HUMAN SETTLEMENT PLANNING

UNIT 1 – INTRODUCTION

Elements of human settlements- human beings and settlements- nature shells & Network –
their functions and linkages- Anatomy & Classification of Human Settlements- Locational,
Resource based, Population Size & Occupational structure.

INTRODUCTION TO HUMAN SETTLEMENT

 Human Settlement means cluster of dwellings of any type or size where human beings
live.
 Created through movement of man in space and definition of boundaries of
territorial interest for physical and institutional purposes.
 The process of settlement inherently involves grouping of people and making territory
as their resource base.
 Settlements forms, patterns,
distributions, types and sizes
and their tendency towards
change with time.
Human settlements can be also
meant as the totality of the human community - whether city, town or village - with all
the social, material, organizational, spiritual and cultural elements that sustain it. The
fabric of human settlements consists of physical elements and services to which these
elements provide the material support.
The physical components comprise:
 Shelter, i.e. the superstructures of different shapes, size, type and materials erected
by mankind for security, privacy and protection from the elements and for his
singularity within a community;
 Infrastructure, i.e. the complex networks designed to deliver to or remove from the
shelter people, goods, energy or information;
 Services cover those required by a community for the fulfilment of its functions as a
social body, such as education, health, culture, welfare, recreation and nutrition.

Settlements evolution

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The evolution of human settlements is a continuous cyclic process from the smallest, the room, to the largest
possible, the universal human settlement. The process are born, develop, decline and die which can be compared
to plant and animal which are everywhere in this universe.

Five major phases were identified by C.T Lakshmanan, (2012). These phases include the
following:
 Primitive non-organised human settlements (started with the evolution of man.)
 Primitive organised settlements (the period of villages - eopolis - which lasted about
10,000 years.)
 Static urban settlements or cities (polis - which lasted about 5,000-6,000 years.)
 Dynamic urban settlements (dynapolis - which lasted200 - 400 years.)
 The universal city (ecumenopolis - which is now beginning.)
Factors responsible for evolution of human settlements
1. Physical factors
 Nature of terrain, Altitude, Climate, Availability of water
2. Cultural and ethnic factors
 Caste and tribal structure, Religion
3. Security factors
 Defence from invasions and Wild animals

EKISTICS
“THE SCIENCE OF HUMAN SETTLEMENT”
The term Ekistics was coined by C.A Doxiadis. He concerns the human settlement as a
living organism having its own laws.
About C.A DOXIADIS:-
Full name: Konstantinos Apostolos Doxiadis
Nationality : Greek
Architect and Town planner.

Definition of Human settlement according to Doxiadis

Territorial arrangements made by Anthropos in the cause of his own survival, his
safety and his happiness and for human development.

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BASIC PRINCIPLES OF EKISTICS
 Maximum of contacts
 Minimum of effort
 Optimum of protective space
 Optimum of quality of the total
environment
 Optimum in synthesis of all
principles
 Maximum of contact – man attempting
to conquer the universe. Comparing to
other animal species only man try to
increase his contacts even if he has
reached the maximum contacts with the environment.
 Minimization of efforts –a minimum of effort, terms of energy, time and cost Man
selects the most convenient routes
 Optimum of man’s protective space – Selection of distance from other person,
animals or objects. Man can maintain the contact with person, animals or object with
the level of psychological discomfort he feels.
 Optimum of quality of the environment- Man's relationship with his environment,
which consists of nature, society, shells and networks (Elements of human
settlements). This is the principle that leads to order, physiological and aesthetic, and
that influences architecture and, in many respects, art.
 Optimum in synthesis of all principles - man organizes his settlements in an attempt
to achieve an optimum synthesis of the other four principles, and this optimization is
dependent on time and space, on actual conditions, and on man's ability to create a
synthesis.

Elements of human settlements

Two basic elements of human settlements are

1. The Content: Man, Society and Networks

2. The Container: Physical Settlement
(Nature and Shell)
• Natural Elements
• Man-made (artificial) Elements
The two basic elements of Human settlements, the content and the container, can be further subdivided
into five elements (Five basic elements of ekistics):
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  Nature, providing the function upon which the settlement is created and the frame within
which it can function.
 Man
 Society
 Shells, or the structures within which Man lives and carries out his different function.
 Network, or the natural and man-made systems which facilitate the functioning of the
settlement, as for example roads, water supply, electricity, etc.
Nature as a function, Human as individuals (Which can be better
called as ANTHROPOS) , Society as system, Shells- that is all types of
buildings, Network of all sorts.

