AR6902

HUMAN
SETTLEMENTS
PLANNING

Compiled by
Prof.Ar.G.Tamilvanan
 HUMAN SETTLEMENTS PLANNING

UNIT I INTRODUCTION
Elements of Human Settlements – human beings and settlements – nature shells& Net
work – their functions and Linkages – Anatomy & classification of Human settlements –
Locational, Resource based, Population size & Occupational structure.
A HUMAN SETTLEMENT is defined as a place inhabited more or less
permanently. It includes buildings in which they live or use and the paths and streets over which
they travel. It also includes the temporary camps of the hunters and herders. It may consists of only
a few dwelling units called hamlets or big cluster of buildings called urban cities.

For this purpose, people may erect houses and other structures and command some area or
territory as their economic support-base. Thus, the process of settlement inherently involves
grouping of people and apportioning of territory as their resource base. Settlements vary in size
and type. They range from a hamlet to metropolitan cities. With size, the economic character
and social structure of settlements changes and so do its ecology and technology.
 Definitions of HUMAN SETTLEMENTS
HUMAN SETTLEMENTS define people’s existence. They are places –
large and small, urban and rural, formal and informal – where people live, learn, work and
create.

They also comprise an important component of the entire environment, namely the built
environment.

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 shape, 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 or
remove from the shelter people, goods, energy of information.

Services cover those required by a community for the

fulfillment of its functions as a social
body, such as education, health, culture, welfare, recreation and nutrition.
Vancouver Declaration defined HUMAN SETTLEMENTS as follows:
Human settlements means 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.
 Important Features of HUMAN SETTLEMENTS
It is now contended that human settlements are the spatial dimension as well as the
physical expression of economic and social activity.

No creative act takes place without being influenced by settlement conditions.

In turn, the creation of workable human settlements inevitably becomes an objective of, an
indicator of and a prerequisite for social and economic development.

Settlements are an objective of development in that places where people can live, learn and
work in conditions of safety, comfort and efficiency are a fundamental and elementary
need.
Settlements are also an indicator, in that they are the most visible expression of a society's ability to
satisfy some of the fundamental needs of its members: they can mark accomplishments
as well as expose destitution, neglect and inequality.

Finally, settlements are a prerequisite for social and economic development, in that no
social progress for sustainable economic growth can occur without efficient settlements systems
and settlement networks.
 Origin and evolution of HUMAN SETTLEMENTS
Earth estimated to be formed about 4 billion years ago.

Earliest man did not settle anywhere as they wandered around in search of food. Occasionally
took shelter on top of trees to protect themselves from the wild animals.

Later man began to live in caves by the side of rivers and springs.

Caves not used as places for fixed residences when food gathering in the vicinity became difficult,
early man moved to another location.

Man learned to practice cultivation, began to settle down near the fields cultivated by
them and also learned to build huts and mud houses.

Some of the earliest settlements began to take shape.

 Origin and evolution of HUMAN SETTLEMENTS
Evolutions of the human settlements are categorized into five major phases:
 Origin and evolution of HUMAN SETTLEMENTS
Primitive non-organised human settlements (started with the evolution of man.)
There are no physical lines connecting this primitive settlement with others; there are no networks
between settlements.

 Man began to modify the nature

 Man settled temporarily or permanently in different location
 Began with fire and went on to animal husbandry and domestication of grazing animals
 Deforestation and agriculture complemented with permanent human settlements
 Settlements: Natural shelters – hollows in the ground, hollow trees or shallow caves
 Settlements have no link, communication lines and transportation
 Origin and evolution of HUMAN SETTLEMENTS
Primitive organised settlements (the period of villages – eopolis which lasted about 10,000
years.)
Due to the loss of space between them, they developed more regular shapes with no space lost
between them. The evolution reached the stage at which a rectilinear pattern develops into a regular
grid-iron one.
 Entry to the era of organized agriculture coupled with organized settlements
 Human settlements with one-room dwelling in circular form then expansion of dwelling by
placing many round forms side by side, then elongated to eliptical ones and rectilinear forms
 Due to loss of space between them, more regular shapes of settlements were formed to a
regular gridiron pattern
 Micro-scale – Man must divide the land, construct one or more shells (rooms and houses),
and circulate within a built-up area (neighborhood)
 Macro-scale – Man must own and use space but not build it, and circulate within it, although to
a much lesser degree than before (usually not more than one movement to and from every day),
man continues to follow the course of nature towards hexagonal pattern
 Population is still small
 Villages are found in plains, near the rivers and near the sea
 When population density increased, new patterns were developed with the villages covering the
entire plain based on small hexagonal pattern and the hills and mountains on a larger
hexagonal pattern.
 Origin and evolution of HUMAN SETTLEMENTS
Static urban settlements or Cities (polis which lasted about 5000-6000 years.)
As settlements grew in size, man came to realise that the principle of the single-nucleus was not
always valid in the internal organisation of the total shells of the community, at this single nodal
point, which was adequate for the village and for small cities, no longer sufficed.

