
You may call it a village, a city or a town; all are patterns of human settlements. The study of human settlements is essential to human geography because the form of settlement in any particular region reflects a human relationship with the environment. A human settlement is defined as a region populated more or less permanently.
Full Answer
How did the pattern of human settlement develop?
During the last hundred years the pattern of human settlement has developed towards "megalopolis" in the one hand and "vast emptiness" on the other. The availability of cheap and plentiful fossil fuel has made this possible, writes E F Schumacher. He points out that the present pattern may have
What are the different types of human settlements?
There are several types of human settlements in which people live, work, and play. Learn to define and compare these settlements, including rural vs. urban and compacted vs. dispersed settlements. Updated: 10/26/2021 Joan lives in a small town, where everyone knows everyone else.
What is the definition of human settlement?
A human settlement is defined as a region populated more or less permanently. The houses may be planned or redesigned, buildings may be remodelled, functions may change, but settlement continues in space and time. There may be some settlements which are unstable and are occupied for short periods, even a season.
Why is the study of human settlement important in geography?
You may call it a village, a city or a town; all are patterns of human settlements. The study of human settlements is essential to human geography because the form of settlement in any particular region reflects a human relationship with the environment. A human settlement is defined as a region populated more or less permanently.

What is the pattern of human settlement called?
Linear. Describes a settlement pattern in which groups of houses or communities form a line which can be straight usually on the road or railway or wavy as found along the edge of a river or lake or in a long narrow valley sometimes called strings. Cluster.
What does human settlement patterns mean?
A human settlement is a place where people live. Settlement patterns describe the ways in which villages, towns, cities and First Nation reserves are distributed, as well as the factors that influence this arrangement.
What are the patterns of settlements?
There are three main settlement patterns: nucleated, linear and dispersed.
What are 3 types of human settlements?
There are various types of settlements for eg; Scattered settlements, Nucleated settlements and Linear settlements.
What are the types of human settlements?
Human settlements can broadly be divided into two types – rural and urban. Rural settlements: Rural settlements are most closely and directly related to land. They are dominated by primary activities such as agriculture, animal husbandry, fishing etc. The settlements size is relatively small.
What are 4 types of settlement?
The four main types of settlements are urban, rural, compact, and dispersed.
Where is linear pattern of settlement?
Such kind of settlements is found around coastline, lakes, tanks, or a planned village. 1. Linear settlement pattern - Houses are arranged along either side of a road, railway line, river or canal.
What is human settlement short answer?
Human Settlement means a cluster of dwellings of any type or size where human beings live. For this purpose, people may erect houses and other structures and command some area or territory as their economic support base.
What are the 2 types of settlement?
Settlement is a place where people live and carry out various economic activities on a relatively permanent basis. It can be divided into two types: rural settlement and urban settlement. The two types of settlement are differentiated by their size, density of population and employment pattern.
What is an example of a settlement?
An example of a settlement is when divorcing parties agree on how to split up their assets. An example of a settlement is when you buy a house and you and the sellers sign all the documents to officially transfer the property. An example of settlement is when the colonists came to America.
What is the significance of human settlement?
There are many purposes or functions of human settlements. Four functions of human settlements include protection, pooling economics, sharing natural resources, and socioemotional connection.
What is human settlement describe its different types according to their shapes?
The patterns of rural settlements on the basis of forms and shapes are: Linear Pattern In such settlements, houses are located along a road, river, canal edge of a valley or along a levee. Rectangular/ Cross-shape Pattern Such patterns of rural settlements are found in the plain areas or wide intermontane valleys.
What factors affect human settlement?
Factors can be push or pull....Physical FeaturesBody of water (transportation routes, water for drinking and farming)Flat land (easy to build)Fertile soil (for crops)Forests (timber and housing)
What is a settlement in geography?
In geography, statistics and archaeology, a settlement, locality or populated place is a community in which people live. The complexity of a settlement can range from a small number of dwellings grouped together to the largest of cities with surrounding urbanized areas.
What are the three classes of human settlement?
