Introduction to Human Settlements and Urban Form Determinants

HUMAN SETTLEMENTS LECTURE 1

Abhishek K. Venkitaraman Iyer

Assistant Professor Faculty of Architecture, MIT

Human settlements have always been created by man's moving in space and defining the boundaries of his territorial interest and therefore of his settlements, for which he later created a physical and institutional structure.

In geography, statistics and archaeology, a settlement, locality or populated place is a community in which people live. A settlement can range in size from a small number of dwellings grouped together to the largest of cities with surrounding urbanized areas. Settlements may include hamlets, villages, towns and cities.

Defining Human Settlements  Human settlements define people’s existence. They are places – large and small, urban and rural, formal and informal – where people live, learn, work, and create.  They also comprise an important component of the entire environment, namely the built

environment.  “The fabric of human settlements consists of physical elements and services to which these elements provide the material support. The physical components comprise shelter, i.e. the superstructures of different shape, size, type and materials erected by mankind for security, privacy, and protection from the elements and for his singularity within a community; infrastructure, i.e. the complex networks designed to deliver or remove from the shelter people, goods, energy of information. Services cover those required by a community for the fulfillment of its functions as a social body, such as education, health, culture, welfare, recreation and nutrition.”

Human settlements means the totality of the human community - whether city, town or village - with all the social, material, organizational, spiritual and cultural elements that sustain it. The fabric of human settlements consists of physical elements and services to which these elements provide the material support. The physical components comprise:

 Shelter, i.e. the superstructures of different shapes, size, type and materials erected by mankind for security, privacy and protection from the elements and for his singularity within a community;  Infrastructure, i.e. the complex networks designed to deliver to or remove from the shelter people, goods, energy or information;  Services cover those required by a community for the fulfillment of its functions as a social body, such as education, health, culture, welfare, recreation and nutrition.

Primitive Settlements Non - organized settlements

organized settlements

Circular Layout

“And when we saw all those cities and villages built in the water and other great towns on dry land, and that straight and level causeway leading to Tenochtitlan, we were amazed…Indeed, some of our soldiers asked if it was not all a dream” (Spanish chronicler, Bernal Diaz del Castillo) – describing Aztec Chinampa agriculture

“MAN IS A SOCIAL ANIMAL”

The Extent of Human Settlement  Nature and extent of human settlements, confuses man with their physical structure ("the built-up area is the city") or their institutional frame ("the municipality is the city");

 But human settlements have always been created by man's moving in space and defining the boundaries of his territorial interest and therefore of his settlements, for which he later created a physical and institutional structure;  When we view human settlements as systems of energy mobilized by man - either as basal metabolic or as muscular or, recently, as commercial energy systems – we get new insights.

Primarily one factor which defines the extent of human settlements: the distance man wants to go or can go in the course of his daily life; The shortest of the two distances defines the extent of the real human settlement, through definition of a "daily urban system“

Hierarchy of Settlements types

Defining The City

Urban Area  An urban area is characterized by higher population density and vast human features in comparison to areas surrounding it.  Urban areas may be cities, towns or conurbations, but the term is not commonly extended to rural settlements such as villages and hamlets.  Urban areas are created and further developed by the process of urbanization. Measuring the extent of an urban area helps in analysing population density and urban sprawl, and in determining urban and rural populations.

Unlike an urban area, a metropolitan area includes not only the urban area, but also satellite cities plus intervening rural land that is socioeconomically connected to the urban core city, typically by employment ties through commuting with the urban core; city being the primary labor market. In fact, urbanized areas agglomerate and grow as the core population/economic activity center within a larger metropolitan area or envelope.

Defining the City Concept of urban and phenomenon of urbanization are some how new to human population. In the entire history of human evolution, its been only fairly recently that people have begun to live in relatively dense urban agglomeration.

Before 1850AD no society could be described as being urban societies.

Despite this rapid transformation and growth of urban centres, the notion of urban remains

Transitory Changing from time to time Differing across political boundaries Being modified depending on the purpose that the definition of urban could serve.

At times, urban populations are defined in terms of Ecological factor such as density and population size. It is difficult even to compare countries based on the percentage of urban population since many countries have different definitions of what size population is necessary to make a community "urban.“ For example; In Sweden and Denmark, a village of 200 people is counted as an "urban" population but it takes a city of 30,000 in Japan.

Most other countries fall somewhere in between. Australia and Canada use 1000, Israel and France use 2000 and the United States and Mexico call a town of 2500 residents urban. In India It need to be more than 50,000

In order to understand a city of today’s context basic understanding required are:  Past, present and future trends in urban growth;  History of urban formation  Trends in urban growth  Meaning of the term “urban”

Concepts concerning the meaning of the term urban based on certain criteria such as function and space.