 First urban settlement appeared as small cities in a plain or as fortresses on hills and
mountains (5,000 – 6,000 years ago)
 Expansion of nucleus in one or more directions (single nucleus principle / nodal point not valid
anymore)
 Origin and evolution of HUMAN SETTLEMENTS
Dynamic urban settlements (Dynapolis which lasted 200-400 years.)
In the dynamic urban phase, settlements in space are characterised by continuous growth.
Dynamic settlements, created as a result of an industrial technological revolution, multiplying in
number and form, and now being created at an even higher rate.

 Started in the 17th century

 Characterized by continuous growth
 Emerged due to industrial technological revolution
 All part of the land it covers is not sterilized
 Microorganisms in the soil no longer exist
 Original animal inhabitants have largely been banished
 Origin and evolution of HUMAN SETTLEMENTS
The Universal city (ecumenopolis – which is now beginning.)
Regardless of whether dynamic settlements are simple (Dynapolis) or composite (Metropolises
and megalopolises), they have been growing continuously during the last centuries and this is
apparent everywhere at present that is the whole earth will be covered by one human settlement.

 Possible occurrence of population explosion

 Earth will be covered by one settlement
 Cities will be interconnected, in one continuous
network, into one universal city called Ecumenic City
 Ecumenopolis on the earth in the year 2120 by
which time it is expected that the population of the
earth will have leveled off at a minimum of 20,000,000,000
people and the population of the definitely urban
areas at a minimum of 18,000,000,000 people (Doxiadis)
Organisation of HUMAN SETTLEMENTS
 Elements of HUMAN SETTLEMENTS
The Content:
Man, Society and Networks

The Container:
Physical Settlement (Nature and Shell)
 Natural Elements
 Man-made (artificial) Elements
 NATURE - Earth and the natural site on which
settlements are built.
 MAN (Anthropos) – Creates and inhabits the
settlements
 SOCIETY – Formed in a given settlement
 NETWORKS – Functions that allow
settlements to survive and grow
 SHELLS – Built to transform the first and to
house the other elements
Basic parts of composite Human
Settlements:
 Homogeneous parts – fields;
 Central parts – built-up villages;
 Circulatory parts – roads and
paths within the fields; and
 Special parts – a monastery
contained within the homogeneous
part.
Elements of HUMAN SETTLEMENTS
 EKISTICS - The science of HUMAN SETTLEMENTS
Ekistics is the science of Human Settlements, which examines not only built forms, but also
the interface of time, movements and systems in the built environment.

Doxiadis saw ekistics as an intellectual approach to balance the convergence of the past,
present and future in human settlements as well as a system for creatively coping with the
growth of population, rapid change and the pressures of large-scale, high-density housing.

In order to create the cities of the future, we need to systematically develop a science of
human settlements.

This science, termed Ekistics, will take into consideration the principles man takes into account
when building his settlements, as well as the evolution of human settlements through history in
terms of size and quality.

The target is to build the city of optimum size, that is, a city which respects human
dimensions. Since there is no point in resisting development, we should try to accommodate
technological evolution and the needs of man within the same settlement.
 EKISTICS - The science of HUMAN SETTLEMENTS
Doxiadis, Constantinos A.
(1913-1975)

 Born in Greece, Constantinos A. Doxiadis,

 Graduated from the Athens Technical
University and later obtained a Doctorate at
Charlottenburg University, Berlin.

 Chief Town Planning Officer for the Greater Athens Area

 Head of the Department of Regional and Town Planning in the Ministry of Public Works.
 After W.W.II he founded Doxiadis Associates, a private consulting firm that undertook
architectural and engineering projects throughout the world. The firm specialized in
implementing the principles of ekistics ( The study of Human Settlements) that Doxiadis
developed in numerous publications.
 Design of Islamabad, the planned capital of Pakistan, and also contributed significantly to
national master plans in Ghana, Iran, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, and Greece.
 Principles of EKISTICS
Evolutions of the human settlements are categorized into five major phases:
In shaping his settlements, man has always acted in obedience to five principles.

