CHAPTER 17

Human Settlements and

Transport and Commnunication

NewsMaker
TheBigldea Le Corbusier (1887-1965)

was a Swiss
architect and
known
He is
urban planner.
settlements-linear,
circular, the m a s t e r plan
patterms of for designing in
and radial of Chandigarh
dispersed,
nucleated of the city
known as a
settlements which is
rural and urban India,
well-planned city.
urban-rural interdependence TT

transport roadways, railways,

waterways and airways n
m e a n s of communication
T

FAABE

..
At a Glance Human Environment

ITT A N

PO
Transport and Communication

Settlements

Communication

Rural Settlements Transport

Urban S e t t l e m e n t s

like letters,
administrative towns
roadways personal
communication

telephones and e-mail

trading towns railways
marketing and mass communication like radio
waterways
defence towns television and newspapers
airways
mining towns

industrial towns

collection centres
educational centres
cultural and
religious towns

port towns

162 GEOGRAPHY
WarmP cercise
Wara-
t h eimagesbelow
Looka t

STORE BAK

are
ifferent
the difi types of settlements you
see in the
images?
What
r u r a l settlements score over urban ones and vice versa?
How

ood survival instinctss and the 4. favourable climate

rintelligence to make optimum 5. trade potential TN O
utilisation of the resources,
Settlements can be permanent where people
opportunit
nities and itions, have seen the
build homes to live in, or temporary, which
PNolution
evolution
of human beings the years.
over
are only occupied for a short period of time.
with nature has resulted in the
interaction
Our

development of the human environment. CLASSIFICATION OF SETTLEMENTS

Revolution accelerated the Based upon their shape or pattern, stage of
The Industrial
orowth and spread of human civilisation. Thus, development and function, settlements are
classified in the following ways.
settlements grew from tiny hamlets to villages,
towns and cities as communities began to set
aside areas for work, worship, administration Patterns of Settlements
and recreation.
Settlements areidentified by the following five
main patterns or shapes:
SETTLEMENTS
A settlement is defined as an organised group Linear are settlements which develop along
a linear feature such as a river, road,
of human habitation where people build their railway
track, canal or coastline in an elongated and
houses to live in. J T 1
narrow form.
The choice of location for a settlement, its
0 growth and evolution are influenced by a
number of factors such as:
M. topography of the region
2. availability of water
M. fertile soil
Fig. 17.1: linear

Word to Know 1mlet: a small cluster of dwellings

GEOGRAPHY163
 are compact,
agglomer.
Circular settlements usually develop in a (Nucleatedsettlements
settlements where dwellin are located erated
circular shape around a water body such as a together with narrow winding streets otween
se
tank, lake, pond and oasis. them.

Fig. 17.2: circular Fig. 17.4: nucleated

settlements known as
are also come up along roads and
Dispersed consists of Radial settlements in all directions from
Scattered settlements. This pattern
a
lanes which diverge
isolated dwellings or a few
clusters of houses
point. A star-like pattern is formed
central
scattered over a large They
area. are commonly
wherein the flow oftraffic
becomes easy. |V0
deserts or
found in forested regions, hilly areas,
areas which are not easily accessible.

Fig. 17.3: dispersed Fig. 17.5: radial

Stages of Development
to the stage of development.
Settlements are also classifiedaccording
A settlement may begin
as an isolated farmhouse
and thereafter, when a few
more houses are built, it as
This, then, grows into a village
may form a hamlet.
When city becomes
a more dwellings gather around
it.
extremely large, it
status of a
acquires the
metropolis
Many towns, over a period
of time, develop into
which identified
When certain well-
cities are
situated villages acquire
by denser settlements
a larger size and better
and very good civic and
administrative facilities. services and facilities,
they grow into towns
metropolis: a city that becomes too large in size
Wordto Know

