"In this type of village, the general living area is distinct and separated from the surrounding farms, barns, and pastures. The closely built-up area and its intervening streets present some recognizable pattern or geometric shape, such as rectangular, radial, linear, etc.". Which of the following type of settlement is being referred to here?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option 2: agglomerated
An agglomerated (or nucleated) settlement is one in which houses are closely built together in a compact area, separate from the surrounding agricultural land, barns, and pastures. Such settlements often show definite geometric patterns like rectangular, radial, or linear forms.
NCERT: Rural settlements in India can broadly be put into four types:
• Clustered, agglomerated or nucleated,
• Semi-clustered or fragmented,
• Hamleted, and
• Dispersed or isolated.
The clustered rural settlement is a compact or closely built up area of houses. In this type of village, the general living area is distinct and separated from the surrounding farms, barns and pastures. The closely built-up area and its intervening streets present some recognizable pattern or geometric shape, such as rectangular, radial, linear, etc. Such settlements are generally found in fertile alluvial plains and in the north-eastern states. Sometimes, people live in compact villages for security or defense reasons, such as in the Bundelkhand region of central India and in Nagaland. In Rajasthan, scarcity of water has necessitated compact settlement for maximum utilisation of available water resources.