Urban Growth: Past, Present and Future It is found that cities emerged in the world as early as 5,550 years ago, the first of which were

in Mesopotamia and Nile Valley, the Indus Valley and the Hoang-Ho Valley; There were several organizational factors that may have precipitated the formation of early cities, including commercial and trade, religious and political factors; There is evidence that relatively large agglomerations existing in Babylon

(250,000), Patna (350,000) and Rome (650,000) between about 400 BC to AD 100;

Radio-centric Layout

Radio-centric Layout

Acropolis

Urban area: As per Indian Census •Definition of census for an urban settlement as per the Census of India 2011, the definition of urban area is as follows; 1. All places with a municipality, corporation, cantonment board or notified town area committee, etc. 2. All other places which satisfied the following criteria: a. A minimum population of 5,000;

b. At least 75 per cent of the male main working population engaged in non-agricultural pursuits; and c. A density of population of at least 400 persons per sq. km. •The first category of urban units is known as Statutory Towns. These towns are notified under law by the concerned State/UT Government and have local bodies like municipal corporations, municipalities, municipal committees, etc., irrespective of their demographic characteristics as reckoned on 31st December 2009. Examples: Vadodara (M Corp.), Shimla (M Corp.) etc. •The second category of Towns is known as Census Town. These were identified on the basis of Census 2001 data.

Urban Agglomeration •The outgrowths of urban areas have also been incorporated in larger urban areas and are designated as ‘urban agglomeration’ which comprise: •An urban area with continuous urban outgrowth which is outside the statutory urban limits but falling within the boundaries of the adjoining village or villages; •Two or more adjoining urban areas with their outgrowths, so as to form a continuous urban spread; •Two or more adjoining areas without outgrowths, but which form a continuous urban spread

Urban form determinants are factors and influences. • In the history the forms of settlements at both rural/village, urban/ city status have been determined by these factors.

• Natural world determinants This has played an important role in shaping of all historic urban forms • Man Made determinants This can be applied to both organic growth and planned towns (fortification) • Locational Determinants

A-Two characteristic kind of organic growth: western European providing street frontage plot development and Mesopotamian/ Islamic with housing access Cul-de-sac

B- The grid-iron as the usual basis of planned urban form

C- Organic growth nucleus with planned grid iron extension;

D- Planned grid-iron nucleus with organic growth extension

E- the special western European circumstances. Early Medieval organic growth

The special western European circumstances. Early Medieval organic growth

Carcassonne, Languedoc-Roussillon, France

The grid-iron as the usual basis of planned urban form TIMGAD - THE PATTERN OF A ROMAN CAMP

ROAD AND ARCH OF TRAJAN

VIEW FROM FORUM AREA

The grid-iron as the usual basis of planned urban form

TIMGAD

Natural World Determinants Topography • The terrain on which a settlement became established, or over which it expanded.

• Hilltop areas- Medieval European Burgs • Limitless Prairie- Oklahoma City • Direction of Growth (Sea side/ Riverside)- Cairo, Baghdad • Ridge top cities- Edinburgh • River Valley/ Peninsular- Durham, Miletus, Alexandria • Radical geographical adjustments- Ancient Rome, Expansion of Mexico Topography has played a major part in the creation of urban third dimension- Visual effect

Characteristic topographical circumstances for urban settlements and subsequent growth

C- Hill and Ridge top origin

D- Flat and open prairie with no major topographical growth

B- Riverbank Origin, initially with ferry or ford limitation on cross river settlements;

A- Seafront, island and peninsular origins;

Plan of Barcelona,Spain

TYPES OF SEAFRONT DEVELOPMENTS - NATURAL SAN FRANCISCO - BAY

NEW ORLEANS - GULF

FIRE ISLANDS - BARRIER

VENICE- LAGOON

TYPES OF SEAFRONT DEVELOPMENTS – MAN MADE Reclaiming land from sea - Holland

Building islands on sea - Dubai

Venice

Riverbank Origin: Medieval City of Heidelberg

Riverbank Origin:Medieval City of Heidelberg

Riverbank Origin: Varanasi

Hilltop Origin: Prague, The Prague castle overlooks the whole city from atop a hill

Natural World Determinants

Climate different forms depending on local climatic circumstances. • Grouping of rooms, no. of stories, with of the lane, courtyards, use of shade and sun, architectural elements, Privacy for women of the family were the crucial climatic factors decided the form of the settlements in Hot and dry climate led to design of climate response shelter. • Settlements in hot humid required houses to be constructed on several storeys with screened bay windows opening onto the public streets.

