Settlements

A settlement is a place where people establish a permanent residential community. Settlements vary widely in size and organization, from tiny hobby-houses to sprawling metropolitan areas. They can be rural or urban and tend to be organized around a central core or dispersed across the landscape. Common subtypes include hamlets, villages, towns, and cities, each with distinct social and economic functions.

Settlements arise where people can access resources such as water, arable land, or trade routes. They grow through a combination of natural increase and migration, and may evolve as farming, manufacturing, or administrative activities demand more housing and services. The layout often reflects history and geography, ranging from nucleated clusters to spread-out, linear, or grid patterns.

In geographic and planning terms, settlements are categorized by size and function: hamlets are small, with minimal services; villages offer basic amenities; towns provide broader services and markets; cities concentrate administration, commerce, and culture. Layouts can be nucleated around streets and squares, or dispersed across rural space; structural plans may be grid-backed, radial, or organic.

Governance and infrastructure are key features, including local councils, zoning laws, utilities, transportation networks, schools, and healthcare facilities. The study of settlements also considers demographics, land use, economic specialization, and environmental sustainability.

Historically, settlements emerged with the origins of agriculture and the domestication of plants and animals, later expanding in ancient river valleys, port cities, and trade corridors. In modern times, urbanization, industrialization, and globalization have transformed many settlements into complex urban systems, while some rural settlements retain agricultural or resource-based functions.