164 GEOGRAPHY
 lass DiSCussion
cities and amenities such as education and healthcare
dotowns,
Explain withmetropolises
How
one anothe differ facilities, banks, markets and transport and
from examples. communication facilities.
ain Economic Activity
Building materials such as cement,iron, bricks
Based on the main economic activity of the and stone are
uniformly used irrespective of
ttlements can be the environmental conditions.
ople.
oeople,

classified into rural

and urban settlements
Types of Urban Settlements
Rural Settlements Urban setlements are further classified on the
basis of function and the economic activities
he economy is based on any form of
activity, such as agriculture,
primary they perform.
fishing and Administrative towns are centres of
ivestock rearing.Cottage
the local
industries that are
administration and governance or national
based upon raw materials are usually and state capitals such as New Delhi and
an integral feature of rural settlement.
Bengaluru (India), Washington DC (USA),
The population is.small and the
density of Madrid (Spain) and Beijing (China).
populationis low in rural areas.
Market or trading towns develop as
.The climate and local environment play a centres of buying and selling, as well as for
more important role in the
construction of distribution of agricultural and industrial
settlements in rural areas. For instance, in
produce, e.g. Winnipeg (Canada) and Kabul
flood-prone areas, houses are built on stilts
(Afghanistan).
in order to provide protection against the Defence towns cater to the security and
foods defence of a region such as Mhow and
Rural settlements may vary in size from an Pathankot (India), Halifax f¬anada)-and
isolated dwelling located in the mountains to Munster fGermany)-
numerous villages around fertile agricultural Mining towns are céntred in \arças rich
landin the plains. in mineral deposits such asKalgoorlie
Avillage, however, has very few houses and (Australia) and Yellowknife (Cánada).
limited facilities in terms of infrastructure Industrial towns are centres of industrial
Such as health care, education centres and activity and automatically attract people for
markets. employment such as Jamshedpur (India),
Pittsburgh(the USA) and taneashire
Urban Settlements
Secondary activities such asindustries and Collection centres are places like mining
ertiary services such as banking or trade, towns, lumbering centres and fishing ports,
mprise the main occupationsof the people. where raw materials are obtained and refined
Urban settlements in size as to certain extent. However, there are no
a
are bigger
Ompared to rural settlements and are industries in such areas, for e.g. Mangaluru
(India) and Grand Falls (a timber town in
aracterised by a plethora of services and
Canada).
GEOGRAPHY 165
 one place to
The need
to travel from
nnels of communication
anoth
Cultural and educational centres are and establish channels

well-known for their cultural significance important

human need
need for
for a
a
variety
and promotion of art, culture and education.
is an
purposes
as This
well. TH requires the
of other modern and fast means
Shantiniketan (India), Akademgorodok establishment
of
in order to
of
transport and communicati
ication nable
(Russia) and Cambridge (the UK) are
while and development.
examples of educational towns holistic growth
Heidelburg (Germany) and Leiden
TRANSPORT
(Netherlands) are cultural centres.
have made huo.
forms of transport
Religious develop around religious
towns Today, all
improving connectivit
such
shrines or places of pilgrimage, strides in development, world to a glohal
Lourdes (France), reducing the
as Varanasi (India), and thereby
Jerusalem (Israel) and Lhasa (Tibet). village. The four major forms
of transport
where are-roadway
railways, waterways and
Port towns on the coast may come up
natural harbour exists, e.g. Kolkata
and airways.
a
and London
Mumbai (India), Singapore,
Roadways
(the UK). towns and villages with
towns cater to the recreational need Rods connect cities,
Resort centres of the help of automobiles.
are famous
of the people and
StMoritz all kinds of terrain
tourist attraction, for
instance,
Roadways can be laid in
Switzerlandh, Darjeeling (India),
Nainital
including, mountainous and desert, Theye
CIndia) and Ooty(India). JT provide a door-to-door flexibility, acting as
Residential towns refer to the suburbs and a feeder to all other forms oftransport.
serve as the residence
ofa
small towns which Narrow country roads or village roads
such as Chandigarh (India) known as lanes are usually unsurfaced or
large population,
and Salt Lake City (the USA). mud roads, while
unmetalled (kuchcha) or

