The development of the city in the modern era has had an impact on the culture of people living in the riverside. The river-oriented settlement culture is transformed into a land-based settlement culture. In this development, changes in the form of a settlement environment depend on the position of environmental elements in cultural systems such as nature, man, society, shells, and network. Changes in the form of environment affect the elements of the settlement. Some of them are repaired in building structures but material changes and others change following the development of the settlement orientation process. These changes undermine the identity, character, and potential of river architecture and settled cultures that were originally in harmony with river life. The purpose of this study was to explore the incidence and explanation of changes in the settlement elements in the Musi River and the architectural aspects of the house and residential type through a qualitative approach. Data collection is done qualitatively by using data collecting technique that is field observation, depth interview, and literature study. The analytical technique used is through qualitative approach of case study with a combination of strategies that identify elements of rural community settlements with triangulation. This study found the change of the settlement elements of the Musi River Palembang River from the river-oriented to the land-oriented. This study concludes that changes in the architecture and building system of river settlements that include changes in the orientation of buildings to rivers, the addition of space under the stilts, material changes, changes in the function of house space, and changes in river environmental infrastructure caused by the influence and development of land-oriented culture settlements, based on the elements of settlement on the banks of the River Musi Palembang.