Rank-Size Distribution and the Process of Urban Growth

@article{Guerinpace1995RankSizeDA,
  title={Rank-Size Distribution and the Process of Urban Growth},
  author={F Guerin-pace},
  journal={Urban Studies},
  year={1995},
  volume={32},
  pages={551 - 562}
}
From data on French cities' population covering almost two centuries, the viability of rank-size parameters for describing the evolution of city size distributions is tested. We first demonstrate the sensitivity of the Pareto's exponent to the variations of city sample size. The population threshold for which the adjustment of the city size distribution remains stable appears considerably lower than usually admitted. Then it is shown that the non-Paretian behaviour of city size distributions… 
View on SAGE
146 Citations
Highly Influential Citations
13
Background Citations
68
Methods Citations
17
Results Citations
2

Figures and Tables from this paper

146 Citations

The evolution of city size distribution in Portugal: 1864-2001
The rank-size model - which states that the size distribution of cities in a country follows a Pareto distribution - has been recognized as one of those stylized facts or amazing empirical…
Long Term Evolution of the Size Distribution of Portuguese Cities
In this paper we study the evolution of the Portuguese urban system from 1864 to 2001. We apply the rank-size model and use rank-size estimates to describe the evolution of city-size hierarchy.…
LONG TERM EVOLUTION OF THE SIZE DISTRIBUT ION OF PORTUGUESE CITIES
In this paper we study the evolution of the Portuguese urban system from 1864 to 2001. We apply the rank-size model and use rank-size estimates to describe the evolution of city-size hierarchy. Non…
Departures from Gibrat's Law, Discontinuities and City Size Distributions
Cities are complex, self-organising, evolving systems and the emergent patterns they manifest provide insight into the dynamic processes in urban systems. This article analyses city size…
Rank-size Distribution of Cities and Municipalities in Bangladesh
This paper examines and updates the rank-size distribution of cities and municipalities in Bangladesh between 1990 and 2019 based on two criteria: (1) built-up urban areas; and (2) population. The…
THE TEMPORAL DYNAMICS OF REGIONAL CITY SIZE DISTRIBUTION: ANDHRA PRADESH (1951-2001)
Systems with measurable entities are characterized by certain properties of their size distribution. City Size Distribution (CSD) and the underlying city size dynamics have received attention in the…
City Size Distribution in China: Are Large Cities Dominant?
This paper examines the evolution of the size distribution of Chinese cities. Since the relaxation of restrictions on rural—urban migration in the 1980s, China has experienced rapid urban growth.…
City Size Distribution as a Function of Socioeconomic Conditions: An Eclectic Approach to Downscaling Global Population
This study introduces a new method of downscaling global population distribution. Its novelty is that it allows city size distributions to interact with socioeconomic variables. The contribution to…
Urban Hierarchies and City Growth in the Balkans
This paper uses empirical evidence from the Balkan peninsula during the 1981—2001 period, in order to study the dynamic patterns of a conflict-affected city-size distribution. By examining the time…
City size distribution, city growth and urbanisation in China
This thesis explores three topics within the broad area of urban growth and environment in China, city size distribution, city growth pattern and the environment impacts of city growth. The research…
...
...

References

SHOWING 1-10 OF 10 REFERENCES
Growth and Change in the Analysis of Rank—Size Distributions: Empirical Findings
This paper analyzes the interrelationships of city size and growth in the American Midwest from 1940 to 1970 in an effort to synthesize the study of urban growth rates and of city-size distributions.…
A note on the size distribution of cities over time.
The Size Distribution of Cities: An Examination of the Pareto Law and Primacy
A Note on City Size Distributions
  • F. T. Moore
  • Economics
    Economic Development and Cultural Change
  • 1959
Many investigators have been interested in developing a theory or theories of the size distribution of cities; the problem is integral to the development of rational theories of regional structure…
Autocorrelated Growth Rates and the Pareto Law: A Further Analysis
  • D. Vining
  • Economics
    Journal of Political Economy
  • 1976
While the Pareto law' is a useful first approximation to many size distributions in economics, one frequently encounters in plots of these distributions on double log paper a curve that is concave…
Interpretations of Departures from the Pareto Curve Firm-Size Distributions
Empirical firm-size data show concavity when size is plotted against rank (largest firm = rank 1) on a log-log scale, a departure from the Pareto distribution which shows a straight line. Two reasons…
The form of the regional density function
Parr J. B. (1985) The form of the regional density function, Reg. Studies 19, 535–546. The concept of the population density function is considered in the context of a metropolitan-area-based region.…
SPATIAL REORGANIZATION: A MODEL AND CONCEPT
ABSTRACT Travel-time connectivity is a key factor in defining a process of the spatial reorganization of man's functional establishment. A case study relating highway development with the growth in…
A MODIFIED YULE‐SIMON MODEL ALLOWING FOR INTERCITY MIGRATION AND ACCOUNTING FOR THE OBSERVED FORM OF THE SIZE DISTRIBUTION OF CITIES*
The "courbe des populations" : a parallel to Pareto's Law