HUMAN SETTLEMENT

The meaning of the concept

 A settlement is a place with housing units where a group of people live together and they vary in
size from hamlets to large cities.
Or.
 a collection of buildings where people live. They vary in size from small hamlets to large cities.
They may be engaged in various economic activities.
 A settlement may be as small as a single house in a remote area or as large as a mega city (a city
with over 10 million residents).

Characteristics of settlement
1. Site. each settlement has site. site refers to the place or land on which a settlement is built. Some
sites may be on highlands and others may be in lowland areas.
2. Location. Or situation means the position of settlement in relation to other things in the region.
Example northern Tanzania. Coast areas.
3. Size of settlement. They are in different sizes. They range from a single house in a remote area to
many houses in a city.it describe the settlement in terms of population size and housing units.
Examples settlements may be a village, towns, municipality and cities to mega cities.
4. Temporally or permanent settlements. Here settlement base on time. A temporally settlement is the
one where people live for some time and migrate to other areas. Example refugee camp, or a mining
Centre. While a permanent settlement is when people establish stationary habitats for a long period.
5. Functions. Settlements have different functions. These are social and economic development of the
area. Example a settlement may be mining Centre, industrial center or agriculture center.
6. Patterns. Settlements have different patterns. Patterns means the layout of housing units. Other
settlements may be arranged in line along railway, roads or coast. While others may be nucleated
due to several attractive factors like availability of social services, good climate, and economic
opportunities.

Factors determining a site and location of settlement.

1. Availability of water sources. Such as rivers, lakes and springs.
2. Security and defense. these are known as defensive sites. Example include Makongo and kurasini
in Dar es salaam.Ihumwa in Dodoma,Itende in Mbeya.and Migombani in Zanzibar.
3. Aspect. The direction of land or site in relation to the sun. Energy from the sun is important for
growth of plants, dying clothes, lighting, most of settlements are located in sites that receive enough
sunlight.example east side of Mount Kilimanjaro is a good site as they receive plenty of sunlight.
4. Shelter. This refers the availability of physical features that cover and protect a settlement from
wind or rain. Examples areas that are near forest provide good sites for establishing settlements
because they protect the settlements from strong winds.
5. Climate. Areas receiving adequate rainfall for agricultural production may attract family
settlements. While too cold and dry areas discourage people to settle.
6. Recources.such as minerals, forests, fertile soils favor the development of a settlement. Example
the location of Geita and Chunya is associated with availability of gold deposits.
7. Trading center. settlements develop in areas with trade and commercial potentially. Such areas are
near navigation sites,areas where roads and railways meet .examples are Darajani and Chakechake
in Zanzibar, Kariakoo and Mwenge in Dar es sallam, Mwanjelwa and Sokomatola in Mbeya.

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Types of settlement
1.Urban settlement
 Characterized by denser engaged in non-agricultural activities such as trading, industrial activities
and provision of services.
 Well-developed buildings, dense settlements
2.Rural settlement
 Basically the countryside, maybe farmland, forest, desert or savanna depending on where you are
in the world. Rural areas do contain small settlements of less than 10,000 people e.g. they comprise
of small rural town villages, hamlets and homesteads.
 Characterized by having sparsely populated pattern of settlements. Most of people in Tanzania live
in rural areas and most depend on agriculture.
 Some rural communities engage in other traditional activities such as pottery, weaving, carving
fishing, and extracting timber from forestry.
Human Settlement patterns
• Settlement pattern is a layout of dwellings in a particular place. or
• A settlement pattern refers to the way that buildings and houses are distributed in a rural settlement
• It is influenced by various factors like the topography of an area,
• availability of suitable land for farming, increased in the population may lead to the emergence of
a certain settlement pattern.

Types of settlement patterns

Nucleated settlement patterns
• Nucleated settlements are ones where the houses are grouped closely together, often around a
central feature like a church, pub or village green. New settlements that are planned often have a
nucleated pattern.
• Nucleated Settlements may develop as a result of the following factors.
• Availability of social amenities such as schools, health centres,water supply and electricity.
• The presence of the industries
• Limitation of building land.
• Varied entertainment
• Nearby natural resources like mineral deposits, For instance, Mwadui in Tanzania and Kimberley
in south Africa.
• Stable weather that is good for growing
• Good fertile land nearby to grow food
• Good transport links (road, rail, river)
Linear settlement pattern
• Buildings are located along a line, normally transport and communication routes for example road,
river, along the coast.
• For instance, along the coast of East Africa along the shores of Lake Tanganyika
Dispersed settlement pattern
• Also named as scattered pattern. it consists of houses, and other structures which are scattered.
• The houses may be separated from one another by physical features such as valley,river,hills ,
limited natural resources, and Mountainous areas
• Plenty of land to build whenever they want
• Avoidance of harsh climate e.g. arid and semi-arid areas.