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) has a Geographic Names Information System that defines three classes of human settlement: Populated place − place or geographic area with clustered or scattered buildings and a permanent human population (city , settlement , town, village).
What is a settlement in geospatial modeling?
In the field of geospatial predictive modeling, settlements are "a city, town, village, or other agglomeration of buildings where people live and work". The Global Human Settlement Layer ( GHSL) framework produces global spatial information about the human presence on the planet over time.
What is abandoned populated place?
The term "Abandoned populated places" is a Feature Designation Name in databases sourced by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and GeoNames.
What is the Global Human Settlement Layer?
The Global Human Settlement Layer ( GHSL) framework produces global spatial information about the human presence on the planet over time. This in the form of built up maps, population density maps and settlement maps. This information is generated with evidence-based analytics and knowledge using new spatial data mining technologies. The framework uses heterogeneous data including global archives of fine-scale satellite imagery, census data, and volunteered geographic information. The data is processed fully automatically and generates analytics and knowledge reporting objectively and systematically about the presence of population and built-up infrastructures. The GHSL operates in an open and free data and methods access policy (open input, open method, open output).
What is an urban settlement?
The UK Department for Communities and Local Government uses the term "urban settlement" to denote an urban area when analysing census information. The Registrar General for Scotland defines settlements as groups of one or more contiguous localities, which are determined according to population density and postcode areas. The Scottish settlements are used as one of several factors defining urban areas.
What is landscape history?
Landscape history studies the form (morphology) of settlements – for example whether they are dispersed or nucleated. Urban morphology can thus be considered a special type of cultural-historical landscape studies. Settlements can be ordered by size, centrality or other factors to define a settlement hierarchy. A settlement hierarchy can be used for classifying settlement all over the world, although a settlement called a 'town' in one country might be a 'village' in other countries; or a 'large town' in some countries might be a 'city' in others.
How to classify human settlements?
Another way to classify types of human settlements involves how close together people live. For example, Nell lives in an apartment building with many other people. Her home is separated from others' homes by thin walls. Joan, on the other hand, has a lot more space.
What is a settlement?
A settlement is organized human habitation. It can be a single home or a bustling metropolis. Take Joan and Nell: they live in two very different places, but they are both living in a settlement. Let's look closer at some of the types of settlements, including rural vs. urban, and compact vs. dispersed.
What is the difference between compact settlement and dispersed settlement?
Compact settlements have homes that are built close together, whereas dispersed settlements have homes that are built far apart. With both sets of classifications, there are issues with finding a consensus on what type of settlement places are. Learning Outcomes. After the lesson, you should be able to:
What is compact settlement?
Compact settlements are those in which homes are built close together. The city where Nell lives is a good example of this. The homes are packed so closely together that it's only a few steps to her neighbor's front door! Dispersed settlements are those in which homes are built far apart.
What is the difference between rural and urban settlements?
Often, urban settlements have mostly non-agricultural occupations, while rural settlements have mostly agricultural occupations. For example, many farmers live in a sparsely populated area, and far fewer of them live in a densely populated city.
Where does Joan live in the settlements?
Settlements. Joan lives in a small town, where everyone knows everyone else. The town consists of one main street and a few side streets. Everyone in the town lives on one of those streets. Joan's cousin Nell lives in a big city.
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About This Chapter
Use our brief, engaging videos and the self-check assessments that accompany each lesson to help you learn and master the geographic principles of human settlement patterns.
1. Villages to Cities: How Cities Were Invented
Cities have not always existed throughout history, and in fact, are a relatively new phenomenon. Learn about how cities were invented, by first reading about the first farmers and problems with being a lone farmer. Then, read about how this led to the first villages, and then cities, such as the example of the city of Uruk and larger populations.
2. Human Settlements: Definition & Functions
Human settlements are organized groups of people living in the same area. Learn more about the definition of human settlements and discover the different types and functions of settlements.
3. Types of Human Settlements: Definitions & Comparisons
There are several types of human settlements in which people live, work, and play. Learn to define and compare these settlements, including rural vs. urban and compacted vs. dispersed settlements.
