Question.
Discuss the features of different types of rural settlements. What are the factors responsible for the settlement patterns in different physical environments?
(NCERT class 12 geography, India People and Economy, Chapter 4: Human Settlement.)
Answer.
Rural settlements are often sparse and small. The majority of the population of rural settlements is involved in agriculture or primary activities. Village and Hamlet are examples of rural settlements.
The types of rural settlements largely depend on the area of location (plain, hill, desert) and inter-house distance. The rural settlements of India can be broadly divided into four types:
- Clustered, agglomerated, or nucleated.
- Semi-clustered or fragmented.
- Hamlet.
- Dispersed or isolated
Clustered, agglomerated, or nucleated:
Clustered settlements are also known as compact or agglomerated or nucleated settlements. In a Clustered settlement, the distance between the houses is very less. Clustered settlements have living areas separated from their working areas such as surrounding farms, barns, and pastures. Some recognizable patterns such as rectangular, radial, linear, star, etc., are seen in these types of settlements.
Causes of Clustered rural settlements:
- Availability of communication facilities like roads, waterways, etc.
- For example, rectangular patterns of rural settlements are found parallel to rectangular roads.
- Linear rural settlements are formed parallel to roads and rivers.
- Security or Defense Reasons:
- In the Bundelkhand region of central India and Nagaland, people prefer to live close by for security.
- In Rajasthan, people are congested to make optimum use of the available water resources.
Semi-Clustered Settlements:
- Semi-clustered settlements are also known as fragmented settlements. It is made in two ways:
- This results from the tendency of clustering in restricted areas of fragmented settlements.
- It also results in the separation or fragmentation of dense settlements. In this, one or more sections of the village people live voluntarily or compulsorily some distance away from the main cluster settlement.
- In general, the dominant community occupies the central part of the village while daily wage laborers or people from the lower strata of the society settle on the outskirts of the village.
- Semi-cluster settlements are generally found in the plains of Gujarat and some parts of Rajasthan.
Hamlet settlement:
- Hamlet settlements are usually fragments of physically separated settlements and have many different units and specific names. For example, Panna, Para, Palli, Nagla, Dhani, Tola, etc. are some familiar names.
- The division of large villages is usually driven by social and ethnic factors.
- Hamlet settlements are generally found in the middle and lower Gangetic plains, Chhattisgarh, and the lower valley of the Himalayas.
Dispersed or isolated.
- Dispersed or solitary settlements are small in size and are often found as isolated huts or settlements in the remote forest of the hills.
- It is commonly found in rough areas like Meghalaya, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, and Kerala.
The following are the factors responsible for the patterns of settlements in different physical environments:
- There are many factors that are responsible for the different types of rural settlements, the main one being the physical environment.
- Physical factors such as the nature of the terrain, altitude, climate, and availability of water are the main factors responsible for the patterns of settlements.
- Congested settlements in desert areas are driven by the availability of water.
- A favorable climate favors congested settlements and a harsh climate forces people to live in a dispersed manner.
- People prefer to make houses in the raised areas in the flood-affected region.
- Cultural and ethnic factors- Social structure, caste, and religion are also controlled by the physical environment.
- The settlement patterns in the low plains in the middle Ganges region, mainly Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh are influenced by social and ethnic factors.
- Security and Defense: The main factors of clustered settlement in Bundelkhand and the Nagaland region are a defense against theft and violence.
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