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Functions of human settlements
• Rural Areas: Rural areas tend to have less functions than urban areas. The main purpose of
settlements in rural areas is normally agriculture (farming) and possibly tourism. This is because
rural areas have less people, poorer transport, poorer communication, less technology and the land
is better used for other purposes i.e. agriculture.
• Urban Areas: Urban areas tend to have a lot more functions ranging from shopping functions, to
educational functions, to transport functions, to administrative functions and residential functions.
The bigger the urban area, the more functions that it normally has.
• Market center indicated by markets, shops and offices/build up areas
• Mining center: are located in areas that contain a supply of natural resources such as coal, diamond
and tin. Most of residents in these areas are engage in mining activities. For examples Kahama,
Mirerani, and Geita.these areas provide employment to people.
• Industrial center: located near or around the source of raw materials often in conjunction with
mining towns.
• Administrative centers: including local, regional and national basis; Like prisons, police stations,
and regional offices. Example Dodoma the capital city of Tanzania.
• Defensive Centre. Provide services and security of a region. the settlements have armies, navies
and air forces. Examples are Kisarawe, Bagamoyo, and Chalinze in Pwani Region.Kigamboni in
Dar es salaamNgerengere in Morogoro Region,Mikindani in Mtwara Region, Itende in Mbeya
Region.these areas are established due to its strategic locations.
• Cultural and religious centre.many settlements or centres have cultural functions such as provision
of education, arts,galleries and museums.for example Dar es salaam,Bagamoyo,Kilwa,and
Zanzibar.religious centres where people go for religious reasons such as Mecca in Saudi
Arabia,Jerusalem in Israel,and Vtican in city (Rome) in Italy.
• Fishing centre.mainly dominated by fishing activities.examples of fishing centres in Tnzania are
found in the coastal areas of Zanzibar,Dar es salaam, Bagamoyo,Tanga, Mtwara,and Lindi.other
areas are around lake Victoria,in Mwanza,Mara, and Kagera and those on lake Nyasa.
• Industrial centre.these areas dominated by mixed manufacturing industries.mostly found in Urban
areas.for examples Dar es salaam,Mbeya, Dodoma, and Pwani.in Zanzibar there are Mahonda and
Maruhubi (Unguja).while Dodoma city has Kizota and Nkuhungu
• Trading centres.most of people engage in trade as their main economic activity.in these areas
shops,stores, markets are established.examples of trading centres include the Kariakoo business
centres, Mlimani city mall in Dar es salaam,Mwanjelwa centre market and Kabwe shopping cetre
in Mbeya.Rcky city in Mwanza.
• Ports centre importing and exporting goods and passengers with development of national and
international trade.
• Agricultural centers;plantations,farms
• Residential centers. Characterized by a large proportion of their land denoted to housing.
• Resorts and Tourism centers. These centres are recreational needs of people in surrounding
areas.for example,Dar es salaam, Bgamoyo, and Arusha on Tanzania Minland.Unguja and Pemba
in Zanzibar.these areas have ancient buildings,entantaiment venues,sports, facilities and natural
features that attract tourist activities.Seaside resorts, national parks,museums,historical sites,
• Route centres.roads,airport,railways

Importance of settlement
The importance of a planned settlement is explained below.
1. Better provision of social services such as schools, water supply, hospitals, sports and games. These
services tend to develop properly in planned settlements for the benefit of people.

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 2. Enhancement of security. When people are in organized and planned settlements defense and
security tend to be improved. Street lights are installed and buildings are constructed in a way that
they do not leave spaces for thieves and robbers to hide.
3. Economic development. Planned settlements are associated with improving economic
development. for example, development occurs in areas with financial centers, industries, and
market centers. Examples of modern marketing centres, which contribute to economic development
are the Kariakoo business centre, Mlimani city mall,Kisutu and Magomeni central markets (Dar es
salaam).Mwanjelwa centre market and Kabwe shopping centre (Mbeya),Rocky city mall
(Mwanza).Michenzani (Zanzibar)
4. Provision of open and green spaces. Planned settlements support the establishment of open and
public spaces. They are established together with planting trees and establishment of recreation
areas.
5. Reducing the problem of pollution.in planned settlements wastes management is easily controlled.
Like drainage systems and dump sites are well established.
6. Reducing occurrence of hazards. Such as firebreaks, that may cause deaths and injuries to people,
even destroying the properties.