URBAN-RURAL INTERDEPENDENCE
bigger roads that connect parts of a town or
exists between city are usually surfaced or metalled (puccal.
interdependence
A high degree ofareas
urban and rural since villages supply food Subways/under passes are roadways that
and agricultural raw materials are built underground.
grains, industrial
to cities and towns. The towns
and labour force Modern aid in fast movement or
supply industrial highways
and cities, on the other hand, traffic in both directions. They may vany n

goods, healthcare facilities, education and most

number of lanes and known by differen
importantly, employment opportunities for
are
names in various parts of the world, 1ol
people in rural areas. Therefore, complementary
a

relationship exists between villages and cities nstance, motorways in the UK, autobahns "
wherein both benefit each other. Germany and freeways in the USA.
Transport and
communication are important Expressways are hi-tech roads with two
means which facilitate this interdependence. or more traffic lanes in each direction utha.

highways: main roads that link

Word to Know important cities across a
country
166 GEOGRAPHY
 connect
O major destinations. These roads
and exits and are not have controlled
hindered by
crossings that slow
entries

traftic d o w n .

Trans-conti
ntinental roads,
which link
raOuntries within continent,
different parts of
a
are also
tance, the Trans-East
for Cairo and Cape Town African highway prominent,
which runs
and
be from Vancouver to St. John's, the Trans-Canadian
Cheh mo tantuo ttalienNewfoundland.T a n aerial view
ofthe Trans-Canadian highway
Geo Connect
Roadways inIndia comprise national
highways, state highways, district roads

as well as retches of rural roads. One of

the highest roadways in the world is the
Manali-Leh highway that goes through
the Himalayan mountains. The Golden
Quadrilateral is roadway that connects
a

Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata.

a section of the Golden Quadrilateral
PFind Ouc the Canadian-Pacific railway, the Trans
Examinethe concept of a global village and find Andean railway from Buenos Aires to
outhow the boundaries between countries and Valparaiso, and the Trans-Australian railway
people are gradually decreasing.
from Sydney to Perth.
Certain areas which were earlier
inaccessible
Railways are now reachable
through railways, for
Beginning from the coal steam engine to the instance, the
Qinghai-Tibet railway, one
of the world's
sky-rail and the monorail to the underground highest railway networks,
metros and hi-speed rail, rail connects Xining in China to Lhasa in Tibet.
transport has
made important technological developments.
Countries with a high density of
have a dense network of
population
railways, which run
through the length and breadth of the land,
g. the USA, countries of Western Europe,
China, Russia and even India.
Irans-continental railways refer to a long
Istance railway network built across a
nent, e.g., the Trans-Siberian railway
unDing from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok, a section of the
Qinghai-Tibet railway
Words to Know ansport that travels up and down a mountain, in which
sky-rail: a cabins are
suspended on a continuous
moving cable driven by a motor at one end of the route
monorail: a railway system in which the track consiss or d single rail, typically elevated and with the trains
Suspended from it

GEOGRAPHY 167
 . t h eMediterranean-Suez-lndian Oce
Geo Connect an route
connecting Europe with East Africae

The foundation of the railways in India was laid Asia, Far East and Australia, throu South
by the British way back in the year 1853, when the Suez Canal
the
first railway line was laid between Bombay and the Panama Canal route nnecting the
Thane. Since then, the
railway network has grown Atlantic and
Pacific Oceans
and expanded tremendously. The total route North-Pacific route connecting
length of the Indian Railways was over 115,000; the
East Asia
Westem
km (2018) with 12617 passenger trains and 7421 North America to
freight trains running daily. It carried about 8397 Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai in India; and
million passengers, as well as 1059 million tonnes: Shanghai, Sydney, Singapore, Colombo,
offreight (2013-14). Los Angeles, Ne
Seoul, Hongkong, Tokyo,
Dubai and Port Klang,
Waterways York, London, ara

tankers and amongst the

busiest and most important na
Huge ships, ocean liners, oil
In fact, most in the world.
trawlers ply on seas and oceans.
of the world's trade is handled by waterways.
The two important types of waterways include Airways mosin
inland water transport via rivers, lakes, canals Besides transporting people and freight from

and ocean transport over seas and oceans.

