are:
a) The rural settlement derive their life support or
basic economic needs from land based materials
and manufacturing of finished goods on the one
hand and a variety of services on the other.
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b) Cities act as nodes of economic growth.

Urban settlements provide goods and services to

the people of rural settlements and in turn, the
rural settlements provide food and raw materials.
This functional relationship takes place through
transport and communication network.
c) Rural people are less mobile and therefore
social relations among them are intimate.

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 In urban areas, on the other hand, way of life is
complex and fast, and social relations are formal.
d) Rural settlements are small in size because
they depend on extensive land for cultivation,
whereas, urban settlements are large and compact.

There are three factors and conditions responsible

for having different types of settlements in rural
areas in India.

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 They are
1) Physical factors
2) Cultural and ethnic factors
3) Security factors.

The physical factors include nature of terrain,

altitude, climate and availability of water.
The cultural and ethnic factors include, caste and
tribal structure and Religion.
The security factors include, defense from
invasions and wild animals.

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 Factors affecting settlement location are:
a) Water supply
b) Building materials
c) Dry point for construction
d) Flat land
e) Fertile land
f) Bridging point
g) Defense settlements.

The study of settlement patterns is one of the most

important aspects of urban geography.

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Settlements can range in size from a small village
with a few hundred residents to a metropolitan
city of over one million people.

Geographers often study the reasons behind why

such cities develop where they do and what
factors lead to their becoming a large city over
time or remaining as a small village.

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Some of the reasons behind these patterns are
thought of in terms of the area's site and its
situation - two of the most important concepts in
the study of urban geography.

2. SETTLEMENT SITE AND STRUCTURE-

Settlement site is the actual land in which a

settlement is built upon.
Situation is the environment / land surrounding
the site.
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The site is the actual location of a settlement on
the earth and is composed of the physical
characteristics of the landscape specific to the
area.
Site factors include things like landforms ,
climate, vegetation types, availability of water,
soil fertility, minerals, and even wildlife.

The site of an area can also create challenges for

its population and the small Himalayan nation of
Bhutan is a good example of this.
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Located within the world's highest mountain
range, the terrain of the country is extremely
rugged and hard to get around.
Situation is defined as the location of a place
relative to its surroundings and other places.
Factors included in an area's situation include the
accessibility of the location, the extent of a place's
connections with another, and how close an area
may be to raw materials if they are not located
specifically on the site.

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Though its site has made living in the nation
challenging, Bhutan's situation has allowed it to
maintain its policies of isolation as well as its own
highly separated and traditionally religious
culture.
As nations around the world continue to develop,
their sites and situations will play a large role in
whether or not they will be successful.
Today's ease of transportation and new
technologies like the Internet are bringing nations
closer together.

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The physical landscape of an area as well as its
location in relation to its desired market will still
play a large role in whether or not such areas will
grow to become the next great world city.
It is under these concepts, the site and situation
are analysed under this subject.
Urban- Concept of site and situation
Defense sites
Trade oriented locations
Gateway locations
Local environmental feature

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 Rural- Concept of site and situation
Defensive sites
Resource-oriented locations
Local environmental features.

Internal morphology and external form,

A. Clustered rural settlements
Nucleated village
Street village
Green village
Rundling
Angerdorf
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 Grid village( checkerboard or rectangular village)
B. Dispersed Rural settlement(farmstead)
C. Semi-clustered rural settlement
Hamlet
Loose, irregular village
Row village or string village
D. Unique rural settlement types

Field patterns:
The study of settlement patterns is one of the most
important aspects of urban geography.

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Settlements can range in size from a small village
with a few hundred residents to a metropolitan
city of over one million people.
Geographers often study the reasons behind why
such cities develop where they do and what
factors lead to their becoming a large city over
time or remaining as a small village.
Some of the reasons behind these patterns are
thought of in terms of the area's site and its
situation - two of the most important concepts in
the study of urban geography.

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 Pattern refers to the overall structure of
settlement.
Settlement comes under three broad categories of
patterns as
a) Dispersed or scattered pattern
b) Linear pattern
c) Nucleated pattern.

Dispersed pattern refers to the isolated dwellings.

There are farming communities that are
surrounded by their farmlands.

