SEBA Class 9 Elective Geography Chapter 4 Human Settlement

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SEBA Class 9 Elective Geography Chapter 4 Human Settlement

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Human Settlement

TEXTUAL QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

1. What do you mean by ‘human settlement’? Discuss briefly about its origin and growth.

Ans. Human settlement means the temporary or permanent place of habitation formed by man for their livelihood. The study of human settlement enables us to understand the factors that contributed to the growth and spread of human population in different parts of the world.

It is believed that human settlement commenced with the beginning of settled agriculture and the practice of domestication of animals and plants around twelve thousand years ago. Prior to this period, man led a homeless life due to lack of permanent place or shelter. But with expansion of knowledge, man started settling permanently in a particular area having favourable natural environment.

The origin and growth of human settlement in a place was much influenced by the availability of water, fertile soil, forest and mineral resources. It is an undeniable fact that the expansion and growth of human settlement is closely associated with the availability of water. Almost all early human settlements started in areas where water was easily and abudantly available. This is the main reason for the development of ancient civilisation on river banks. The Mesopotamian civilisation on the banks of Euphrates and Tigris rivers, the Egyptian civilisation on the banks of river Nile, the Chinese civilisation on the banks of river Hwang Ho and the Indus valley civilisation on the banks of river Indus.

It is also seen that early civilisation grew up in areas blessed with natural resources like forest resources, mineral resources. The arrangements for the supply of necessary water were made by way of canals and drains in such areas. Moreover availability of agricultural land also contributes to the growth of human settlement, e.g.the cultivators of Europe chose suitable agricultural land for their settlement while the Mongoloid people who migrated to south-east Asia preferred river valleys and coastal plains which are suitable for rice cultivation for their settlements. Thus factors such as availability of water, agricultural land, flood-free highland, safety and security, availability of housing material, favourable climate, possibilities of trade and business, etc. led to the expansion of human settlements. Areas rich in mineral, forest and power resources, agro-based resources, well-developed transport and communication systems witness rapid expansion. Moreover, certain religious and socio-cultural traits of the areas influence people in selecting a place for settlement.

2. What is meant by ‘settlement geography’? Write briefly about its main subject matter. 

Ans. Settlement geography means the branch of geography which studies human settlement, their growth and the associated physical, cultural and socio-economic factors. It is one of the branches of knowledge that has emerged recently and encompasses a diverse subject matter. The methods of study of settlement geography were developed by a geographer named Richard Hartshorne.

The subject matter of human geography includes: 

(i) Element-based study: Settlement location, shape, size, functional attributes, etc.

(ii) Region-based study: Origin and growth of settlement, changing shape, spatial spread and distribution of settlement, forms and types, characteristics and location specific variations of a region, etc.

In this manner, we can say that the scope of the study of settlement geography ranges from a hut to a sky-scraper. 

3. Present the classification of human settlements with examples.

Ans. Following are the classification of human settlements:

[I] On the basis of occupation of people:

(a) Rural settlement: Villages

(b) Urban settlement: Towns, cities and megalopolis.

[II] On the basis of form or shape:

(a) Dispersed settlement: Agricultural belt of USA. 

(b) Nucleated settlement: Cities such as Mumbai, Kolkata, etc.

[II] On the basis of division of nucleated settlement:

(a) Rectangular settlement: Ganga-Sutlej plain area. 

(b) Linear settlement: Ganga-Yamuna plains.

(c) Circular settlement: Around lakes and ponds.

(d) Star-like settlement: Major intersections of roads. 

(e) Triangular settlement: Intersection of major rivers.

4. What do you mean by rural and urban settlements? Write the characteristic differences between these settlements. 

Ans. The settlement of people normally found in the villages practising mainly agricultural occupation is known as rural settlement. On the other hand, the settlement of people found in town and cities mainly practising trade, commerce and various services are known as urban settlement.