one place to another in the quickest possible
time, helicopters and other aircraft also help in
Inland Waterways times of natural calamities such as earthquakes

These consist ofnavigablerivers, lakes and canals and floods and are especially important for
are carried defence purposes.gDomestic airways which
across which cargo and passengers

through mechanised boats and steamers. Some of connectvarious places within a country and
the important inland waterways of the world are: international airways, which connect different
and Missouri, Danube, countries, are the two significant sectors of the
the rivers Mississippi
Volga, Yangtze and Rhine airways.
the St. Lawrence River Seaway-Great Lakes
Waterway between the USA and Canada (the
The largest volume of air traffic is registered
in Eastern USA, Western Europe and Southeast
largest and busiest inland waterway system
Asia. Some of the important international
in the world)
airports are located in New Delhi, Singapore,
the Rhone-Rhine Canal, Suez Canal and
Panama Canal. New York, Hong Kong, Tokyo, London,
Frankfurt, Dubai and Sydney. The western
Ocean Transport countries have an excellent system of air traver
One of the cheapest forms of transport across characterised by modern technological systems
and infrastructure.
continents is ocean transport wherein ships cary
larger loads as compared to roads, airways and Geo Connect
railways. Some of the busiest ocean routes are:
With 17 international airports in 2018, n
the North Atlantic route connecting eastern have airway
ndla -made- great progress in the past few yedi
North America andWestern Europe
trawler: trawling
Word to Know behind is method
a of fishing that involves
one or more boats.
168 GEOGRAPHY The boats that are pulling a fishing net through water
used for
trawting are called trawlers. t
 Aretic C KEairbanks
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ancouver holm
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ionipeg
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urt
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Dallas/las*5 Atanta, er
muda Athons Ana Tehra---.
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Honohutu- Dubai Kolkata Mdhg Kon
Panam Earacs >, ubnbai $BantokManila
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Georgetdow Addis/Ababa Ehenna,
Equator ---C
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Kinshasa oabasa
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Valparaisagouenos Alre
retoria
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REFERENCES
Airport
Seaport O
aago BuenosAre =====:======#a Puroan
.--4e dngt Ayckand
Mettourne Wellingto
Air route Christchúrch
Sea route ---

Map not to scale

air and sea routes; airports and seaports

COMMUNICATION
news, educational information, climate
Communication refers to the process
and weather data,,pr any other Earth-
of exchange of ideas,
thoughts and
related to these satellites,
informationIDue
information through the medium ef speech, radio and television programmes reach
writing, behaviour or signals. An efficient all corners of the world leading to

communication system lies at the base of dissemination of vital information. )

advanced human civilisation. ,
2. These communication satellites also
enable global communication through a
The two kinds of communication are personal network of computers worldwide, known
and mass communication. J(u) as the World Wide Web (Www) and the
Personal communication takes place IntermetSW can now access information
or send e-mails
between two or more people through letters, anywhere in the world at
the click of a mouse O
fax cellular/mobile
telephones, e-mails, or
Therefore, the
phones. T environment
human component of
is
the
Mass communication reaches a large extremely dynamic in
nature. Our
settlements and transport and
number of people at the same time. Radio,
communication networks, have not
V, newspapers, and magazines are means only
of mass communication.The advancement in adapted to the environment but at many places,
science and technology has aided the launch of also modified it. In the entire
process, humans
artuficial satellites into space so as to facilitate have often upset the delicate balance of nature.
stantaneous global communication. JZO Each time the land is cleared to make way for
settlements or lay down roads and railways, we
These satellites encircle the Earth and encroach on the habitat of other living species.
beam down information, whether it is

Word to Know dissemination: to spread or give out sometning-especially information, news or ideas

GEOGRAPHY 169
dis -
3emi -
Notién
 that their
cconomic
activities, lifes
onment and the resye,
anStyle
ensure

Along with progress and development. human beings must

with the
physical
environment

in harmony
settlements, transport and communication networks are

of the biosphere.