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 In Linear pattern, settlements grow along a
transport route, normally a highway, railway and a
canal.
Nucleated pattern involve settlements that grow
around transport junction. These provide a good
trade and transport possibilities.
Settlement Functions and urban networks
a. Rural, urban settlement functions
b. Specialized functions
c. Urban networks
Central place theory
Periodic, rotating market systems.
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 Settlements as functional expressions of
occupancy:
1. Instruments of Social articulation
a. Cultural and administrative centers- capital
cities, civic centers, university towns or campuses,
sports complexes, entertainment districts, tropical
hill stations, cultural centres.
b. Religion – holy communities
2. Instruments of Economic articulation
a. Manufacturing
b. Market centres
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c. Finance and insurance centers
d. Ports and transport centers
e. Mining settlements
f. Fishing villages
g. Agricultural villages
h. Single family dispersed farm
i. Cross-road hamlets, stores, bars, petrol bunkss
j. Business parks.

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3. Instruments of Cultural penetration or colonial
penetration
a. Colonial primate cities
b. Rails and mining heads
c. Trading factories
d. Tropical hill stations, resorts
e. Ethnic wards, enclaves
f. Labour camps
g. Plantations
4. Instruments of Leisure
a. Resorts, camps
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b. Retirement communities
c. Spas
d. Entertainment districts
e. Redlight districts
f. Sports complexes
5. Instruments of withdrawal
a. Monasteries
b. Hermitages
c. Prisons
d. Reserved zones
e. Military camps
f. Gated communities and compounds
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g. Leper colonies
h. Summer camps and retreats

6. Instruments of Medical practice and health

a. Spas
b. Sanitaria
c. medical centers

House types: Folk, popular, High style.

Traditional building materials.

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Floor plan and layout.

Vaastu and Indian house types are yet another

dimensions in settlement of houses. Mostly they
relate to social customs and rituals. Sun and wind
directions and road alignments, are discussed in
this context.

The type of rural settlements in India is

determined by the extent of built-up area and the
inter-house distance. There are four types of rural
settlement in India.
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 They are:
a) Clustered, agglomerated and nucleated
settlement
b) Semi-clustered settlements
c) Hamleted settlement
d) Dispersed settlement.

3. SPATIAL ORGANIZATION- SIZE, SPACING AND

HIERARCHY OF SETTLEMENTS, EMERGENCE AND
CHARACTERISTICS OF URBAN SETTLEMENTS.
Geography has five major themes:
a) Location
b) Place
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c) Human-Environment Interaction
d) Movement
e) Region.

Most geographic study begins with learning the

location of places. Location can be absolute or
relative.
Absolute location provides a definite reference to
locate a place.

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The reference can be latitude and longitude, a
street address, or even the Township and
Range system.

Relative location describes a place with respect to

its environment and its connection to other places.

Place describes the human and physical

characteristics of a location.
Physical characteristics include a description such
things as the mountains, rivers, beaches,
topography, and animal and plant life of a place.
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Human characteristics include the human-
designed cultural features of a place, from land
use and architecture to forms of livelihood and
religion to food and folk ways to transportation
and communication networks.

This theme considers how humans adapt to and

modify the environment. Humans shape the
landscape through their interaction with the land;
this has both positive and negative effects on the
environment.
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Humans move, a lot.
In addition, ideas, fads, goods, resources, and
communication all travel distances. This theme
studies movement and migration across the planet.
Region divides the world into manageable units
for geographic study. Regions have some sort of
characteristic that unifies the area. Regions can be
formal, functional, or vernacular.
Formal regions are those that are designated by
official boundaries, such as cities, states, counties,
and countries.

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For the most part, they are clearly indicated and
publicly known.
Functional regions are defined by their
connections. For example, the circulation area for
a major city area is the functional region of a
newspaper .
Most of these themes are considered in human
settlement.
Settlement hierarchy starts from isolated
dwellings, move up to Hamlets, then to villages,
then grow as towns and then become cities.

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 As we move up in this settlement hierarchy, the
number and range of services and functions
provided get increased. But there will be an
increase in size and sphere of influence.

Urbanisation is an increase in the % or proportion

of people living in urban areas. There are so many
reasons for urbanization like
a) Reduced labor due to mechanization of farming
practices
b) Development of industries in cities need a
labor force & attracting people looking for work
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c) Better paid jobs exists in cities
d) More basic amenities exist in cities
e) More entertainment options are available in
cities
f) Perception that moving to a city will offer a
higher standard of living, job, education, and
health facilities.
Central place theory is a spatial theory in urban
geography that attempts to explain the reasons
behind the distribution patterns, size, and number
of cities and towns around the world.

