To understand urban morphology—that is, the form and structure of cities—we must also understand how Indian urban centres originated and evolved. In India, not all cities have the same origin story. Broadly, we can divide them into four categories based on their historical development. Cities that Evolved from Ancient Towns and Villages These are cities…
Urban settlements are not all alike. Some are tiny towns with just a few thousand residents; others are sprawling urban regions with millions of people and complex infrastructure. So, based on size, services, and functions performed, urban centres are broadly classified as: Let’s now understand these one by one: Town The term ‘town’ refers to…
Let’s begin with the basics. What exactly is an urban settlement? Urban settlements are places where people live in relatively dense and permanent concentrations, and where the dominant activities are non-agricultural — such as industry, commerce, administration, and services. But now, let’s trace the story from the beginning. 🔹 The Rise of the Urban World…
India’s long coastline, stretching across both eastern and western coasts, exhibits great diversity in rural settlement patterns due to varying relief, hydrology, economic activities (like fishing and plantation), and deltaic morphology. 📌 Eastern Coastal Plains These are broader, fertile, and delta-dominated—shaped significantly by river systems like Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna, and Kaveri. Region Settlement Features Mahanadi…
The Northern Great Plains—spanning Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, and Assam—represent a complex mosaic of settlement patterns influenced by hydrology, physiography, soil types, flood risks, and irrigation. 🗺️ Rajasthan Plain – Arid & Semi-arid Feature Description General Pattern Small, compact, sparsely distributed settlements Western Rajasthan (Barmer, Jaisalmer, Bikaner) Hamleted settlements around water…
The Himalayas are not just a single entity—they’re a system of ranges, and this layered structure creates a vertical zonation of settlements. The variation in altitude, slope, climate, and culture leads to different settlement patterns. 🌄 Physical Setting & Its Impact on Settlements The Himalayan region consists of three parallel ranges: Zone Range Altitude Characteristics…
❓ What does “morphology” mean in this context? In simple terms, morphology is the study of form or structure. When we talk about the morphology of rural settlements, we are focusing on how villages are physically and socially organized—their layout, street patterns, building arrangements, and social spaces. Just like how a human body has a…
The pattern of a rural settlement refers to the spatial arrangement of houses, roads, and other structures in a village. It’s essentially the answer to this question: “How are the buildings in a rural settlement positioned in relation to each other?” Think of it as looking at a village from above—like reading a large-scale map,…
The rural landscape of India—and indeed the world—is not uniform. If you travel across villages from Punjab to Odisha, or from the hills of Meghalaya to the plains of West Bengal, you’ll notice a variety in the way houses are arranged, how far apart they are, and how the community is structured. This diversity in…
Imagine this: a human being, thousands of years ago, standing at the edge of a forest, scanning the land for food, water, and shelter. That moment—of choosing a place to live, however temporarily—was a turning point in human adaptation to the physical environment. And that turning point gave birth to what we call a settlement….