Growth of settlements/Urbanization
(Urban growth or Sprawl)

Urbanization: "the gradual increase in the proportion of people living in urban areas", and the ways in
which each society adapts to the change.
 It is predominantly the process by which towns and cities are formed and become larger as more
people begin living and working in central areas.

Factors influencing growth of settlements

There are categorized into physical, biological, cultural and social-economic factors. They either motivate
or discourage people to establish human settlements.

Physical factors

1.Climate
 areas which have adequate rainfall tend to have high growth of settlement due to high agricultural
production while areas which experience low rainfall tend to have low growth of settlement due to
shortage of water and poor agricultural production. For example, highlands of Tanzania areas like
Mbeya, Iringa, Kilimanjaro have good climate.
2 .Soil
 the areas which have fertile land attract people to settle there while infertile land make people
move away from it.
 For example areas along Kilimanjaro slope which is fertile due to volcanic soil have high growth
of settlement compared to areas such as Mpwapwa which is infertile due to soil erosion which low
growth rate.
3. Relief/topography
 people prefer to settle in areas which have gentle slopes and tend to avoid settling in areas which
have steep slopes due to difficulty in establishing infrastructure and having thin soil for cultivation.

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 Also people avoid settleling in areas susceptible to flooding. For example, in Katumba Songwe in
Kyela people avoid to settle due to floods from river kiwira
4. Water sources. the area with enough water like near springs, rivers, and lakes attracts more people to
settle in those areas compared to arid or dry areas. for example, places such as Rungwe in Mbeya which
has plenty of water have growth of settlement.Kigoma and Mwanza is linked to the availability of water
from Lake Tanganyika and Lake Victoria respectively. Also along East African coast of the Indian ocean
these settlements include Tanga, Dar es salaam, Mtwara, Lindi, Bagamoyo,and Zanzibar. Water is used for
drinking, cleaning, fishing, washing and other economic activities such as irrigation, hydro-electric power
generations, and navigation. While areas with such as Longido which is arid has low growth rate of
settlement
5. Mineral and energy resources.other settlements have developed in areas rich in natural resources.perople
establish settlements near mining centres, to get employment and earn income.
 Mwadui (diamond),Geita(gold) and Kahama(gold),Chunya(gold) are good examples where by the
settlement grow due to mineral resources.Also areas with energy resources such as the natural gase
on Songo-Songo island in Kilwa District in Lindi Region and at Mnazi Bay on the shores of the
Ruvuma Basin in Mtwara Region have attracted many people foe settlements.
6.Vegetation. dense or thick vegetation discourage settlement because they increase costs for
clearing before constructing buildings, also other vegetation species like Miombo woodlands
are infected with tsetse flies. Moderate vegetation on other side attract people to establish
settlements.

Biological factors
These biological factors include pests and diseases. Areas with free from pests and diseases
attract settlements where as those with pests such as mosquitoes and tsetse flies are avoided
by many people for settlements. Example Mbeya, Njombe and Iringa (highlands) have a
cool climate and free from the diseases and pests hence attract people to settle. While some
central regions such as Singida do not attract people because of having tsetse flies.

Human factors.
These are factors that show the role of humans in influencing the growth of settlement. These
include social, economic, historical, cultural, and political.

1.Social factors. Include the provision of social services such as education, water and electricity.
Attract people to live in areas. For example, of such areas include Dar es salaam, Mbeya, Mwanza,
Iringa, while many rural areas in African countries have low settlement growth rate due to lack of
social services
2. Economic factor
 People tend to settle in areas where there are different economic opportunities like in towns due to
presence of trade and industries.
 For instance, Dar es salaam, Arusha, Mbeya, Tanga, Mwanza and Shinyanga.
3.Historical factors.
Hostility from neighboring ethic groups or communities forced some people to establish
their settlements on strategic sites such as hill tops, plateaus and islands. Because such
areas provided natural defendable settlements. For example, the Hehe in Iringa established
their settlements in mountainous areas due to their hostility to the Germans. Also due to
slave trade in Africa some areas were depopulated as people fled away to avoid being
captured by the slave traders.
4.Political factors.This is done through policies,plans and programmes.

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  government can affect the growth of settlement by forcing people to settle in certain areas or
persuade people to settle in certain areas by supplying social services and other incentives.
 For example there has a rapid growth of settlement in kinyerezi area on the outskirt of Dar es
salaam city due to government decision to allocate that land to settlement to settlement and supply
social services.
 Also the establishment of Ujamaa villages in Tanzania in early 1970s.