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 It also attempts to provide a framework by which
those areas can be studied both for historic
reasons and for the locational patterns of areas
today.

Central Place Size and Spacing

Within the central place system, there are five

sizes of communities. The rank order of central
places is:
 Hamlet
 Village
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 Town
 City
 Regional Capital

A hamlet is the smallest and is a rural community

which is too small to be considered a village.

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4. SETTLEMENT-ENVIRONMENT RELATIONSHIP-
GLOBAL AND REGIONAL PATTERN, POLICIES
AND PROGRAMMES.

The four traditions of geography were originally

espoused by the geographer William D. Pattison.
These four traditions help to define the
discipline of geography into :
1) spatial tradition,
2) area studies tradition,
3) man-land tradition, and
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 4) earth science tradition.

Spatial Tradition (also called Locational

Tradition) deals with
 Mapping
 Spatial analysis
 Boundaries and densities
 Movement and transportation
 Quantitative techniques and tools, such as
computerized mapping and Geographic
Information Systems
 Central Place Theory
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 Areal distribution
 Spatial patterns
Area Studies Tradition (also called Regional
Tradition) deals with
 Description of regions or areas
 World regional geography
 International trends and relationships
 How regions are different from one another
 The chorographic tradition (regions)
Man-Land Tradition (also called Human-
Environmental, Human-Land, or Culture-
Environment Tradition) deals with
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 Human impact on nature
 Impact of nature on humans
 Natural hazards
 Perception of environment
 Environmentalism
 Cultural, political, and population geography
Earth Science Tradition deals with
 Physical geography
 The lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and
biosphere
 Earth-sun interaction

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 Offshoots are geology, mineralogy,
paleontology, glaciology, geomorphology, and
meteorology
 The study of the earth as the home to humans.

The Settlement-environment relationship, global

and regional pattern, policies and programmes are
based on these traditions and the need to protect
life from threats.

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5. SALIENT FEATURES OF HUMAN
SETTLEMENT IN INDIA.

The world’s slums are growing, and growing,

with the number people living in such dire
conditions now at the 1 billion mark – making up
32 per cent of the global urban population,
according to UN-HABITAT’s new Global Report
on Human Settlements.

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The Challenge of Slums - the crisis is such that
the world will see doubling of this figure in the
next 30 years unless a concerted effort is
undertaken to alleviate the situation.

“The locus of global poverty is moving

towards cities, a process now recognised as the
urbanisation of poverty,” said Mr. Kofi Annan in
a foreword to the report.

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“Without concerted action on the part of the
municipal authorities, national governments, civil
society actors and the international community,
the number of slum dwellers is likely to increase
in most developing countries.
And if no serious action is taken, the number of
slum dwellers worldwide is projected to rise over
the next 30 years to about 2 billion.”

In developing regions, slum dwellers account for

43 per cent of the population in contrast to about 6
per cent in more developed regions.
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“Slums represent the worst of urban poverty and
inequality. Yet the world has the resources, know-how
and power to reach the target established in the
Millennium Declaration.
It is my hope that this report, and the best practises it
identifies, will enable all actors involved to overcome the
apathy and lack of political will that have been a barrier
to progress, and move ahead with greater determination
and knowledge in our common effort to help the world’s
slum dwellers to attain lives of dignity, prosperity and
peace,” says Mr. Annan.

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Since it first appeared in the 1820s, the word slum
has been used to identify the poorest quality
housing, and the most unsanitary conditions; a
refuge for marginal activities including crime,
‘vice’ and drug abuse; a likely source for many
epidemics that ravaged urban areas.

It is estimated that 69% of Indians (690 million

people) lack access to adequate sanitation.

A lack of sanitation also impacts on the local

environment and water supply.
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 Municipal corporations in India are traditionally
responsible for providing sanitation services,
however rapid urban population growth and
limited finances have made this a challenging
task.
The following are the statistics of rural and urban
population in India.
India had the second largest urban system in the
world, with 310 million urban population and
5,161 cities and towns, the urbanization was
characterized by widespread poverty, poor urban
infrastructure, and environmental degradation.
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Less than 60 percent of the households in India’s
cities have sanitation facilities, and less than half
have tap water on their premises.
About 40 million people are also estimated to live
in slums.
Geography of settlements is a promising branch of
study with traditional concepts and modern
approaches.

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