Maximization of man's potential contacts with the elements of nature (such as water,
trees, other people) and with the works of man (such as buildings and roads.)
 Principles of EKISTICS
Minimization of the effort required for the achievement of man's actual and
potential contacts.

He always gives his structures the shape, or selects the route, that requires the minimum effort, no
matter whether he is dealing with the floors of a room, which he tends to make horizontal or with
the creation of a highway.
 Principles of EKISTICS
Optimisation of man’s protective space, which means the selection of such a distance from
other persons, animals or objects that he can keep his contacts with them (first principle) without
any kind of sensory or psychological discomfort. Example – Forts and medieval town.
 Principles of EKISTICS
Optimisation of the quality of man’s relationship with his environment, which
consists of nature, society, shells (buildings and houses of all sorts), and networks (ranging from
roads to telecommunications).

This is the principle that leads to order, physiological and aesthetic, and that influences architecture
and, in many respects, art.
 Principles of EKISTICS
Man organises his settlements in an attempt to achieve an optimum synthesis of the four
principles, and this optimisation is dependent on time and space, on actual conditions, an on
man’s ability to create a synthesis.

When man has achieved this by creating a system of floors, walls, roofs, doors, and windows which
allows him to maximise his potential contacts (first principle) while minimizing the energy
expended (second principle) and at the same time makes possible his separation from others
(third principle) and the desirable relationship with his environment (fourth principle), we
speak of “successful human settlements’.
 HUMAN BEINGS AND HUMAN SETTLEMENTS
Man is a SOCIAL ANIMAL

There is a gradual socialization in the pattern of living which allow the whole population to
participate more and more in the city, facilities and resources

Then in the modern city growth and change over time is dominant feature which must take
precedence in all planning consideration.

Nature and extent of human settlements, confuses man with their physical structure(‘the built-up
area is the city’) or their institutional frame (‘the municipality is the city’);

But human settlements have always been created by man’s moving in space and defining
the boundaries of his territorial interest and therefore of his settlements, for which he later
created a physical and institutional structure;

When we view human settlements as systems of energy mobilised by man – either as basal
metabolic or as muscular or, recently, as commercial energy systems – we get new insights.
HUMAN BEINGS AND HUMAN SETTLEMENTS
 Classification of HUMAN SETTLEMENTS
At the most fundamental level, human settlements can be classified based on their spatial
significance.

The earth itself can be considered a settlement on a planetary scale.

Each continent that makes up the earth can be considered a settlement.

Every individual country can be looked upon as a settlement on another scale, with its cities,
towns and villages comprising settlements at a more local scale.

Tribes, in the modern context, can be considered as the smallest of human settlement types.

A common term classification is between rural and urban human settlements.

According to the Encyclopedia Britannica (2001). “An urbanized area is defined as having
a population of at least 50,000 and a population density of at least 1,000 per
square mile”
 Classification of HUMAN SETTLEMENTS
Besides thedistinction between urban and rural areas made on the basis of
population density, rural areas can usually be characterized by a more homogeneous
community based on traditional values, an agriculture-related occupation and a small-scale local
economy.
Human settlements can also be classified based on two other criteria;
•Population and
•geographical distribution characteristics.

difficult to standardize due to the wide-ranging

Classification of human settlements is
diversity in human settlement typologies globally.
Hence, it is not surprising to find numerous classification methodologies.

Based on Sizes.
 Small and sparsely spaced (rural settlements or villages specialising in agriculture)
 Large and closely spaces (urban settlements specialising in secondary and tertiary activities)

Based on Location of Settlements / Settings– Plains, Plateaus, Mountains, Coastal, Forest,

Desert etc.
 Classification of HUMAN SETTLEMENTS
Based on Physical Forms – form as the expression of content, function and structure

Based on Five Elements of Human Settlements

Based on Functions – which are important to an understanding of the meaning and role of
settlements.
 Reveal nature, specialization and reason
 Based on activity (economic, social). Their performance or special role (as dormitories,
retirement villages, etc.)
 Farming villages, Fisherman villages, pastoral villages etc.,

Based on Time Dimension – age of settlements, their place in continuum (past, present, future),
their relative static of dynamic character, the whole process of their growth.