4. Downtown, the Central Business District: Land Use Issues in the U.S. & Abroad
The central business district of a city typically is located in its geographical center, also commonly called downtown. Learn more about the characteristics and types of land uses found in central business districts and some of the advantages and disadvantages of operating a business downtown.
5. U.S. Inner Cities: Characteristics & Challenges
The middle-class migration from city centers following World War II resulted in urban areas populated mostly with impoverished people. These areas became known informally as the inner city. Learn the formal and informal meanings of the term ~'inner city~' and examine the resulting outcomes impacting these areas.
6. Suburbs in the U.S.: Characteristics & Common Issues
Districts lying outside of cities, or suburbs, have different characteristics and issues that make them viable places to live. Learn more about suburbs in the U.S, suburbanization, peripheral models, and historical issues with segregation.
What is a small area in a settlement?
An area in a settlement with a relatively small population of people living per square kilometre. Usually dominated by single houses on larger blocks.
What is the process whereby towns and cities which have been experiencing a loss of population are able to reverse the?
the process whereby towns and cities which have been experiencing a loss of population are able to reverse the decline by redeveloping parts of the city.
What does "areas" mean in a city?
Areas which are serviced by a city. This means that the city provides commercial, cultural and government facilities to these areas.
What are zones in housing?
are locations intended for housing that include a lot of open space and parklands. These zones exclude large industries and apartment complexes.
What is a large and densely populated urban area?
a large and densely populated urban area; in most cases with over a million inhabitants in the city proper.
What is a market area?
a rural area surrounding a large city, also called the market area. It is characterised by a less dense population and infrastructure.
What is a settlement pattern?
A settlement pattern re fers to the shape of the settlement as seen from above. The shapes of early settlements were influenced by the surrounding landscape. They were also shaped by other factors such as who owned the land and whether the land was good for building on or not. Some examples of settlement patterns include, nucleated settlements, linear settlements and dispersed settlements .
What is a dispersed settlement?
Dispersed settlements are ones where the houses are spread out over a wide area. They are often the homes of farmers and can be found in rural areas. Example of a dispersed settlement: Brülisau, Switzerland is an example of a linear settlement. Brülisau in Switzerland is an example of a dispersed village.
Why did early settlers form villages?
Early settlers forming villages would often live together for safety, for friendship, and to share services. These early settlements would take on distinctive patterns based on the shape of the land around them. Here we can see some examples of different settlement patterns.

Overview
In geography, statistics and archaeology, a settlement, locality or populated place is a community in which people live. The complexity of a settlement can range from a small number of dwellings grouped together to the largest of cities with surrounding urbanized areas. Settlements may include hamlets, villages, towns and cities. A settlement may have known historical properties such as the dat…
History
The geographical evidence of a human settlement was Jebel Irhoud, whose early modern human remains of eight individuals date back to the Middle Paleolithic around 300,000 years ago.
The oldest remains that have been found of constructed dwellings are remains of huts that were made of mud and branches around 17,000 BC at the Ohalo sit…
Statistics
Geoscience Australia defines a populated place as "a named settlement with a population of 200 or more persons".
The Committee for Geographical Names in Australasia used the term localities for rural areas, while the Australian Bureau of Statistics uses the term "urban centres/localities" for urban areas.
Geospatial modeling
In the field of geospatial predictive modeling, settlements are "a city, town, village, or other agglomeration of buildings where people live and work".
The Global Human Settlement Layer (GHSL) framework produces global spatial information about the human presence on the planet over time. This in the form of built up maps, population density maps and settlement maps. This information is generated with evidence-based analytics and kn…
Abandonment
The term "Abandoned populated places" is a Feature Designation Name in databases sourced by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and GeoNames.
Sometimes the structures are still easily accessible, such as in a ghost town, and these may become tourist attractions. Some places that have the appeara…
See also
• Administrative division
• Colony
• Human outpost
• Informal settlement
• List of Neolithic settlements
External links
• The Global Human Settlement Layer (GHSL) framework