Page 168 - SST Class 07

often practice hunting, slathering, fishing, shifting Houses in rural areas are built according to the
cultivation and transhumance. physical environment. Local materials are used

Permanent Settlements : Permanent settle- for construction. The houses have thick walls,
ment is the most prevalent settlement today. plastered with mud, and thatched roofs in hot
Since the inhabitants make houses, they do not regions. They have slanting roofs in regions of
move to other places for a dwelling. They perma- heavy rainfall. In some areas, houses are built on
nently inhabit here due to various reasons like stilts to avoid flood-water from entering.
occupation, trade, and resources. Urban settlements are generally classified on the
Permanent settlements can be classified into two basis of the economic activities they perform.
types— rural and urban settlements They can be classified as :
Administrative Towns : Administrative towns
Rural Settlements Urban Settlements
are capital cities like New Delhi, Washington DC
1. The villages are rural 1. The towns are small
and Canberra.
settlement where and the cities are
people are engaged larger urban settle- Defense Towns : Defense towns are centres of
in activities like ments. In urban military activities like Mhow and Barrackpore.
agriculture, fishing, areas, the people are
Cultural Towns : Cultural include religious
forestry, crafts work, engaged in manufac-
centres like Ayodhya, Mecca and Jerusalem or
etc. turing, trading and
2. Here the population services. educational centres like Oxford, Allahabad and
Shanti Niketan.
is less. 2. Here the population
3. Rural settlements can is more. Industrial Towns : Industrial towns are the
be compact or 3. Urban settlements centres of production and manufacture of differ-
scattered. can be linear or ent goods. Jamshedpur, Durgapur, Ahmedabad,
radical. Rourkela and Pittsburgh are examples of indus-

The shape of rural settlements can be of various trial towns.
types like compact, scattered, linear and radial. Junction Towns : Junction towns are located at
Compact Settlements : Compact settlements the crossroads of major roads or railways.
have houses built very close to each other. They Mughal Sarai, Chicago and Moscow are some
have narrow, winding streets. Such settlements examples.
are mostly found in fertile river valleys and Rural-Urban Relationship
plains.
Rural and urban areas are dependent on each
Scattered Settlements : Scattered settlements other. The villages supply food grains, fruits
are mostly found in forested areas, hilly regions vegetables, agricultural raw materials and casual
and deserts. The houses are scattered over a labourers to the towns. The towns supply indus-
large area. trial goods, social and utility service and employ-
Linear Settlements : Linear settlements ment opportunities to the villagers.
develop along a road, a river or a canal. They Sometimes, villages adjust their cropping pat-
have rows of houses facing each other. terns to meet the needs of city dwellers. This
Radial Settlements : Radial settlements gives strength to the existence of rural and urban
develop when streets radiate from a common settlements.
point in all directions. It has a star shape settle-
ments. The houses are built along the streets.

Social Science-7 168