asutuksia

Asutus is a Finnish noun meaning settlement or habitation. The term can refer to the existence of people living in a place, the arrangement of living areas, or the broader concept of how a region is inhabited. In everyday language it is used to describe settlements as physical places as well as the processes by which areas become populated.

Asutus has several related forms. The plural nominative is asutukset (the settlements). The form asutuksia is the partitive plural, used when the settlements are treated as an indefinite quantity or an object of a verb or preposition, for example in phrases like alueen asutuksia (the settlements of the area) or useita asutuksia (several settlements). The term can also appear in compound expressions such as maaseudun asutus (rural settlement) or taajamakasvatus (urban settlement growth).

In geography, urban planning and archaeology, asutus describes patterns of human habitation, population distribution, and the development of towns, villages, and other inhabited places. It contrasts with features such as tilaa, rakennukset, or asuntokanta, which focus more on housing or buildings themselves. The concept is often discussed alongside related terms such as kaupungistuminen (urbanization), maankäyttö (land use), and asutuksen muoto (form of settlement).

Etymology notes: asutus derives from the verb asua (to reside) with the suffix -tus, forming a noun that denotes a state or process. It is distinct from asento or asunto, which refer to a dwelling or housing unit rather than the broader phenomenon of habitation.