5.Cultural factors. Cultural refers to the total way of life of people including their beliefs, arts, morals,
values and activities. Examples. people may be prohibited to establish settlements on such areas
which hinder them to establish settlements. Areas like Nyumbanitu forest in Njombe-Iringa.Religious
sites attract worshippers from different parts of the world.eg. Mecca, The Vatican and Jerusalem.
Community involved in farming activities settle in the areas which are agriculturally productive.
Communities of fishermen and honey collectors settle in areas that support and sustain their
livelihoods. The same to pastoral communities like Maasai.
Positive impacts of urban growth
1. Reducing costs fir service provision. If the area has concentrated in building, then the costs of
providing social services are reduced.
2. Promoting market for urban goods and services
3. Promoting innovations.

Problems associated with urban growth. /negative impacts of urban growth

1.Traffic congestion: this refers to the presence of high number of vehicles especially private cars, leading
to slow and inefficient flow which makes movement difficult. Large increases in motor vehicle usage
have resulted in congestion on the roads. Congestion within urban areas restricts accessibility. Mostly
Dar es salaam, Nairobi.
2.Unemployment:
 The problem of joblessness is highest in urban areas and it is even higher among the educated
people. It is estimated that more than half of unemployed youths around the globe live in cities.
And, as much as income in urban areas is high, the costs of living make the incomes to seem
horribly low. The increasing relocation of people from rural or developing areas to urban areas is
the leading cause of urban unemployment.
3.Growth of slums and squatters: due to shortage of houses, high rental charges led many residents to
live in slums/ ghettos in cities. The cost of living in urban areas is very high. When this is
combined with random and unexpected growth as well as unemployment, there is the spread of
unlawful resident settlements represented by slums and squatters. Examples squatter settlements
located in Tandale in Dar es salaam, Mabatini in Mwanza, Chang’ombe and Swaswa areas in
Dodoma,Mwanakwerekwe,Tomondo in Zanzibar.
4.Environmental pollution.
 the gases emitted by industries & Moto vehicles
 The loud music from pubs &nightclubs
 Domestic wastes &industrial wastes eventually may cause many health problems namely allergies,
asthma, food poisoning, cancer , premature deaths, typhoid, dysentery, and diarrhea spread very
fast leading to suffering and even deaths.

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5.Criminal activities. due to high rates of unemployment such as: rape, kidnapping, riots, assault, theft,
robbery, drug trafficking, car hijacking, prostitution are reported to be more prominent in the urban
vicinities.
6.Shortage of social services like water, schools, electricity, medical facilities. For instance, Dar es Salaam
suffer from water shortage throughout the year
7.Health problems due to poor provision of sanitation services hence leading to the spread of diseases. Such
as cholera, tuberculosis. also growth of towns is associated with the spread of sexually transmitted
diseases due to immoral behaviors such as prostitution.
8.Street families. They are composed of unemployed men and women with children who live in streets as
beggers.Mostly found in the cities like Dodoma, Mwanza, Mbeya,Tanga, and Dar es salaam.

Strategies to solve the of negative impacts /problems related to urban growth

1.Improvement of infrastructure to accommodate the motor vehicles.
 Private cars have been increasing extensively and becoming a problem.
 It is necessary to set up a reasonable system and width of roads, reserve parking place. It is
necessary to set up a reasonable system and width of roads reserves for parking place
 Increase public transport rather than individual cars
 2.The government should establish resettlement schemes which can lead to the shifting of people
from the overpopulated areas to the under populated areas.
 3.Equal provision of social services in all regions both rural and urban areas.
2.Controlof wastes disposal and sewage systems by enacting laws and recycling the wastes.
3.Application of family planning methods
 Effective family planning should be controlled to reduce the number of children in the family. This
will make the provision of social services as well as the employment opportunities match with the
existing number of people.
4.Creation of employment opportunities in both urban and rural areas. The city and rural councils have to
create more jobs so as to cure the problem of unemployment. For example, by encouraging private
investors to establish various projects so that the youth with no jobs should be hired.
5.Contol of building in towns. Government should set procedures for accessing building permits and ensure
that house construction is done according to the conditions in the permit. Also plan for public spaces,
gardens, playgrounds and sports fields should be implemented.
6.Provision of social services. Mostly in rural areas that push people to move to urban areas. Such services
include educational, health, transport infrasture, water supply, electricity and communication
facilities.
7.Improvement in access to financial services. They may help to curb the problems of unemployment
through formation of groups and access financial services.
8.Allow private sectors to provide services. Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs), Community –Based
Organizations(CBOs), and Faith-Based Organization (FBOs) have potentials to contribute to reduce
the challenges facing urban areas. Examples provision of water supply and electricity.

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