Human Settlements

Human Settlements

Learning Objectives

* Identify various types of rural settlements.

* Differentiate site from situation.

* Understand various types of settlements in India.

* Establish the relationship between settlement types based on relief, climate and building materials.

* Analyse the distribution patterns of rural and urban settlements.

* Understand the models of urban land use

Introduction

Look at the front image of an oasis. It is an aerial view of the Huacachina oasis in Ica, Peru, 300 km south of Lima. The settlement is home to 96 residents, who live around the lake.

Now let us discuss on

1. Why the most oases are having hardly 100 residents or less?

2. How do people live in an oasis identify the direction at night?

3. What are the comforts and discomforts the people of Oasis experience?

4. Could you list some factors favouring settlements?

In simpler term we can define settlement as any form of human habitation which ranges from a single dwelling to a large city.

A human settlement is defined as a place inhabited more or less permanently. It includes building in which they live or use and the streets through which they travel. It also includes the temporary camps of the hunters and herders. It may consist of only a few dwelling units called hamlets or big cluster of building called urban cities.