Which one is the pattern of rural settlement?

🌟 Important Points
→ The pattern of settlement is defined as the relationship between one house or building to another. It can be identified by reading and observing a local scale map.
→ The patterns of a settlement deal with compact and semi-compact only, as dispersed has its shape. Socio-cultural factors like caste structure or the functional need of people have a close bearing on their shape and size.

🔑 Key Points
→ The rural settlements are classified under the following patterns: Rectangular, Linear, Circular, Semi-circular, Star-like, Triangular, and Nebular Pattern.
→ The settlements are linear in valleys and mountainous areas, rectangular in fertile plains, circular near lakes and ponds, triangular at crossroads, and exceptional cases resemble the nebular form and on river terraces, it is star-type.
→ Patterns of rural settlements indicate the way the houses are placed about each other. The position of the village, the neighboring topography, and the terrain impact the size and shape of a village.
→ Rural settlements may be classified based on some criteria:
🟢 Based on the setting: The main classes are plain villages, coastal villages, plateau villages, desert villages, and forest villages.
🟢 Based on functions: There may be farming villages, lumberjack villages, fisherman’s villages, pastoral villages, etc.
🟢 Based on forms or configurations of the settlements: These may be several geometrical patterns and shapes such as Linear, rectangular, T-shaped villages, circular star-like villages, double villages, cross-shaped villages, etc.

📝 Additional Information
→ A scattered dispersed type of rural settlement is generally found in a variety of landforms, such as the foothill, tableland, and upland regions. Yet, the proper scattered village is found at the highest elevations and reflects the rugged terrain and pastoral economic life.
→ The population maintains many traditional features in architecture, dress, and social customs, and the old market centers are still important.
→ Small plots and dwellings are carved out of the forests and on the upland pastures wherever physical conditions permit. Mining, livestock raising, and agriculture are the main economic activities, the latter characterized by terrace cultivation on the mountain slopes.
→ The sub-mountain regions, with hills and valleys covered by plowed fields, vineyards, orchards, and pastures, typically have this type of settlement.

🏠 Compact Settlements
→ If the total number of hamlets equals the total number of villages in an area unit, then the settlement is known as a compact settlement.
→ Compact settlements are found all over the plateau region of Malwa, large parts of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Nimar upland, the Vindhyan Plateau, the Narmada Valley, and other cultivated parts of India.

🏡 Semi-compact Settlements
→ A settlement is considered semi-compact when the overall number of villages exceeds half of the hamlets.
→ These settlements are found in both plateaus and plains that depend on the prevailing environmental conditions in those areas.
→ The dwellings in semi-compact settlements are not tightly linked and are gathered at a single location. It extends further than the compact settlement.