Based on degree of society’s conscious involvement in settlements creation natural

and planned settlements

Based on institutions, legislations and administrations which society has created for
settlements.
 Classification of HUMAN SETTLEMENTS
Based on forms or shapes of the settlements:
These may be a number of geometrical forms and shapes such as:

a. Linear pattern: In such settlements houses are located along a road, railway line, river, canal
edge of a valley
b. Rectangular pattern: Such patterns of rural settlements are found in plain areas. The roads
are rectangular and cut each other at right angles.
c. Circular pattern: Circular villages develop around lakes, tanks and sometimes the village is
planned in such a way that the central part remains open and is used for keeping the animals to
protect them from wild animals.
d. Star like pattern: Where several roads converge, star shaped settlements develop by the
houses built along the roads.
e. T-shaped, Y-shaped, Cross-shaped or cruciform settlements: T –shaped
settlements develop at tri-junctions of the roads. Y–shaped settlements emerge as the places
where two roads converge on the third one and houses are built along these roads. Cruciform
settlements develop on the cross-roads and houses extend in all the four direction.
f. Double village: These settlements extend on both sides of a river where there is a bridge or a
ferry.
 Classification of HUMAN SETTLEMENTS
Settlements are classified on the basis of size and function into URBAN and RURAL.

URBAN SETTLEMENTS:
These types of settlement are nodal in character and have secondary and tertiary activities.
The chief occupation of the people of urban areas is non-agricultural i.e. Industry, trade and
services.
The major function of an urban area are trades and commerce, transport and communication,
mining and manufacturing, defence, administration, cultural and recreational activities.
Population density is high and the settlement size is large.

RURAL SETTLEMENTS:
These settlements are chiefly concerned with primary activities such as agriculture, mining,
fishing, forestry etc.
Most of the people of rural settlement are engaged in agricultural work.
The major function of rural settlement is agriculture and each settlement specializes in various
activities.
Population density is small and the settlement size is small.
 Classification of HUMAN SETTLEMENTS
The basic differences between rural and urban settlements are as follows:

The rural settlements derive their life support or basic economic needs from land based
primary economic activities, whereas, urban settlements, depend on processing of raw
materials and manufacturing of finished goods on the one hand and a variety of
services on the other.

Cities act as nodes of economic growth, provide goods and services not only to urban
dwellers but also to the people of the rural settlements in their hinterlands in return for food and
raw materials. This functional relationship between the urban and rural settlements takes place
through transport and communication network.

Rural and urban settlements differ in terms of social relationship, attitude and outlook.
Rural people are less mobile and therefore, social relations among them are intimate. In urban
areas, on the other hand, way of life is complex and fast, and social relations are formal.
 Classification of HUMAN SETTLEMENTS
FACTORS INFLUENCING RURAL SETTLEMENT

Types of the settlement are determined by the extent of the built-up area and inter-house distance.
There are various factors and conditions responsible for having different types of rural settlements.
These include:
(i) Physical features – nature of terrain, altitude, climate and availability of water
(ii) cultural and ethnic factors – social structure, caste and religion
(iii) Security factors – defence against thefts and robberies.

Rural settlements can broadly be put into four types:

1. COMPACT/CLUSTERED/NUCLEATED/AGGLOMERATED
2. SEMI COMPACT/SEMI CLUSTERED/FRAGMENTED
3. HAMLETED
4. DISPERSED/ISOLATED
 Classification of HUMAN SETTLEMENTS
CLUSTERED / COMPACT SETTLEMENTS:
The clustered rural settlement is a compact or closely built up area of houses. In this type of village
the general living area is distinct and separated from the surrounding farms, barns and pastures.
The closely built-up area and its intervening streets present some recognisable pattern or
geometric shape, such as rectangular, radial, linear, etc. Such settlements are generally found in
fertile alluvial plains.
Sometimes, people live in compact village for security or defence reasons,
Scarcity of water has necessitated compact settlement for maximum utilisation of available water
resources.

