Rank Size Rule

Rank Size Rule

•Primate Cities

The Rank Size Rule

Zipfs Rank Size Rule “If all the settlements of a country are ranked

according to population size, the sizes of settlements will be inversely proportional to their rank”

OR

Second largest town or city is half the size of the size, the third would be a third the size etc….

What does it show?

London is by far the most important.

WHY?

English Cities

1 - - - - - 1 2 3 4 5 city number

Germany - Does this fit the Rank Size Rule?

• ACTUAL POPULATION

• 1 Berlin 3 390 000

• 2 Hamburg 1 700 000

• 3 München 1 300 000

• 4 Köln 965 000

• 5 Frankfurt 640 000

• 6 Essen 590 000

• 7 Dortmund 589 000

• 8 Stuttgart 587 000

• RANK SIZE RULE EXPECTATIONS

• 1 Berlin 3 390 000• 2 Hamburg 1 195 000• 3 München 1 130 000• 4 Köln 847 500• 5 Frankfurt 678 000• 6 Essen 565 000• 7 Dortmund 484 000• 8 Stuttgart 424 000•

RANK SIZE RULE EXPECTATIONS

• 1 Berlin 3 390 000

• 2 Hamburg 1 195 000

• 3 München 1 130 000

• 4 Köln 847 500

• 5 Frankfurt 678 000

• 6 Essen 565 000

• 7 Dortmund 484 000

• 8 Stuttgart 424 000

•

Why is Germany a better fit?

Clue - think about its political set up

Germany is made up of Federal States rather like the United States

Because……..

• Germany is run on a Federal system of Regions, each with their own capital city

• This means each city has developed high order services of their own, instead of centralising them on one capital city such as London.

• Germany also used to be split in two, with 2 capitals Berlin in the East and Bonn in the West.

Peru – A Primate City?

• ACTUAL POPULATION SIZE

• 1 Lima 7 000 000

• 2 Arequipa 700 100

• 3 Trujillo 600 000

• 4 Chiclayo 470 000

• 5 Iquitos 335 000

• 6 Piura 310 000

• 7 Huancayo 305 000

• 8 Chimbote 300 000

• RANK SIZE RULE

• 1 Lima 7 000 000

• 2 Arequipa 3 500 000

• 3 Trujillo 2 333 000

• 4 Chiclayo 1 750 000

• 5 Iquitos 1 400 000

• 6 Piura 1 166 000

• 7 Huancayo 1 000 000

• 8 Chimbote 875 000

Yes because…..Initial site factors favor growth - CapitalTransport network focuses on capital city

Capital City generates high order servicesAttracts most of the investment, creates jobs

Globalization reinforces dominance as TNC’s use it as a regional node to break local markets.

Causes migration from rural areasAs economy industrializes other cities may challenge primacy - but not always.

Netherlands – Rank Size or Primate?

• ACTUAL POPULATION

• 1 Amsterdam N-H 700 000

• 2 Rotterdam Z-H 650 000

• 3 's-Gravenhage Z-H 465 000

• 4 Utrecht U 265 000

• 5 Eindhoven N-B 205 000

• 6 Tilburg N-B 200 000

• 7 Groningen Gr 175 000

• 8 Almere Fl 165 000

• RANK SIZE PREDICTIONS

• 1 Amsterdam N-H 750 000

• 2 Rotterdam Z-H 375 000

• 3 's-Gravenhage Z-H 250 000

• 4 Utrecht U 188 000

• 5 Eindhoven N-B 150 000

• 6 Tilburg N-B 125 000

• 7 Groningen Gr 107 000

• 8 Almere Fl 94 000

Rank Size because …...The Netherlands has two important citiesEach City has a separate FUNCTION

Amsterdam is the political cityRotterdam is the industrial city / port

The country is relatively small and other cities haven’t challenged thisEx - major colonial power

If the largest town has a population of x, the second largest town will have a population of x/2, the 3rd largest will have a population of x/3 and so on.

Largest cities in Texas

Houston – 2,000,000

Dallas -- 1,100,000

San Antonio -- 1,100,000

Austin -- 700,000

*Fort Worth – 535,000

El Paso -- 565,000

*Arlington -- 330,000

2000 census

Metropolitan area

*Dallas/Ft. Worth (Metroplex) 6,500,000

Houston -- 5,900,000

San Antonio – 2,000,000

Austin – 1,700,000

El Paso – 750,000

McAllen/Edinburg – 740,000

Corpus Christi – 400,000

2009 estimated pop.

Disadvantages of a Primate City

Unequal economic distribution

“spoke and hub” transportation system prevents equal access to all regions

Negative environment – slums, pollution, traffic congestion

Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

Most LDCs have a high degree of primacy while most MDCs have a low degree of primacy. Exceptions?

1. Europe

Poland

Spain

Greece

2. East Asia

South Korea

Japan

Vietnam

3. Middle East

Saudi Arabia

Iraq

Israel

4. Africa

South Africa

Libya

Nigeria

Rank the top three cities (include population) of each country below. Goodes page 259

Look up your country and find the three largest cities. Do they show up on page 259?

The legend (key) is at the bottom of the first page of each unit.

11 lesson

RANK SIZE AND PRIMATE CITIES

1. Make two columns.

2. Group cities by countries.

3. Locate five examples of countries that match “Rank size” and “Primate Cities.”

4. List the country and top four cities in population

5. Determine which countries fit the criteria for Rank Size or Primate.

6. Look for patterns within each category between countries (peds/pings, population, industry, agriculture, location etc…)

7. What generalizations can you make about the Rank Size and Primate cities on your list? (at least two)