Chapter Checklist
urban.
Tick ( ) the concepts you have understood. kinds-rural
and

s e t t l e m e n t s are
of two
Ddsed upon the chief occupation ofthe people, nucleated and
dispersed.
circular,
shapes-inear, radial, activities that
are identified by five patterns or economic
of the
n e n s

the basis
classified into various tvpes on
are
settlements
the dwellers perform.
interdependent relationship
other and co-exist in
an
rban and rural areas complement each
transportation.
four forms of
waterways and airways a r e the
Roadways, railways, of communication.
communication are the two forms
Personal communication and mass

H standi e Werd bide leh

Let's Recall
Based o n your understanding,
tick ( ) the correct option.
L
constitutes a:
1. Banking sector C.primaryactivity
b. tertiary activity
secondary activity
in rural areas.is:
2. The density of population C. extremely high
b. high
low
formed:
3. A linear pattern is scattered over a large area
along a road or river
.
around a lake .
a
in:
Metalled roads are usually found to urban
in transition from rural
4.
urban areas areas
a. rural areas b.
network of computers worldwide, known as:
communication is enabled through
a
5. Global
wWF
b. wWC www
a.
statements to
State whether the following
statements are true
orfalse and rewrite the incorrect
correct them
. Asettlement is defined as an unorganised group ofhuman habitation where people reside. False
2. The dispersed pattern of settlement usually develops around a water body. Falve
rich in mineral deposits. Teue
3. Mining towns are located in areas
4. The Trans-Siberian railway runs from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok. Fadse
5. The telephone is a means of mass communication. Falle

Answer the following

in one sentence.
L
1. What is a settlement? Pa.163
2. What is the basis for classtfying settlements as rural and urban? Pa [65
ame the five patterns of settilementSLneok SetHene nt
Aadial Setttomeni
Ciula Sotlomemz Ndleda Setllemen ntl

170 GEOGRAPHY Dshenskd setHementU

 are the ifour major forms of
4.
What
transportation? rmda talw,watCu
5.
Who,
and in which year, laid the foundation
of
railways in India?
awasy
V.
A n s w e r
following questions in brief.
the f 8itissay in 1853

erate the factors responsible for the

Mrite a short note on the
choice of
characteristics of rural
location and
growth of a settlemer ?y 163
hat is meant by rural-urban dependence? settlements. P b5
3.
the
66
AEnumerate advantages of road transport.
Mow are airways better than the other means P J66- 157

V. Answer the following questions in detail. 168 of transport? Fa

1. Explain the five kinds of settlement patterns along with diaarams., b -o
Write a short note on
any five types of urban settlements. P
What are waterways: 6 5 ) 66
3. write two lines each on the different types of waterways, giving exampieS w
Mecessary
A/Distinguish between personal communication and mass 169
5.Mrite a short note on satellites. 64
communication.

Research and Analysis

My Geography Corner
Ona Querying Trail

Make a list of the different patterns of settlements explaining their features and providing examples
of each.

Modes of transport and communication have seen significant and far-reaching developments in the
past few years. Find out about the progress made through the
years and analyse the growth.
Diary Entry
Imagine you have been on a trip around the world using all the four main modes
Write a diary entry describing your of transportation.
fascinating journey and the different people you met on the way.
Write a diary entry based on your imaginary visit to one
of the villages in rural India. What were your
first thoughts when you reached the village? How different is it from the
region where you reside with
your family?
Discuss
Apart from the different kinds of urban settlement types discussed in the chapter, can
you come
up with a few more? On what basis will you classify the different towns and what are the
various
characteristics of these towns?
How do the various forms of transportation affect the environment?
HOTS
I s habitat in
Space possible?
h e development of transport and communication is basic to the advancement of human civilisation
In the light of this statement, is it correct to say that human beings have reached the pinnacle of
progress and development in the present times?
Hailways are usually able to carry larger volumes of people and goods, at relatively lower rates and
a5ter than roadways. Do you agree or disagree with this statement?

GEOGRAPHY 171