Origin Of Human Settlements

Human settlement is defined as a community or a

group of people living together in a particular place to
realize certain objectives.
Human settlements (be they rural or urban) could only
exist if certain conditions could exist or were fulfilled.
These conditions were:
1.Security: If a place was secure, then communities could
settle. A place where it was possible to shelter from
attacks by other communities, wild beasts, pests and/or
parasites and harsh climatic conditions was considered
ideal for settlement.
In Africa, some sites were considered not to be
culturally suitable for settlement and hence were
avoided even when they met the other conditions. Give
examples.

Origin of settlements contd

2.

Production of Surplus Food: if a community

could produce a reservoir of food to last till
the next season, then settlement would be
possible e.g. River basins Euphrates and
Tigris for early civilization.

3 Specialization of Activities &Division of

Labour. If a community could practice
division of labour such that some members
were free from the routine of producing food,
then, some members could be utilized in the
production of other goods and services.
Where such was possible then settlement
could take place or flourish.

Origin of settlements contd

4.Exchange of Goods and Services through Trade
Communities tended to flourish where there was
an organization or organized exchange of goods
and services.
5. Availability of basic buildings materials: such as
timber, wood, water, stone/mud, straw from the
wetlands. All these things influenced settlement of
communities as these materials are necessary in
the construction of shelter and other functional
buildings/structures

Functions of Human Settlements

Human settlements mainly offer three
functions:
Residential Accommodation especially for
those people who derive their livelihood from
non-farm activities. It is assumed that those in
rural areas/agricultural areas have their own
accommodation.
Care must, however, be taken to ensure that
even those in agriculture farms have better
shelter.

Functions of Human Settlements contd

Service Function: Human settlements have
to offer the following services / facilities:
Educational
Health
Administrative
Social-Cultural / Religious
Judicial-courts, prisons and Remand
homes

Functions of Human Settlements

contd
Economic Functions
Human settlements
usually offer markets, goods and services,
employment
and
income
generating
opportunities and also enable people to access
manufactured goods.
NB
The more efficiently the above conditions and
functions were met, the higher the level of
civilization of the human settlements /
communities. If the conditions ceased the
settlement or settled communities also ceased.

Basic forms of Rural Settlements

Linear Hamlets

Some of the hamlets have a linear form.

That is, buildings are clustered along
features such as roads or streams as
shown in this figure.

Grouped Hamlets

Sometimes hamlets are groups of buildings

clustered at the intersection of several roads.

String Village

Like hamlets, some villages are grouped along rivers,

roads, streams, or other linear features. These places
are called string villages.

Cluster Village

Some Villages group around road intersections and

these are called cluster villages

Rounded Village

Defense is one of the reason houses in a village

are clustered together. Other settlement forms
may also leave the best land available for
farming. By occupying hilltops or rocky areas, for
instance better farmland is available for farming

Skeleton Grid

Walled Village

Historically, houses in villages were clustered together

for defensive reasons. People could defend themselves
against outsiders by grouping themselves together. In
fact many old villages and walled villages are often
clustered together in this way. Many old cities around
the world began behind strong defensive walls.

Rural Dispersal

On the other hand, a

rural community may
take the scattered or
dispersed
pattern
of
settlement, e.g. in the
arid and semi-arid areas
of Kenya

Hierarchy of Human Settlements

It is usually difficult to determine the
difference between rural and urban settlements
but using the rural/urban continuum one can
see how these settlements have evolved from
basically rural agrarian economies to nonagrarian economies or communities
Settlements are arranged in a hierarchy. A
hierarchy is similar to a pyramid or a
continuum. A continuum of human settlements
can be used, for instance, to show the
progression of each activity say shopping,
education and leisure as illustrated below.

Rural Urban Settlement Pyramid

Metropolis
No. & type of
settlements

Population
Density

Cities

Towns
Villages/
Hamlets

Rural-Urban Settlement Continuum

Hamle
ts

Villag
es

Hamlets Villag
es
(Huts)
-Scattered
-Dispersed
Subsistenc
e
communiti
es

Towns

Town

Citi
es

Metropoli
s

City
Metropolis
(Concentration of
non-agrarian
communities

A Continuum of Low High Order Goods/Services

Lower Order
Centres
(Short-term
goods/services
e.g. milk,
Bread, etc).

Higher Order
Centres (Long
Term
Goods/Services e.g.
furniture, shoes,
clothes, etc).

Highest Order
Centres (Specialized
Goods/Services e.g.
Disco equipments,
Studios, Theatres,
etc).

Village/Shops

Towns

City/Capital Centre

Nursery Schools,
Primary Schools

Secondary Schools,

University/Colleges

2-3 stars Hotels

5 Star Hotels

District Hospitals

National Hospitals

Local hotels
Dispensaries

 The lower order centres, have local

activities / lower order goods and services,
which are not specialized. Such services are
available also at the other higher levels.
While the higher order centres, have more
specialized activities; with the highest order
centres, offering the most specialized
activities; which are not found at the other
levels.
Ask the class to give examples of such
centres and the goods they offer.