SEMI-CLUSTERED/SEMI-COMPACT SETTLEMENTS:
Semi-clustered or fragmented settlements may result from tendency of clustering in a restricted
area of dispersed settlement.
More often such a pattern may also result from segregation or fragmentation of a large compact
village. In this case, one or more sections of the village society choose or is forced to live a little
away from the main cluster or village.
In such cases, generally, the land-owning and dominant community occupies the central part of
the main village, whereas people of lower strata of society and menial workers settle on the outer
flanks of the village.
 Classification of HUMAN SETTLEMENTS
HAMLETED SETTLEMENTS:
Sometimes settlement is fragmented into several units physically separated from each other
bearing a common name.
This segmentation of a large village is often motivated by social and ethnic factors.

DISPERSED/ISOLATED SETTLEMENTS:
Dispersed or isolated settlement pattern appears in the form of isolated huts or hamlets of few huts
in remote jungles, or on small hills with farms or pasture on the slopes.
Extreme dispersion of settlement is often caused by extremely fragmented nature of the terrain and
land resource base of habitable areas.
 Classification of HUMAN SETTLEMENTS
TYPES OF URBAN SETTLEMENTS:

Unlike rural settlements, urban settlements are generally compact and larger in size. They are
engaged in a variety of non-agricultural, economic and administrative functions. Cities are
functionally linked to rural areas around them. Thus, exchange of goods and services is performed
sometimes directly and sometimes through a series of market towns and cities. Thus, cities are
connected directly as well as indirectly with the villages and also with each other.
Urban settlements are classified on the basis of its size of the POPULATION, OCCUPATIONAL
STRUCTURE AND ADMINISTRATION.
1. Population size: - in India a settlement having population more than 5000 persons is called
urban. In Japan it is 30000 persons whereas in Sweden it is 250 persons. The cut off figure
depends on the density of population in the country.
2. Occupational structure: - besides population size, occupation is also taken as the criteria.
In India, if more than 75 per cent of workforce is engaged in non-agricultural activities then the
settlement is called as urban. Other countries have their own criteria for e.g. in Italy it is 50 per
cent.
3. Administrative structure: - in India a settlement is classified as urban if it has a
municipality, cantonment board or a notified area. In Brazil any administrative centre is termed as
urban.
 Classification of HUMAN SETTLEMENTS
FUNCTIONAL CLASSIFICATION OF TOWNS:
Apart from their role as central or nodal places, many towns and cities perform specialised
services. Some towns and cities specialise in certain functions and they are known for some
specific activities, products or services. However, each town performs a number of functions. On
the basis of dominant or specialised functions,
1. Administrative Towns: - National capitals, which have headquarters of the administrative offices
of Central Government, are called administrative towns, such as New Delhi, Canberra, Moscow, and
Washington.
2. Defence Towns: - Centres of military activities are known as defence towns. They are of three
types: Fort towns, Garrison towns and Naval bases. Jodhpur is a fort town; Mhow is a garrison
town; and Kochi is a naval base.
3. Cultural Towns: - towns famous for religious, educational or recreational functions are called
cultural towns. Places of pilgrimage, such as Jerusalem, Mecca, Jagannath Puri and Varanasi etc.
are considered as religious towns. There are also recreational towns such as Las Vegas in the USA.
4. Industrial Towns: - Mining and manufacturing regions. Dhanbad and Khetri are examples of
mining towns. Towns which have developed due to setting up of industries such as Jamshedpur are
called industrial towns.
5. Trading and Commercial Towns: - Many old towns were famous as trade centres such as Lahore
in Pakistan, Baghdad in Iraq and Agra in India. Some towns have developed as transport towns such
as Rotterdam in the Netherlands, Aden in Yemen and Mumbai in India are port towns.
 Classification of HUMAN SETTLEMENTS
Other Dominant functions of urban areas are:

i. The earlier functions of towns were related to administration, trade, industry, defence and
religious.
ii. Today, towns perform multiple functions such as, RECREATIONAL, RESIDENTIAL,
TRANSPORT, MINING, MANUFACTURING AND MOST RECENTLY ACTIVITIES
RELATED TO INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY.
iii. Some towns are known for their functions for example, Sheffield as an industrial city, London as
a port city, Chandigarh as an administrative city.
iv. Large cities have a rather greater diversity of functions.
 Classification of HUMAN SETTLEMENTS
Depending on the size and the services available and functions rendered, urban centres are
designated as town, city, million city, conurbation, and megalopolis.

i. Town: Population size in town is higher than the village. Functions such as, manufacturing,
retail and wholesale trade, and professional services exist in towns.

