Classification of Human Settlements

Classification of human settlements can be done on the basis of many factors like size, function, population, pattern, location, etc. A settlement is a group of dwellings or structures separated by roads and streets. A settlement points towards a settled way of life. Settlements in rural areas are in the form of hamlets and villages and settlements in urban areas are in the form of a town or city.

Various stages in the growth of cities are Eopolis, Polis, Metropolis, Megalopolis, Tyranopolis and Necropolis. These are a chain of series of urban clusters developed one after another. These stages are a characteristic feature of North East USA, Japan, Germany.

A Tyranopolis is a city or urban agglomeration where there is a breakdown of civil infrastructure. A Necropolis is a city in the process of disintegration. It is a form of ghost city.

An Acropolis is a settlement, generally located in a security point, e.g. Hilltop settlement like Gwalior, Chittorgarh, Athens.

Functional Human Settlements

Based on the function, Settlements can be -

• Administrative towns, e.g. Gandhi Nagar, Chandigarh, Dispur, etc.
  
  
• Educational towns, e.g. Roorkee, Pilani, Harvard (USA), Oxford and Cambridge (UK), etc.
  
  
• Transport towns, e.g. Itarsi (largest railway junction in India), Jolarpettai (Tamil Nadu), Guntakal and Renigunta (Andhra Pradesh), Frankfurt (Germany), etc.
  
  
• Lumbering towns, e.g. Hoshangabad (Madhya Pradesh), Dimapur (Nagaland), etc.
  
  
• Tourist centres - Hill stations like Ooty, Kodaikanal, Darjeeling and Pilgrimage towns like Rameshwaram, Haridwar, Vatican city, Mecca, Medina, etc.
  
  
• Mining towns, e.g. Dhanbad, Medininagar, Godavarikhani, Kotthagudem, Khetri, Kolar, etc.
  
  
• Manufacturing or Industrial towns, e.g. Jamshedpur, Rourkela, Bhilai, Bokaro, etc.
  
  
• Commercial towns, e.g. Solapur (centre for cotton manufacturing), Erode (Turmeric), Guntur (Tobacco, Chillies), etc.