Rural Settlement

What is Rural settlement ?

It refers to a a cluster of houses along with cultivated land and pastoral area which are functionally integrated with the village. In this settlement most of the people are engaged in primary activities.

The type, shape, and pattern of settlements depend upon type of agricultural practices. Rural settlements are generally of permanent type (in some cases may be temporary type such as transhumance, shifting cultivation). Nature of settlement directly depends on duration of time it has taken to evolve which in turn depends upon density of population.
Rural settlements generally unorganised settlement due to different in shape of houses, size of houses, width of streets, roads, class, caste, occupation etc.

Reasons for Human Settlements :

* Favourable topography
* Fertile land
* Good climate
* Similar language, food habits
* Availability of water
* Suitable dwelling place
* Developed houses may be temporary or permanent
* Adaptability of human with environment
* The main reason for human settlements developed due to religion, culture, social, economy and politics establishment.

Favourable Sites for Rural Settlement :

where people get their communities to carry out their primarely agriculture.

* Water availability

* Land for agriculture
* Good cropping season
* Density of vegetation
* Land is plain

* Dryland - not flood prone
* Favourable climate

* Availability of housing material
* Engaged in forestry, mining & fisheries
* Rural settlements at countryside, extensive land uses, relatively low population densities & simple way of life.

* Mountainous area - sunlight facing (for optimum utilisation of agriculture)

Types of Rural Settlement : 

Basically 4 types of Rural Settlement - On the basis of Spacing between the Houses in a Village.

1. Compact Rural Settlement :

+Closeness of houses
+Minimum or no spacing between the houses
+Streets are zig-zag & it have dead end
+Unequal width of streets
Criteria of Compact Rural settlement :
+Plain Topography
+Enrichment of NPK in soil (fertile soil)
+Good Cropping season (Kharif, Rabi & Zaid)
+Assure Regular water supply through Stream, canal, wells, River etc.
+Suitable climate
+Good drainage system (no washout of nutrients of the soils)

2. Semi-Compact Rural Settlement :

Little or more spacing between the houses due to feudalistic systems, different class system different caste system, different occupation etc.
There is a Nucleus point in the village for meeting, celebration of festivals, playing games, religious place etc, it is common gathering place in a village.

3. Hamleted Rural Settlement : 

It is fragmented into several units and there is no Nucleus place in a village. They don't have comman place like religious place, water bodies, play ground etc. They are self dependent and isolated.
The carrying capacity of hamleted rural settlement is lower due to extreme climate, low fertility of soil, lack of modern technologies, political instability, social inequality, economically backward
e.g. Tribal group . (Bhil, santhal, Gond,Tharu etc).

4. Dispersed Rural Settlement : 

It is also known as scattered rural settlement. There is more spacing between the houses due to unusual topography of the land, extreme weather conditions, lack of availability of water, lower Technological use, lack of resources etc. For example - Mountain, Desert, Cold Climate, Hot climate, rudimentary area, undulating land etc.


The rural settlement types involve the segregation of tendency of clustering and tendency of dispersal. Commonly these two tendency regulated by 'carrying capacity of location and demographic load '. In the area where carrying capacity in terms of favourable climate, favourable relief is high, and population size is large. The clustered and compact rural settlement exists.

The Scattered / Dispersed settlement marks its development in the absolute opposite combination. Depicting the variation of natural and climatic determiners, both these types have range of subcategories -

1. Clustered / Compact Rural Settlement :

+Monsoonal (true Clustered)

+Semi Clustered

+Clustered-cum-hamlet

+Clustered-cum-hamlet-cum-scattered

The clustered rural settlement type represent monsoonal clustered and semi clustered type as absolutely regulated by prevailing climatic condition and thus carrying capacity of the location. Commonly in both the types population trend to clustered in minimum possible area favourably utilise fertile plain for agricultural activities.l

The monsoonal clustered typical to more favourable climate (East margin - Am & Cw). Correlates to heavier demographic load and this is true clustered settlement.

This settlement type correlates to intensive subsistence with paddy culture in Northern Chinese plains, Northern & Coastal plain of India forming examples. In distinction the semi clustered settlement related to comparative less favourable climate (drier climate BWh, BWk) where along the fertile river valley intensive subsistence without paddy culture correlate to this settlement types Indus basin, Mesopotamian plain, Nile basin, Turanian lowland represent excellent example.