The major characteristic differences between the two types of settlements are:

SI.No.	Basis of difference	Rural settlement	Urban settlement
(i)	Occupation	Agriculture, fishing lumbering,cottage industries, etc.	Manufacturing, trade, commerce and various services.
(ii)	Houses	Huts or simple structures.	Big and often multi-storeyed.
(iii)	Settlements	Dispersed settlements.	Nucleated settlements.
(iv)	Relationship	Close relationshipamong the inhabitants.	No close relationship among the inhabitants.
(v)	Landscape	Natural and eco-friendly,	Man-made and artificial.

5. Mention the basic differences between dispersed settlement and nucleated settlement. 

Ans. The differences between dispersed settlement and nucleated settlement are:

SI.No.	Basis ofdifference	Dispersed settlement	Nucleatedsettlement
(i)	Meaning	Settlements that are spread far and wide in an area.	Settlements established close to each other.
(ii)	Found in	Found in agricultural areas.	Found in urban areas.
(iii)	Consists	Consists of one type.	Consists of several types.
(iv)	Population	Population size is small.	Population size is big.

6. Write in brief about the different types of settlements under the category of nucleated settlements with examples and diagrams. 

Ans. On the basis of shape or pattern, nucleated settlements can be divided into the following types:

(i) Rectangular settlement: Settlement that comes up within a rectangular area created by straight roads and intersect at right angles is known as rectangular settlement. Such settlements mainly develop in the extensive fertile plain areas. e.g. Ganga-Sutlej plain region.

Generally, whenever a city is planned a pattern of settlement is followed. Indian planned cities such as Chandigarh, Gandhinagar, etc. have mostly this type of settlements. Most of the planned cities of the developed countries such as Germany, Malaysia, Israel, France, etc. have planned settlement.

(ii) Linear settlement: Settlements that grow along both sides of the roads and railway lines, along the banks of rivers and irrigation canals, along the narrow river valleys of the mountain region or the coastal areas are called linear settlement. This type of settlement is found by the sides of the roads in the river valleys of India’s middle and lower Himalayas and the Ganga -Yamuna plains.

(iii) Circular settlement: Settlements developed by constructing houses around lakes, ponds, big tanks, etc. is called circular settlement.

e.g. Fishing community often establishes their settlement close to lake or coast. Salt workers establish their settlement around salt lakes for the extraction of salt. Such settlements are also found around large industrial areas in the form of circular shape.

(iv) Star-like settlement: Settlements developed from a common centre in several directions like emerging of rays from the stars, along both sides of the roads, is called star-like settlement. This type of settlement is found at the intersection of roads in the plain areas. The basic feature of this type of settlement is that such settlements begin from an important cross junction and extend along the roads in many directions.

(v) Triangular settlement: Settlement of triangular shape developed at an intersection of two large rivers based on availability of water and fertile soil, is called triangular settlement. This type of settlement can be found in the riverine plains of North India and the confluences of many rivers in the foothill areas.

7. Write briefly about the origin and growth of urban settlements.

Ans. Most settlements generally originate as villages. However, gradually these villages tend to develop into towns on account of the availability of fertile soil, plain land, water, building materials, comfortable transport system, security, certain favourable religious, social and economic conditions. Sometimes some political developments also contribute their share in expanding villages into small towns which later become cities and Megalopolis.

As human civilisation began to expand, it not only affected the urban areas, but also villages close to them. The activities of the nearby villages also transformed. Sometimes the agro-based settlements turned into a trade and commerce-based town. Similarly, due to sudden discovery of some valuable mineral resources near a village, it may get transformed into an industrial town. The fast development of road networks and transport system may also turn a village area into a small township. A fishing village located on the sea coast in due course may also get transformed into a small fish trading centre. An increase in population need not make a village into a town, only when there is a development of trade, commerce, manufacturing and the various services, the village area becomes a township.

The growth and expansion of towns require appropriate location, water supply system, efficient transport system, expansion of trade and commerce facilities, development of industries, development of financial institutions, etc. Along with these, there should be sufficient population to cater to the various needs of the town. It is a fact that all-round development and expansion of a town largely depends on its relationship with the surrounding rural area, Many towns originate to serve certain special functions. These include administrative, defence, industry, trade, culture, etc. When these functions expand towns that specialise in these activities also expand.

