The geography of settlement is a branch of human geography that deals with the study of housing and population in both rural and urban areas. Rural housing has garnered the attention of geographers since 1925, when the French geographer Demangeon introduced the concept and methodology of rural housing geography. Subsequently, the study of rural housing geography made significant progress in Germany, France, the Netherlands, and Great Britain. These studies focused on understanding and analyzing contemporary rural environments and their problems, especially the historical and civilizational conditions under which settlement patterns and the rural landscape grew and flourished. Rural geography currently also addresses the emergence of rural dwellings and their types (permanent and non-permanent), the natural and human geographical factors affecting the distribution and patterns of villages in the countryside, as well as the patterns, characteristics, components, and height of rural housing, and the regional diversity of rural dwellings in general. Additionally, it studies rural populations, their economic activities, their relationships with cities, and highlights the role of the city as an active cell in its functional region, which includes all urban centers benefiting from its central services.

Urban geography, on the other hand, emerged as a science from general regional interests in geographical studies. The German scholar Ratzel was the first to make scientific attempts in urban geography when he discussed the site and situation of the city. After World War I, geographers' interest shifted to detailed studies of cities, especially European cities, and then to the growth and development of American cities. Thus, studies of urban geography (American) crystallized during that period, representing the beginning of urban systems studies. In 1933, Professor Christaller established the first geographical laws in cities, the law of "spacing and size," and formulated the Central Place Theory. After World War II, urban geography began to adopt its own methodology and philosophy; studies of the internal structure of the city appeared by the pioneers of the geographical school at the University of Chicago. Scientific laws in urban geography increased and evolved. For example, in 1939, researcher Jefferson established his famous law of the Primate City. Urban geography was the first branch of human geography in the applied and planning fields, despite its recent origin. The study of urban geography now focuses on urban growth and the process of urbanization as a global phenomenon, the distribution of cities on the Earth's surface, and the quality and deterioration of the urban environment. It also deals with the city's relationship with the natural and human characteristics of its environment and addresses general urban phenomena such as the concentration and spacing of cities, their sizes and ranks, the central locations and functions of cities, urban regions, the economic base of the city, and its labor force. It also focuses on the study of land use in the city, commercial and recreational activities, residential and industrial areas, transportation, the internal structure of the city, spatial variation within it, population movements from rural to urban centers, urban expansion, and consequently, the city's relationship with its countryside and its urban problems.

Urban phenomena also contribute to geographical land diversity, leading to the distinction of regions and the identification of regional urban characters. Through regional urban variation, the regional character of different urban places can be identified. Since the city is an artificial phenomenon created by civilization, city regions are ultimately "regions of urban geographical civilization." The urban system, internal structure, and spatial variation within the Arab-Islamic city make it different from the urban systems of European, American, and Chinese cities. This variation, in reality, signifies a cultural variation that has formed over time. The city, in general, is a true reflection of the religion, customs, traditions, and culture of the people in which it was born, rooted, and then flourished. When we look at the Islamic city, we find it—with its mosques, residences, and squares—different from the European city with its churches, streets, housing patterns, and building components, and likewise from the Chinese, Japanese, and Korean Buddhist cities with their temples, residences, and squares, etc.

The main objective of this introduction is to acquaint the student with the genius of the land and people in their Arab homeland, their role in building cities since ancient times, and the transfer of this to other civilizational regions of the world, in Pakistan, China, and perhaps Central America. Therefore, the city is a historical document of ancient and modern civilizations with its architectural monuments such as houses, streets, castles, walls, mosques, churches, public squares, canals, tunnels, ponds, dams, and more. This is reflected in the shape of its streets, squares, buildings, facilities, and other land uses within it. We cannot understand the city unless we go back to the historical background on which it was founded and developed from a seed (nucleus) until it became a strong plant in its effective geographical site and fertile geographical situation, covering a part of the space and providing a functional service to its inhabitants inside and in its surrounding countryside.

The study currently focuses on addressing rural settlement in the world in general, and in the Mesopotamia and Nile valleys in particular. It also deals with the foundations of defining the city, its origin and development since the dawn of history, and comparing the plans of ancient cities with modern ones, as the historical development of the city represents the third important dimension in geography, which is the temporal dimension. This study will also address the geographical site and situation of the city, analyze its urban environment, then discuss its morphology (shape), external appearance, and internal structure, modern urban development, its functions and size, its hierarchy and functional structure, the theories presented in this regard, land use in the city, the rural-urban fringe, and the city's functional region, and the criteria for its definition, whether in the United States or in Arab countries as model examples in such studies. It also addresses the urban problems of modern cities, then trains students on urban applications for some Arab and Palestinian cities, emphasizing modern urban planning and the relationship of cities with economic development, and its effective impact on the city's growth and development in the future.

The main goal of this research is to create a balance in social and economic development between rural and urban areas, to stop the continuous flow of internal migration towards urban centers, which has led to their gigantic expansion, especially in developing countries. The geography of settlement has become a major branch of geography, especially at the end of the last twentieth century. It illuminates the way for decision-makers and planners, whether at the local, regional, or international level, when implementing various planning programs, ending with the establishment of sound, realistic, favorable, and desirable foundations to create a clean and decent urban environment that is compatible with our modern city and its surrounding countryside, and to avoid its modern problems of pollution, homelessness, poverty, deprivation, and famine, which most cities in the developing world face, both in their internal structure and in their surrounding external countryside.

• Number of Pages: 432
• Year of Publication: 2012
• Binding Type: Hardcover
• Edition Number: 1
• Printing Color: Black
• Size (cm): 17x24
• Weight (kg): 0.750
• Barcode: 9789957068004