A- (night) The courtyards and rooms were filled with cool air; • B- (noon) the court is heated by the sun,and hot air rises creating cooling convection current in the room; • C- (afternoon) Courtyards and rooms at their hottest but convection currents increasingly caused by shadow cooling

The Traditional courtyard in Dravidian Architecture

Natural World Determinants Construction Material and Technology

Constraints due to performance of locally available materials. • Local vernacular - Need for material in bulk quantity necessitated the use of locally available material. • Application of human scalelimited height of the wall, the width of the opening and the clear span of floors

• Technological development has altered this urban third dimension and enabled the suburban expansion beyond previous natural boundaries.

Characteristics of the room sizes, height of building and size of the opening in walls, as constrained by traditional “local vernacular” materials and technology related to the scale of human figure.

Man-made Determinants • Primary motivating forces are trade, political, social power and religion; • Economic base in the form of the emergence of a sufficient surplus is the fundamental prerequisite; • Above all religion was a primary changes and focused on social life. The wall of Siena divides the well governed city from its countryside. Ambrogio Lorenzetti’s fresco in the Palazzio Pubblico, painted c.1340

causative factor,

it permeated all activities, institutional

Economic • Economy shaped the role of the city as market-place, which required buildings, spaces for making and sale of goods; • In European towns urban spaces have accommodated communal trading activities later transformed to major markets and covered market halls • In Medieval towns – ‘ the entire city was a market’. • In Islamic cities – a clear distinction between home and workshop and trading used take place in wide market street with temporary stalls.

Political • The city as a military and latterly Ballot-box power base embodied the citadels, castles, and places of past ruling elites.

Religious • The city as a devotional centre • Characters- Tallest, visually most assertive spire, towers and domes as skyline elements • Promoted extensive building activities across the world

The German Town of Heidelberg, the church is the tallest building with a visually dominant spire.

Man-made Determinants The pre-urban Cadastre It is the most useful term refers to the pattern of pre existing man-made rural property boundaries, regional routes, drainage ditches, etc.

Man-made Determinants Defence Need for defence against external attack became primary in medieval cities.

Turin(Italy) from the Northeast, 1750. The city rises above a broad band bastioned walls, moat and earthworks.

Man-made Determinants Aggrandizement From earliest times, religious, monarchical, political and other vested interests have been glorified in cities. A- A typical Sumerian city with it’s Ziggurat ; B- Harappan city with its western citadel; C- An ancient Greek with temple on its acropolis; D- A Norman castle 11th century , England; E- A church in Medieval European Village; F- A church in Latin American City; G- A royal Statue square in Paris; H- Royal Aggrandizement at Versailles; J- Democratic aggrandizement at Washington

A typical Sumerian city with it’s Ziggurat

Norman castle 11th century , England

A Church in Ettlingen, Karlsruhe, Germany

Acropolis

The Grid-iron It was rectilinear grid-iron pattern of land subdivision formed the basis of planned settlements. A Grid-iron plan ordinarily comprises an orthogonal network of streets diving the planned area into primary building blocks which are further divided into rectilinear individual plots as a basis of urban land distribution. Attempts made in the history 1) Harappan Cities, 2) Greek Planned Cities, 3) Romans with their imperial urban planning policies, 4) Numerous medieval monarchs and land owners and 5) European city planners in the USA

URBAN MOBILITY  Measures taken to increase capacity of an existing system, without affecting urban form;  Planning of extensions and alteration of the existing systemcan have radical effect.

Once, Delhi’s Chandni Chowk area had 24 trams running. Kolkata is the only Indian city to have retained trams to this date.

Balance and Symmetry about an axis in Vatican City.

In a classic example of Baroque planning, the encircling arms of the colonnade of Bernini’s St Peter’s basilica, crowned with sculptures by the same artist, reach out into the wider vista towards the Tiber river. (Thomas Mawson, Civic Art, 1911, p107)

Balance and Symmetry about an axis in Karlsruhe Schloss

Piazza Di Campidoglio,Rome

il Campidoglio or Monte Capitolino

Approach from the central vista to Rashtrapati Bhavan

SERIAL VISION The Rashtrapati Bhavan is gradually revealed and the mystery culminates Role of levels & screening Each view enlarging the centre of the previous view & bringing us near to the terminal building

Example of Class segregation and improvement of urban infrastructure in Vienna, the old city wall gradually gave way to a ring road.

The Circus and the Royal Crescent, Bath, Somerset, England.

THANK YOU

Abhishek K. Venkitaraman Iyer Assistant Professor Faculty of Architecture, MIT