ii. City: A city may be regarded as a leading town. Cities are much larger than towns and have a
greater number of economic functions. They tend to have transport terminals, major financial
institutions and regional administrative offices. When the population crosses the one million mark
it is designated as a million city.

iii. Conurbation: The term conurbation was coined by Patrick Geddes in 1915 and applied to a
large area of urban development that resulted from the merging of originally separate towns or
cities. Greater London, Greater Mumbai, Manchester, Chicago and Tokyo are examples.

iv. Megalopolis: This Greek word meaning “great city”, was popularised by Jean Gottman
(1957) and signifies ‘super- metropolitan’ region extending, as union of conurbations. The urban
landscape stretching from Boston in the north to south of Washington in U.S.A. is the best known
example of a megalopolis.
 Classification of HUMAN SETTLEMENTS
URBAN TOWNS AND CITIES IN INDIA

The urban area comprises two types of towns namely; STATUTORY TOWNS AND CENSUS
TOWNS

STATUTORY TOWNS: All places with a Municipality, Corporation, Cantonment Board

or Notified town area committee, etc. are known as statutory towns.

CENSUS TOWNS: All other places satisfying the following three criteria simultaneously are
treated as Census towns.
(i) A minimum population of 5,000;
(ii) At least 75% of male working population engaged in non-agricultural pursuits; and
(iii) A density of population of at least 400 per sq.km (1000 per sq. mile)
 Classification of HUMAN SETTLEMENTS
OUT GROWTHS (OG)

It is viable unit such as village or a hamlet or a enumeration block and clearly identifiable in terms
of its boundaries and location.
While determining the outgrowth of a town, it has been ensured that it possesses the urban features
in terms of infrastructure and amenities and physically contiguous with the core town of the UA.
Outgrowths included “fairly large well recognised railway colonies, university campuses, port
areas, military establishments etc., which might have come up around a core city or a statutory
town”.

URBAN AGGLOMERATION (UA)

An urban agglomeration is a continuous urban spread constituting a town and its adjoining
outgrowths (OG), or two or more physically contiguous towns together with or without outgrowths
of such towns.
 Classification of HUMAN SETTLEMENTS
CLASSIFICATION OF TOWNS ON THE BASIS OF POPULATION SIZE IN INDIA

Census of India classifies urban centres into six classes. Urban centre with population of more than
one lakh is called a city or class I town. Cities accommodating population size between one to five
million are called metropolitan cities and more than five million are mega cities. Majority of
metropolitan and mega cities are urban agglomerations.

An urban agglomeration may consist of any one of the following three combinations: (i) a town and
its adjoining urban outgrowths, (ii) two or more contiguous towns with or without their outgrowths,
and (iii) a city and one or more adjoining towns with their outgrowths together forming a
contiguous spread. Examples of urban outgrowth are railway colonies, university campus, port area,
military cantonment, etc. located within the revenue limits of a village or villages contiguous to the
town or city.
 Classification of HUMAN SETTLEMENTS
By Ekistics Units
By Ekistics Elements
By Ekistics Functions
By Evolutionary phases
By Factors and Disciplines

By EKISTICS UNITS: Four basic groups

Minor Shells or Elementary units – Man (Anthropos), room, house;

Micro-Settlements – units smaller than, or as small as, the traditional town where people used,
do and still do achieve interconnection by walking (house group, small neighborhood);
Meso-Settlements – between traditional town & conurbation within which one can commute
daily (small 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
Classification of HUMAN SETTLEMENTS - EKISTICS

Ekistic Units

Anthropos – 1
room – 2
house – 5
housegroup (hamlet) – 40
small neighborhood (village) – 250
neighborhood – 1,500
small polis (town) – 10,000
polis (city) – 75,000
small metropolis – 500,000
metropolis – 4 million
small megalopolis – 25 million
megalopolis – 150 million
small eperopolis – 750 million
eperopolis – 7,500 million
Ecumenopolis – 50,000 million
Classification of HUMAN SETTLEMENTS - EKISTICS
Human Settlements are classified as per the five EKISTICS ELEMENTS. Five elements forms a
system and the Goal of the Human Settlements is to make man happy and safe.
Classification of HUMAN SETTLEMENTS - EKISTICS
By EVOLUTIONARY PHASES.

Macro scale – nomadic, agricultural, urban, urban industrial;

Micro scale – specific area at a limited period of time

By FACTORS AND DISCIPLINES

Classification of HUMAN SETTLEMENTS - EKISTICS