Question

Give the main feature of rural and urban settlements.

Answer 1

Hint:
The place where humans live or dwell is called human settlements.

When the majority of the population is involved in agricultural activity, then the settlement is a rural one.

But when the majority are involved in non-agricultural occupations then the settlement is said to be urban.

Complete answer:
The place where humans live or dwell is called human settlements. These settlements can be rural or urban. This classification of settlements differs from country to country and there is no universal classification for the same.

Some countries may consider population as a factor and places with less population will be called rural in that country. This rural settlement may even have many facilities and technologies with them, and if we compare that settlement to a rural settlement in India, we will notice that our rural settlements do not have any facilities. Hence, the rural settlement of one country may be equivalent to a small town in some other country.

Even with no definite classification, there are some main features which are restricted to rural and urban settlements.

When the majority of the population in a given settlement is involved in agricultural activity, we can say that the settlement is a rural one but when the majority of the population of a given settlement is involved in non-agricultural occupations then the settlement is said to be urban. This criterion for classification of settlements is accepted worldwide.

In rural settlements, there must be sufficient water supply and fertile lands for agricultural purposes which is another factor affecting the location of the settlement.

For e.g. the rural settlement may be set up at an upland near a river for sufficient water availability. Still, they will not get flooded because they are settled on elevated land.
For urban settlements, geographical conditions are not the most important factor.

Firstly, these settlements may have been rural settlements in the past and with development evolved into an urban settlement.

Secondly, these settlements are set up when there are power supplies, industries, marketability and other economic factors.

Note:
Rural settlements in India are broadly classified as clustered, agglomerated or nucleated; semi-clustered or fragmented; helmeted, dispersed or isolated.

Clustered settlements are mainly found in fertile alluvial plains and in the North-Eastern states.

Semi-clustered settlements are found in Khadar plains, Ganga-Yamuna doabs, etc.
Dispersed settlement patterns in India appear in the remote jungles or on small hills with farms or pasture on the slopes.

The urban areas in India are defined as statutory towns and Census towns.
Statutory towns are all places with a municipality, corporation or a notified the town area committee, etc.

Census towns are places that have a minimum population of 5000. They should also have a population density of at least 400 per sq. km. And at least 75% of the male main working population engaged in non-agricultural professions.