A settlement that starts with 20-50 people and grows to 100-150 should be planned as a whole on day one and built in three phases, so that the fire spacing, water mains, paths and open growth side already fit the final population. The settlement-layout guide gives the stages as founding at 20-50 people, growing at 50-100 and established at 100-150, and warns that fixed infrastructure on every side makes expansion mean relocating fields.
Part of Settlement Layout for 150 People
Growth and adaptation is the planning of how a settlement gets bigger and changes use over time without having to tear down what was built first.
The Cheap Decisions Are The Ones You Cannot Undo Later
Some things are easy to add as a settlement grows: another house, another bucket, another bench. Others are fixed by the first season: where the water main runs, how wide the primary paths are, where the workshops sit, which side is left open. The growth rule is to decide the fixed things for the final population, and build the easy things for the current one.
The layout guide’s own reasoning: a settlement of 50 will become 100, then 150, and then it passes the point (about 150, Dunbar’s number) at which governance can no longer stay personal and direct. Past 150 you need formal institutions (Community Organization). Planning for 150 is therefore planning for the largest group the layout guide’s single-community design is meant to serve.
Worked Example: What The Phases Mean In Housing Units
Inputs: the layout guide’s 30-40 units for 150 people (3.75-5 people per unit); phase populations 20-50, 50-100, 100-150; clusters of 8-10 houses.
- People per unit: 150 ÷ 40 = 3.75; 150 ÷ 30 = 5.
- Units at 50 people: 50 ÷ 5 = 10 to 50 ÷ 3.75 ≈ 13. That is one cluster of 8-10 plus a few.
- Units at 100 people: 100 ÷ 5 = 20 to 100 ÷ 3.75 ≈ 27, two to three clusters.
- Units at 150 people: 30-40, which is four clusters of 8-10.
So housing is built about one cluster at a time. The land for all four clusters, and the paths and water routes that reach them, is laid out at the start.
What You Need
- The whole-settlement plan drawn to scale (Scale Drawing)
- Staked corners for the future clusters and corridors
- A reserve rule — no permanent building on land set aside for later phases
Method: Plan Whole, Build In Stages
Step 1: Fix the framework. Water source, communal core, main paths, fire spacing, workshop zone and the growth direction.
Step 2: Phase the buildings (Phased Construction Plan).
Step 3: Keep a growth side open (Expansion Corridors).
Step 4: Size the buried services for the final load (Infrastructure Scalability).
Step 5: Review each year. The population, the soil and the climate will not follow the plan exactly.
Common Mistakes
- Planning for today’s number only — mains and paths get dug twice.
- Spending the open side early on orchards and fences.
- Letting buildings change use without a safety review — a store turned into a sleeping room needs exits and smoke ventilation.
Safety
Adaptation can remove safety margins
When a building changes use, re-check its exits, spacing and heating. A workshop converted to housing may stand 10 m from a forge that needs 30 m (Industrial Zone).
What’s Next
- Learn next: Phased Construction Plan — what to build and when
- Combine with: Building Maintenance Schedules — keeping what exists