Acquiring a set of scientifically funded, precisely formulated and systematized knowledge of human settlements, with all their relevant features; Explaining and understanding developmental laws and distribution of permanent and temporary settlements, including contemporary socio-economic processes and their geospatial effects; Study and interpretationof the perspective trends in the development and network of rural settlements.

Development of the ability to identify and resolve problems of connections and relations of rural settlements and their spatial and functional environment. Acquiring knowledge about development of rural settlements and their structures, as well as their role in organization and balanced development.

Theoretical lectures

Emergence, development and significance of urban and rural geography. Geographical aspects and approaches in the study of human settlements. Subject, scientific goals and social tasks of urban and rural geography. Relation between urban and rural geography, related sciences and various areas of social practice. Relevant geographical features of settlements. General features of spatial organization of human settlements in Serbia and the world. Settlements and contemporary socio-economic processes. General geographical features of villages. The notion and categorization of villages and rural territory, rural houses and yards and basic rural problems. Traditional and contemporary studies of rural settlements. Typologies of rural settlements. Main features of rural settlements, territory and production. Characteristics and possible solutions for the future development of rural settlements. Rural settlements as centres of development. Convergent and divergent daily migrations of the rural population. Spatial-functional connection of rural settlements. Basic European rural development policies.

 Practical lectures

A comparative overview and analysis of criteria for determining the status of permanent settlements, in some countries in the world and in Serbia. Analysis of the recommendations of Eurostat (1998) in the field of defining settlements and the possibility of applying in the organization of the network of settlements in Serbia. Sources of data regarding settlements. Various guidelines for the study of settlements. Directory of settlements and names of parts of urban and rural settlements. Determination of the micro position and geographical position of a settlement. Calculation of the settlement density, population density and geographical distance in the settlement network. Cartographic presentation and general socio-geographical analysis of the hypsometric and zonal distribution of settlements, as well as territorial grouping and dispersion of settlements; Determination of the boundaries, forms, functional zones of settlements and municipal territory on topographic maps using administrative-territorial maps and corresponding urban plans. Calculation of the settlement density, population density and geographical distance in the settlement network. Cartographic presentation and general socio-geographical analysis of the hypsometric and zonal distribution of settlements, as well as territorial grouping and dispersion of settlements;

Sr­bo­ljub Đ. Sta­men­ko­vić, Mi­lan Ba­če­vić: Ge­o­gra­fi­ja na­se­lja, Uni­ver­zi­tet­ski udž­be­nik, Ge­o­graf­ski fa­kul­tet PMF Uni­ver­zi­te­ta u Be­o­gra­du, Be­o­grad, 1992.
Slo­bo­dan Ćur­čić: Ge­o­gra­fi­ja na­se­lja, PMF, In­sti­tut za ge­o­gra­fi­ju, Uni­ver­zi­tet u No­vom Sa­du, No­vi Sad, 1992.
Branislav Đ. Kojić, Đorđe R. Simonović: Seoska naselja Srbije, Beograd, 1975.
Cvetko Kostić: Sociologija sela, Beograd, 1975.
Jo­van Cvi­jić: Op­šta ge­o­gra­fi­ja – An­tro­po­ge­o­gra­fi­ja, Za­vod za iz­da­va­nje udž­be­ni­ka SR Sr­bi­je, Be­o­grad, 1969.
Popović Goran, Zakić Zorka i Stojanović Žaklina: Savremena ruralna politika: paralele EU – RS i BiH, Ekonomski fakultet Univerziteta u Banjoj Luci, Banja Luka, 2009.
Ge­o­graf­ska en­ci­klo­pe­di­ja na­se­lja Sr­bi­je, knj. I (A – Đ), II (Ž – Lj), III (M – R) i IV (S – Š), Ge­o­graf­ski fa­kul­tet, Age­na, Struč­na knji­ga i Sr­bo­soft, Be­o­grad, 2001, 2002. (štam­pa­no iz­da­nje) i 2004. (elek­tron­sko iz­da­nje).
Ge­o­graf­ska en­ci­klo­pe­di­ja na­se­lja Sr­bi­je – Voj­vo­di­na, knj. I, Ge­o­graf­ski fa­kul­tet Uni­ver­zi­te­ta u Be­o­gra­du, Be­o­grad, 2005.