Sub-division of Five elements of Ekistics

Classification of Human Settlements

Classification of human settlements can be based on following types
1. Classification based on size
(Small and sparsely spaced (rural settlements or villages specializing in
agriculture. Large and closely spaces (urban settlements specializing in
secondary and tertiary activities)
2. Classification based on Location - Nature area, Cultivareas,
anthropareas, industrareas.
3. Classification based on occupation- hunting, cultivating, industrial, urban,
and central and mixed human settlement.
4. Classification Based on Functions- which are important to an
understanding of the meaning and role of settlements: Reveal nature,
specialization, & purpose of settlements.

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 5. Classification Based on Time Dimension- age of settlements, their place
in continuum (past, present, and future), their relative static of dynamic
character, the whole process of their growth.
6. Classification Based on degree of society’s conscious involvement in
settlements creation natural and planned settlements.
7. Classification Based on institutions, legislations and administrations
which society has created for settlements.

Classification by Size
1. Anthropos–1
2. Room–2
3. House –5
4. House group (hamlet) –40
5. Small neighbourhood (village)–250
6. Neighbourhood –1,500
7. Small polis (town) –10,000
8. Polis (city) –75,000
9. Small metropolis –500,000
10. Metropolis –4 million
11. Conurbation- 10 million
11. Small megalopolis –25 million
12. Megalopolis –150 million
13. Small eperopolis–750 million
14. Eperopolis–7,500 million
15. Ecumenopolis –50,000 million

CLASSIFICATION BY NO OF EXPLANATION
SIZE POPULATION
Anthropos 1 Human as an individual is described as
Anthropos
Room 2 persons Social, psychological and sexual relationship
arising in this category

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House (Single family) 5 persons Isolated dwelling would only have 1 or 2
buildings or families in it. It would have
negligible service.
House Groups (hamlet) 40 A hamlet has a tiny population of less than
100 with few buildings and very few or no
services.
Small 250 A village is a human settlement or
Neighbourhood(village) community that is larger than a hamlet but
smaller than a town. A village generally
does not have many services, most likely a
church or only a small shop or post office.
Polis (City) 75,000 large population and many services
Metropolis 4 million It is a large city and its suburbs consisting of
multiple cities and towns.
Conurbation 10 million A group of large cities and their suburbs,
consisting of three to ten million people.
Megalopolis 150 million A group of conurbations, consisting of more
than ten million people each. Scale of
megapolis would be 1,000 sq.km
Ecumenopolis 50,000 million The entire area of Earth that is taken up
by human settlements

Classification based on Location

 Nature area – where Anthropos is only a visitor and hunter.

 Cultivareas – where Anthropos is cultivating nature.
 Anthropareas – where Anthropos lives and use nature’s territories for all expressions
of his life from house to work, experiment and sports.
 Industrareas – where Anthropos transform resources, as in industrial processes or
mining.

CLASSIFICATION OF HUMAN SETTLEMENTS

 By Ekistics Units
 By Ekistics Elements
 By Ekistics Functions
 By Evolutionary Phases
 By Factors & Disciplines

BY EKISTICS UNITS: FOUR BASIC GROUPS

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 • Minor shells - Man (Anthropos), room, house;
• Micro-settlements- units smaller than, or as small as, the traditional town where
people used, do & still do achieve interconnection by walking (housegroup, small
neighbourhood);
• Meso-settlements- between traditional town & conurbation within which one can
commute daily (small polis, polis, small metropolis, small eperopolis, eperopolis); and
• Macro-settlements- whose largest possible expression is the Ecumenopolis
Physical and Social Units
• Man (as individual) - smallest unit
• Space- second unit either personally owned or shared with others
• Family Home- third unit
• Social Unit - Group of Homes

BY EVOLUTIONARY PHASES

 Macroscale-nomadic, agricultural, urban, urban-industrial;

 Microscale-specific area at a limited period of time.

BY FACTORS & DISCIPLINES

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