Human Settlements — NCERT Solutions

In desert regions, villages are located where water is available. The chapter says that in Rajasthan, scarcity of water has made people settle in compact villages so that available water resources can be used most effectively. So the main factors are availability of water and the need for maximum utilisation of scarce water resources.

Rural settlements in India are broadly of four types:

• Clustered or nucleated settlements: Houses are closely built in a compact area, separated from surrounding fields. They often have a regular shape. These are common in fertile alluvial plains and the north-eastern states.
• Semi-clustered settlements: A village is partly compact, but some groups live a little away from the main cluster. This may happen because of social segregation or fragmentation.
• Hamleted settlements: A large village is divided into several physically separated units, each with its own local name such as panna, para, palli, nagla, or dhani.
• Dispersed settlements: Houses are widely scattered, often as isolated huts or small hamlets.

The settlement pattern depends on several factors in different physical environments:

• Physical features: terrain, altitude, climate, and water availability.
• Cultural and ethnic factors: social structure, caste, and religion.
• Security factors: defence against thefts and robberies.

Thus, fertile plains, secure regions, water scarcity, fragmented terrain, and social conditions all influence whether settlements become clustered, semi-clustered, hamleted, or dispersed.

No, one cannot imagine cities as only one-function towns. The chapter says that although some towns may be known for a dominant function, they actually perform many functions. As cities grow into metropolises, they become multifunctional because industry, business, administration, transport, education, religion, and other services get closely linked together. Their functions change with growth, so a city cannot usually be placed in only one fixed category.