Rural Human Settlements: Types, Patterns, Challenge

A human settlement is defined as a place inhabited more or less permanently. Whether rural or urban, are vital components of society. Human Settlement means a cluster of dwellings of any type or size where human beings live. While rural areas are often associated with villages and hamlets, defining them isn’t always straightforward due to their diverse characteristics. From clustered villages to dispersed hamlets, rural settlements vary widely and present unique challenges and opportunities for planners and policymakers.

Understanding Rural Human Settlements: Characteristics, Challenges, and Opportunities

Categorizing Human Settlements: Types and Characteristics

• Temporary Human settlements
• Rural Human settlements (Countryside)
  • Isolated building
  • Hamlet
  • Village
  • Small market town
• Permanent Human settlements
• Urban Human settlements (Towns and cities)
  • Larger industrial town
  • City
  • Conurbation and capital cities

Defining Human Settlements 

• It is widely accepted that human settlements can be differentiated in terms of rural and urban, but there is no consensus on what exactly defines a village or a town. 
• While population size is a significant factor, it does not universally determine settlement classification. 
• This is evident as numerous villages in densely populated nations such as India and China have populations surpassing those of certain towns in Western Europe and the United States.

Rural Human Settlements and Their Characteristics

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

Types of Rural Human Settlements

• The sparsely located small settlements are called villages, specialising in agriculture or other primary activities.
• Rural Human settlements in India can broadly be put into four types: The following table illustrates various categories of rural settlements.

 Types of Rural Settlements

Patterns of Rural Human Settlement: Spatial Arrangements in Rural Human Settlements

• Linear Pattern: In such Human settlement’s houses are located along a road, railway line, river, canal edge of a valley or along a levee.
• Rectangular Pattern: Such patterns of rural Human settlements are found in plain areas or wide intermontane valleys.

• • The roads are rectangular and cut each other at right angles.
• Circular Pattern: Circular villages develop around lakes
•  and tanks and sometimes the village is planned in such a way that the central part remains open and is used for keeping the animals to protect them from wild animals.
• Star like Pattern: Where several roads converge, star-shaped Human settlements develop by the houses built along the roads. 
• T-shaped, Y-shaped, Cross-shaped or Cruciform Settlements: T-shaped settlements develop at tri-junctions of the roads. Y-shaped settlements emerge as the places where two roads converge on the third one and houses are built along these roads. 
  • Cruciform Human settlements develop on the crossroads and houses extend in all the four directions.
• Double Village: These Human settlements extend on both sides of a river where there is a bridge or a ferry.

Problems of Rural Human Settlements

• Rural Human settlements in the developing countries are large in number and poorly equipped with infrastructure. They represent a great challenge and opportunity for planners.
• Water Supply Challenges: The supply of water to rural Human settlements in developing countries is not adequate. 
  • People in villages, particularly in mountainous and arid areas, have to walk long distances to fetch drinking water. 
  • Water-borne diseases such as cholera and jaundice tend to be a common problem.
  • The countries of South Asia face conditions of drought and flooding very often.
  • Crop cultivation sequences, in the absence of irrigation, also suffer.
• Sanitation Challenges: The general absence of toilet and garbage disposal facilities causes health-related problems.
• Challenges with Traditional Rural Housing: The houses made up of mud, wood, and thatch, remain susceptible to damage during heavy rains and floods, and require proper maintenance every year. 
  • Most house designs are typically deficient in proper ventilation.
• Lack of Connectivity and Communication: Unmetalled roads and a lack of modern communication networks create a unique problem. 
  • During the rainy season, human settlements remain cut off and pose serious difficulties in providing emergency services.
• Challenges in Providing Health and Education: It is also difficult to provide adequate health and educational infrastructure for their large rural population.

Conclusion

• Rural human settlements come in various forms, from compact villages to scattered hamlets, each with its own unique characteristics and spatial arrangements. 
• These settlements play a crucial role in shaping the socio-economic fabric of regions, providing insights into how communities utilize and adapt to their natural surroundings. 
• By studying rural settlements, we gain valuable knowledge for sustainable development and effective land management practices.

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