In the rural settlement, land-use pattern is strongly regulated by Cultural & Societal segregation. It marks it's reflection in the evolved pattern of rural settlement type as well. These segregation in the global perspective correlates to income divide. However, in the specific location the divide depicts religious as well as societal determiners. In most of the Islamic world, the division is correlated on the basis of religious sect wherein the minorities sect occupies the outer periphery of rural settlement. In maximum of South and Southeast Asia, it is societal divide with upper societal hierarchy (caste) occupying the Central location and the lower societal hierarchy the peripheral.

If in the case of these division represent only one major and minor category, evolved settlement is clustered-cum-hamleted but in the case where there are more than one minor category then the evolved settlement is cluster-cum-hamleted-cum- scattered type.

2. Scattered/Dispersed Rural Settlement :

+Isolated
+True scattered
+Scattered-cum-hamleted
+Step

This type of rural settlement evolves  in the region where carrying capacity of the location is less along with lesser demographic load. This rural settlement type when is practically applied denotes well demarcated category depicting deviation of economic level of development as well as agricultural typology.
In entire developed world, which correlates to extensive commercial agriculture isolated rural settlement type marks it's development. This settlement type commonly depicts large regular with minimal built-up area utilised as the shelter for livestock, agricultural labourers along with godowns for surplus produce. This type of rural settlement being associated with extensive commercial agriculture also represent specific developing region as well. Coffee Fazendas of Brazil, Estate Rubber farm of Malaysia, Cocoa farms of Ghana, along with extensive Commercial grain farming in Pampas (Argentina) & Veld (South Africa) forms excellent examples.
In the plateau region of the developing world, rural settlement type called true scattered and scattered-cum-hamleted are developed. The true scattered settlement represent least carrying capacity of the table land and is, therefore, corrrelated to red soil region.
Brazilian Highland, African Shield, Chinese table land represent the examples of where cultivation of fodder crops & coarse grains justifiies the minimal carrying capacity developing the tendency of Hamleting. Important location include lettuce of Borborema, Kardofan Upland, Ethiopian Highland, Unan Plateau. This settlement type is identified to be Kibbutzim in west Asia & Ujamma in Africa.

Step Settlement (Scattered Rural Settlement) :
The step rural settlement correlates to the mountainous regions of the world, primary regulated by the absence of flat areas. Applicable both to developed and developing world. Step-rural settlements elementary destination in developed depicting more planned and regular profile whereas developing world representing irregular unplanned land use.

Rural Settlements Patterns              (Geometry : Shape of Village) :

The large scale analysis of rural settlement spatially layout is recognised to be rural settlement patterns. It correlates to specific categories of determiners. The commonly identify patterns of rural settlement includes -
1. Rectangular Pattern
2. Linear Pattern
3. Circular Pattern
4. Triangular Pattern

1. Rectangular Rural Settlement Pattern :

In the world most of the people inhabit in settlement of rectangular pattern. It is basically associated with alluvial plains and wide intermontane valleys. Rectangular pattern involve the distinction of cluster rectangular and dispersed rectangular as per the carrying capacity of the location.

2. Linear Rural Settlement Pattern :

The houses arrange along the transportation networks e.g. houses either side of road, railway line, river or canal. There is genesis of linear cluster or linear dispersed settlement. It has economical significance over the routes. In comparison forested kaccha routes, non navigable channel will largely correlated to dispersed linear pattern.
In the specific reference to roadways fare distinguish patterns, called star shaped rural settlement patterns along the crossroad as well as T-shaped rural settlement pattern along the T-junction combining both clustered and dispersed characteristics are also outlined.

3. Circular or Semi-Circular Rural Settlement Pattern :

There is centre of attraction which can include water resource base, community Centre, religious centres in the continuous enlargement of scale. Such settlements acquire the circular or semi circular shapes. This pattern is distinguished as clustered circular and dispersed circular. As the clustered circular represent higher magnitude of attractiveness, it largely tend to outgrow as a Nebular settlements. In the geographical perspective, nodal settlement also deciphered as wet-point  Settlements represent their development in drier locations & dry-point settlement in wetter locations.

4. Triangular Rural Settlement Pattern :

This type rural settlement patterns generally developed at the Piedmont braid and Deltaic braid of the river. The lateral expansion of houses at the confluence of river is constrained by The rivers. The triangular settlement pattern can be distinguished by clustered triangular & dispersed  triangular settlement patterns.

             

Summary :
Rural settlements generally depend on  the Carrying Capacity of the Location.
Types of Rural Settlement - Based on spacing between the houses in a village.
Pattern of Rural Settlement - Based on Shape of rural settlement.