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Town Planning Understanding Settlements: Overview: (Samreen Sultan)
Town Planning Understanding Settlements: Overview: (Samreen Sultan)
(Samreen Sultan)
1
Origin and Evolution of Human
Settlements - I
Various Stages
Man as Nomad and Cave Dweller
(Up to 10,000 B. C.)
• Earth estimated to be formed about 4 billion years ago
• Homo Sapiens (the one existing species of man)
believe to date from about 500,000 B. C.
• Earliest man did not settle anywhere as they
wandered around in search of food
• Did not know how to construct buildings so lived in the
open
• Occasionally took shelter on top of trees to protect
themselves from wild animals
Origin and Evolution of Human
Settlements
Shifting Cultivation
• Shift to new location after experiencing decrease in
fertility after successive cultivation
• Later learned that land regained fertility if it is left
uncultivated for few years
• Began to cultivate fields by rotation
• Thus managed to stop shifting practice and settled
down at on place
Origin and Evolution of Human Settlements
Food Surplus
• Learned to make manure out of night soil and animal
droppings
• Greatly increased food production
• As food became abundant, health of people improved
• Death rate dropped, birth rate increased and population
of many settlements began to multiply rapidly through
the natural process
Origin and Evolution of Human Settlements
Division of Labour
• As food became abundant, all the inhabitants were not
required to work on the fields
• Others thus began to practice various occupations
• Working population got divided among farmers, cattle
and poultry breeders, fishermen, shepherds
craftsmen(carpenters, potters, painters, engravers,
makers of tools, weapons and other implements), and
weavers
• Some engaged in taming and domestication of
animals for bearing load, plough fields, protecting
property and as source of milk, meat and wool
Community Structuring
Barter system
• The most ancient form of trading
• Those who were not farmers were supplied food in
exchange of goods they produced
• Shepherds got grains in exchange for milk, weavers
for cloth, potters for utensils, and craftsmen for tools
and implements
• Initially practiced within the community
• Later as river and land routes developed for
transportation, goods began to be exchanged across
communities
Community Structuring
Trading
• With transportation, reputation of some of the goods
produced by craftsmen of particular villages began to
travel far and wide
• As the demand of goods increased, trading of such
goods began to grow
• Traders emerged as a new class of people, trading as
a new occupation and market place as the new
physical component of settlements
Community Structuring
Social stratification
• Early traders most probably belonged to the hunting
tribe - people already used to traveling
• They were also recognised as leaders as they
provided protection to the community against wild
animals
• After they began trading activity,they accumulated
goods and became wealthy
• They also accumulated knowledge as they traveled
long distances and met many people
• Their hold on the community increased and became
quite powerful. One of them became a chieftain
Physical Structuring
Subjugation of peasants
• The external threat brought forth the necessity of
internal unity
• Need for mutually defending themselves
• But the new organization of the community was such
that it resulted in the subjugation and exploitation of a
large majority of peasants by a small minority of the
rich - the so called nobles
• The chieftain claimed a share in the agricultural
surplus in return for the protection provided by him to
the community
• Initially it could be described as the beginning of the
taxation system that was perhaps willingly done
New Community Structuring
Labour Specialisation
• Under the centralised command of the king,
many large scale constructions such as
protective walls, moats, forts and temples,
network of irrigation channels, cisterns and
reservoirs were completed
• Mines were found for quarrying building
materials
New Community Structuring
Caste differentiation
• Members assumed or were assigned specific functions
by the ruler
• Persons assigned jobs such as scavenging and
cobbling were assigned low status in the society, paid
minimal wages and remained poor
• Whereas, people performing religious, administrative
and intellectual functions were accorded high status,
were paid high salaries and became rich
• They were considered to be belonging to high caste
categories
• Community was not only divided into rich and poor but
also caste managed
Civilization
Community structure
• Labor specialization
• New occupations – teachers, advocates, judges,
government servants
• New class of people – philosophers, scientists,
administrators, political leaders, dramatists, sculpture
artists, architects and town planners
• Distinct social classes
• Non-agricultural occupations expanded at a faster rate
Urban Settlement
Community structure
• Invention of new means of transport
• Expansion of trade
• Merchants organized themselves in the from of guilds
• Development of art and literature
• Acquisition of wealth and knowledge
• A general sense of appreciation for civic concerns
• Structural transformations continued over subsequent
civilizations and cultural phases
New Physical Structuring
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