Implication of classification of land types on the river banks on the layout of settlements planning (A case of the Ogan Ulu community, in South Sumatera, Indonesia)

ABSTRACT

This article analyses the implications of the knowledge of the Ogan community in South Sumatra (Indonesia) about the types of land on the banks of the river on the layout of their settlements. Living on the river bank is an important identity for the Ogan Ulu community, but the condition of their rivers which tend to run watery and the inappropriate land use, of course, will have an impact on the destruction of settlements and their natural environment. Through anthropological studies, the results of the study show that the use of land on the river banks are not arbitrary, but it is based on how the community interprets the classification of soil types and the river’s behaviour in the river environment. This article confirms that the river's behaviour and classification of soil types have implications for the community's struggle to maintain settlements as their identity while preserving the river's environment.

KEYWORDS:

• Settlement
• classification of land types
• river’s behaviour
• settlement layout
• Ogan Ulu
• South Sumatra Indonesia

Acknowledgement

We would like to thank Andalas University for the research grant that allowed us to collect the research data as material for this article. We also thank the Institute for Research and Community Service, Andalas University (LPPM) for their support so that this article is finally realized. In particular, we would like to thank all the informants at the research location, especially the Ogan Ulu community in Pengandonan village and their community leaders for their willingness to have the discussion and obtain the information in understanding the concept on how the importance of living on the riverbank for their lives. Finally, we also would like to say thank you to the editorial team of this journal for giving us the opportunity to write and publish our article in this journal.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Andalas University Research and Community Service Institute under Research Grant PDU-KRP2GB-Unand No: T/34/UN.16.17/PP.HUM.KRP2GB/LPPM/2019.