The study of human settlement is common to human geography as the form of settlement in any certain region shows the human relationship with the environment. The human settlements are differentiated in terms of urban and rural, nature of activities, functions, structure, population size, etc. There is no consistency in the settlements’ differentiation.

Human Settlement:

Human settlement referred to a place settled more or less permanently. The house may be redesigned or designed completely in a new way, functions may change or the buildings may be altered but human settlement continues in space and time.

Classification of Settlements

Rural-Urban Dichotomy:

• It is widely and commonly accepted that settlements can be differentiated in terms of urban and rural, though there is no consensus on what exactly defines a town or a village
• Even though the size of the population is a major criterion, it is not considered a universal criterion as many villages in densely populated countries of China and India have a size of a population that exceeds the population of some towns of the United States and Western Europe
• At times, people who lived in villages pursued primary activities like agriculture and others, but recently in developed countries, large portions of the urban population prefer to live in villages although they work in a city
• The basic difference between villages and towns is that in towns, people are only engaged in tertiary and secondary sectors while in villages, the main occupation is related to primary activities
• Differentiation between urban and rural areas is based on more meaningful functions, though there is no consistency in the hierarchy of functions offered by urban and rural settlements

Types and Pattern of Settlement:

Settlements may also be classified by their shape, patterns, and types.

Classification by Shape:

Compact or Nucleated settlements:

• Nucleated settlements are those where a larger number of houses are built near each other. Such settlements are developed alongside river valleys and infertile plains
• Communities in such settlements are closely knit and commonly share occupations

Dispersed Settlements:

• Dispersed settlements are those where the houses are built very far from each other
• A cultural feature such as a worship place or a market binds this type of settlement together

Rural settlements:

• Rural settlements are built closely and directly related to land. They are dominated by primary activities such as fishing, animal husbandry, agriculture, etc
• Rural settlement size is comparatively small

Factors affecting the Location of Rural Settlements

Water Supply:

• Generally, Rural settlements are built near water bodies such as lakes, springs, and rivers
• At times, the need for water drives people to settle in, otherwise the drawbacks of sites such as islands surrounded by swamps and low-lying riverbanks
• Most water-based settlements have many benefits such as water for washing, cooking, and drinking. Lakers and Rivers can be used in irrigating farmland
• Water bodies influenced the local people’s diet such as people catching fish for their diet

Land:

• People choose to settle where there are fertile lands that are suitable for agriculture
• In European villages, people grew up near rolling countries to avoid low-lying land, which is swampy while people living in southeast Asia choose to live near coastal plains and low-lying river valleys that are suitable for rice cultivation

Upland:

• Upland that is resistant to flooding was chosen to prevent house damage and loss of life. Therefore, in places where low-lying river basins chose to settle on levees and terraces that are dry points
• In tropical countries, people build houses on stilts near marshy lands in order to protect themselves from animal pests, insects, and floods

Building Materials:

• The availability of building materials, stone, and wood near settlements is another advantage
• In earlier times, villages were built in forest clearings where wood was ample

Defence:

• During times of war, political instability, and the hostility of neighbouring villages were built on defensive islands and hills
• In Nigeria, upright inselbergs formed good defensive sites

Urban Settlements

There has been a rapid growth of urban settlements around the world. At present 48% of the world population lives in cities.

Types of Urban Settlements:

Urban Settlement types depend on the services available, functions, and sizes.

Town:

• The concept of town is commonly understood as a village
• The size of the population is not the only standard of classification. Functional contrasts between villages and towns may not always be simple, but specific functions like retail, wholesale trade, professional services, and manufacturing exist in towns

City:

• A city may be considered as a leading town that has exceeded its regional or local rivals
• Cities are bigger than towns, comprising a large number of economic functions
• Cities have major financial institutions, regional administrative offices, and transport terminals
• When the size of population crosses the 1 million mark, it is known as a million city

Conurbation:

• The word conurbation was composed by Patrick Geddes in the year 1915 and it is applied to a larger area of urban development which resulted from the merging of separate cities or towns
• For instance, Tokyo, Chicago, Greater London, and Manchester

Million Cities:

• In the mid-70s, there were a total of 162 million cities, and there came a threefold increase in 2005 which resulted in 438 million cities
• In the year 2016, there were a total of 512 million cities that had at least one million inhabitants
• By the year 2030, it will reach 662 cities that have at least one million residents
• New York, Paris, and London are the first million cities

Megalopolis:

• Megalopolis is a Greek word that means ‘great city ‘and was composed by Jean Gottman in 1957
• It signifies a super metropolitan extending as a conurbations union
• For instance, the urban landscape in the north from Boston to the south of Washington is a Megalopolis urban development

Distribution of Mega Cities:

A megalopolis is a general term used for cities that are together with their suburbs that have a population of more than ten million people. New York was the first megalopolis or megacity.

Problems of Urban Settlements in Developing Countries:

• Developing countries lack infrastructures such as health, education, sewage disposal, and electricity facilities
• They suffer from many problems such as lack of drinking water, congested houses, and streets, etc
• They suffer from environmental problems such as noise pollution, water pollution, and air pollution

Conclusion

Human settlement is a place where people live. It refers to the totality of the human community with all the social, material, organisational, spiritual, and cultural elements that sustain it. Any form of human dwelling, from the smallest house to the largest city, where a group of people reside and pursue their life goals, can be understood as settlement.