8. Classify the urban settlements with examples according to functions. 

Ans. The different types of settlement in accordance with functions are:

SI.No.	Urban Settlement	Examples
(i)	Multiple functions	Kolkata, Mumbai, Guwahati, etc.
(ii)	Administrative functions	Gandhinagar, Chandigarh, etc.
(iii)	Defence functions	Kanpur, Pune, Chennai, Bangalore, etc.
(iv)	Hill stations cum tourist centres	Mussoorie, Darjeeling, Shillong, etc.
(v)	Pilgrim centres	Varanasi, Puri, Rishikesh, etc.
(vi)	Sea port city	Haldia, Paradeep, etc.
(vii)	Industrial towns	Jamshedpur, Bhilai, Bokaro, etc.
(viii)	Educational towns	Oxford, Cambridge, Pune, etc.

9. What do you mean by ‘hierarchy of settlements’? Write about this with examples and diagrams.

Ans. Hierarchy of settlements means the arrangement of all rural and urban settlements in accordance with size from small to large settlements. At the lowest bottom of this hierarchy stand a few scattered homes or farms sheds while the highest level is occupied by megalopolis. In the rural context, this hierarchy starts with isolated homes at the bottom and ends with hamlet or villages at the top whereas in the urban context, this hierarchy begins with town and passes through city, conurbation to reach megalopolis at the highest level. 

With the increase in the level of settlements in the hierarchy the functions, facilities, spatial extent and population size of the settlement also varies. It is also noted that the number of settlements decreases from the bottom towards the top. In other words, the number of towns compared to the number of villages or the number of cities compared to the number of towns is small. The population size of a city or conurbation is much higher than that of the population size of a town. e.g. population of small towns in India was 5000 while is Mumbai was 16 million (2001 census) Assam, Guwahati, the largest city in Assam, has over 9 lakh people while out of 125 towns in Assam only 7 has a population size of above one lakh.

10. Write briefly about the landuse pattern of rural and urban settlements.

Ans. There is a marked difference in the landuse pattern of rural areas and urban areas. The rural settlements are mostly associated with occupation such as agriculture, livestock rearing, lumbering, wood cutting, exploitation of natural resources, etc. The vertical spread of land, landuse, etc. has been faster in the urban areas than that of the rural areas. The population density, land value, literacy rate, transport facilities, multiplicity of socio-economic activities, etc. decreases with the increase in distance from the urban area. The landscape of rural area is natural and activities of people are more natural-dependent compared to the man-made landscape of urban areas.

We can understand better the landuse pattern of rural and urban areas by following the methods used by a geographer named G. A. Doxiadis.

According to him, a human settlement consists of four parts:

(i) Homogeneous part.

(ii) Central part.

(iii) Circulatory part.

(iv) Special part.

(a) In the rural context: The homogenous part consists of the agricultural land. The central part is made of houses while the circulatory part consists of road network. The special part has temples, schools and some other social, cultural and economic institutions.

(b) In the urban context: The homogenous part is formed by residential area, its central part consists of commercial and financial institutions and the circulatory part of the urban areas is made of roads and different transport systems. The special part consists of some of the specialised institutions. 

The landuse pattern of urban areas follows a definite pattern in most countries of the world.

(i) There is a dominance of trade and commerce in the central or core area of the town. 

(ii) Different types of commercial establishments, banks, offices, wholesale and retail centres, etc. are seen.

(iii) This part is generally marked by high-rise building and expensive market areas. This part of the town is called Central Business District (CBD).

(iv) With the increase in distance from the centre changes in landuse is noticed. The peripheral circular region witnesses the growth of towns, educational institutions, industries, residential complexes, etc.

(v) As one moves away from the fringe area of the urban centres further land use pattern varies and predominance of agriculture can be seen.

