
The rural settlements revival, as an alternative t o mass urbanization, provides opportunities for rural/peri-urban development. Thus, r ural settlements become attractive economically, environmentally and socially. As a result, the rural population outflow is reduced and the urban populatio n is attracted.
What is a clustered Rural Settlement?
A clustered rural settlement is a rural settlement where a number of families live in close proximity to each other, with fields surrounding the collection of houses and farm buildings. The layout of this type of village reflects historical circumstances, the nature of the land, economic conditions, and local cultural characteristics.
What are the different types of rural settlements in India?
Rural settlements in India can broadly be put into four types: Clustered, agglomerated or nucleated: The clustered rural settlement is a compact or closely built-up area of houses. In this type of village, the general living area is distinct and separated from the surrounding farms, barns and pastures.
What factors determine the type and pattern of a rural settlement?
There are a number of factors that help determine both the type and pattern of a rural settlement, but they generally fall into two categories: Physical factors, including the terrain, quality of the land for farming, and defense. Remember, ancient communities and some places today must prepare for raiders.
What is a dispersed settlement in geography?
Dispersed Rural Settlements A dispersed settlement is one of the main types of settlement patterns used to classify rural settlements. Typically, in stark contrast to a nucleated settlement, dispersed settlements range from a scattered to an isolated pattern (Figure 12.6).

What are the types of rural settlement?
The land capability is directly proportional to nucleation. Rural settlement type refers to the nucleation of houses or villages in the rural landscape consisting of villages , agricultural lands, ...
Why do nucleated settlements provide a defense to the community living in close proximity and surrounded by?
Defense: Nucleated settlements provide a defense to the community living in close proximity and surrounded by a common boundary in order to protect them from the common enemy (e.g. tribal community make fences around their settlement to protect them from wild animals)
What does it mean when a village has a dispersed settlement?
Villages having dispersed or scattered settlements have farmstead scattered over a much wider area. It reflects poor hydrology and land capability.
What are nucleated settlements?
The nucleated settlements have closely packed structures with little or no gap in between.
Why does a settlement become nucleated?
Historical continuity: The settlement of a place becomes nucleated due to an increase in the population of that place over time. The continued increase in population leads to the high degree of nucleation.
What is poor agriculture land?
Poor agriculture land. Areas where it is essential for farmers to live on agricultural land rather than distant village settlement. The dispersed Rural Settlements are usually of recent age since people are moving away from dense settlements in the search of new spaces.
What is rural landscape?
In rural areas with poor land capability, the rural landscape consists of the houses which are clustered in hamlets. Here, large land areas need to be cultivated to support small human groups and to avoid the travel distance and to save on time, energy, there is diffusion and dispersal of population.
What are the factors that make up a dispersed settlement?
Dispersed settlements are the result of many different factors, including the needs of the farm to have permanent attendants, open grasslands, hilly terrains, and relative security that raiders will not attack it. Patterns refer to the shape of a settlement, not its density.
What type of settlements are built around a lake?
We also find this in settlements built all at once. Circular or semi-circular: These types of settlements are often built partway around or completely surrounding a lake or large pond. Circular settlements are also built for defense with a protective wall around the perimeter.
What Exactly is Rural?
Rural is a difficult term to define. In some senses, it means the landscape and habitations outside of cities and towns. But what about small towns and villages surrounded by fields? For our purposes, rural refers to areas outside of cities where a large amount of the surrounding land is used for agriculture or animal pastures. This also helps delineate non-city areas that are just forested, something you wouldn't often think of as rural.
What is a semi compact settlement?
Semi-compact types are clusters of houses, also called hamlets, not as tightly placed as compact settlements, but showing a clear grouping and boundary. Dispersed settlements are scattered throughout the rural landscape with farmers building homes directly on their farmland.
What is a pattern in a settlement?
Patterns refer to the shape of a settlement, not its density. It's easier to define the compact or semi-compact settlements, as the dispersed settlements are usually too spread out to define a shape. There are many more patterns, but the most common rural settlement patterns are:
Which settlement has the highest density of population?
Compact settlements have the highest density of population. They have homes stacked together, often touching at the sides or stacked in multi-family buildings. Streets tend to be narrow between the rows of homes. We often find this type of arrangement in highly fertile floodplains.
What are cultural factors?
Cultural factors, including how people traditionally use the land, ideas of ownership, the crops they choose to grow, social hierarchy, and transportation availability.
