Introduction

A human settlement is any cluster of dwellings where people live, regardless of its size or type. The act of settling involves not just building houses and other structures, but also claiming a territory that serves as the community’s economic support-base. In other words, settlement inherently means two things: people grouping together, and dividing up the land around them as their resource base.

Settlements range enormously in scale — from a tiny hamlet to a sprawling metropolitan city. As size increases, the economic character, social structure, ecology, and technology of the settlement all change. Some settlements are small and widely spaced apart; others are large and packed closely together.

The small, sparsely located settlements are called villages. They specialise in agriculture or other primary activities (like fishing, mining, or forestry). The larger, fewer settlements are called urban settlements (towns and cities), and they specialise in secondary activities (manufacturing) and tertiary activities (services).

Basic differences between rural and urban settlements

The textbook highlights three fundamental distinctions:

• Economic base: Rural settlements derive their livelihood from land-based primary activities. Urban settlements depend on processing raw materials, manufacturing finished goods, and providing a wide variety of services.
• Functional relationship: Cities act as nodes of economic growth. They provide goods and services not only to their own residents but also to the people of the surrounding rural settlements (their hinterland). In return, the countryside supplies food and raw materials to the city. This exchange happens through transport and communication networks.
• Social structure and outlook: Rural people are less mobile, so social relations among them are intimate and personal. In urban areas, the way of life is complex and fast-paced, and social relations tend to be formal and impersonal.