11. What do you mean by ‘Central Business District’? Mention its basic characteristics.

Ans. The central part of the town or city marked by dominance of trade, business, financial institutions, etc. is known as Central Business District (CBD).

The main features of CBD are:

(i) The land is mostly used for commercial purposes.

(ii) The land is very expensive.

(iii) It forms the hub of trade, business and financial dealings of the town or city. 

(iv) There are less number of residential complexes in this part.

(v) As one moves away from the Central Business District, schools, temples, churches, industries, etc. in the peripheral areas of the CBD are found.

(vi) It is marked by an excellent network of transport and communication systems.

12. Write briefly about the relationship between rural and urban settlements.

Ans. There is a close link between the urban and the surrounding rural areas. Both forms of settlements are dependent on each other. The rural village is much dependent on towns for education, health services, financial services, procurement of household items and luxury items, entertainment, etc. The agricultural goods produced by villages find a suitable market in the urban areas. The young people of the rural areas both skilled and unskilled get employment in the towns. On the other hand, the town is dependent on villages for agro-based food items, workers, etc. The various finished products of the town get customers from the villages. Sustenance of many institutions of towns such as hospitals, banks, theatres, markets, etc. greatly depend on the people of the nearby villages. All these show that there is a close link between the two sectors of the nation-the rural and urban sectors. In this context, it can be said that the modern means of communication and transport has helped strengthening the ties between the rural and urban areas.

13. Write short notes:

(a) Human settlements and settlement geography.

Ans. Human settlement means the temporary or permanent place of habitation formed by man for their livelihood. Settlement is broadly divided into two categories – rural settlement and urban settlement. The branch of geography which studies the origin, growth and associated physical, cultural and socio-economic aspects is known as settlement geography. Settlement geography is an important branch of human geography. Carl Ritter is considered to be the founder of settlement geography.

(b) Linear settlement.

Ans. Student Do Yourself.

(c) Circular settlement.

Ans. Student Do Yourself.

(d) Star-like settlement.

Ans. Student Do Yourself.

(e) Culture and educational town.

Ans. Towns that developed due to their cultural significance and came up as pilgrim centres are called cultural towns. e.g. Varanasi, Puri, Rishikesh, Tirumala, etc. Towns that developed due to their educational importance are called educational towns. e.g. Cambridge in England are famous international educational centres.

(f) Rural-urban continuum.

Ans. Rural-urban continuum are the intermediate areas that lie close to the urban centres but are neither town nor villages. These have the characteristic features of both towns and villages. Since land is very costly in the towns, most service personnel and workers prefer to live a little away from the heart of the town. But, often these areas have a rural set-up with agriculture being the dominant feature of the area. However, over the years this area transforms itself into a satellite town.

(g) Hierarchy of settlements.

Ans. Student Do Yourself.

(h) Urban fringe.

Ans. Often the rural area that lies close to the urban centre gets transformed due to the influence of the nearby township. When the landscape of the peripheral area of a large town or city gets transformed towards the urban character due to the impact of urban activities, it is called suburban or urban fringe: Initially these areas belong to the rural settlement. However, over the years, the landscape and activities of this area acquire some characteristic features of towns with a rural background.

In fact, all major cities of India like Delhi, Mumbai, Kanpur, Pune, Guwahati, etc. have urban fringe.

(i) Satellite town.

Ans. As the cities expand, the space for various commercial activities shrinks forcing people to move out to the peripheral areas. Secondly non-availability of land and its high cost forces investors and businessmen to build their offices and establishments little way from the centre of city. Due to decentralisation of trade and business, financial, educational, commercial institutions, etc. get established in such areas of the city. As a result small township come up around the major Metropolitan cities. These towns are called satellite towns, e.g. Gurgaon, Noida and Gaziabad are satellite towns of Delhi.

14. Prepare a sketch-map of your village or town showing the human settlements including the location of school, namghar (prayer hall), shop, etc. under the guidance of your teacher and mention the type of settlement.

Ans. Student Do Yourself.