The size-density hypothesis in Great Britain: Analysis of a deviant case

Recent studies have found size of territorial units to vary inversely with population density, the only exception to this regularity being Great Britain, where size and density were found to be unrelated. The present research accounts for this anomaly by demonstrating Britain’s historical conformity to the size-density relation. The size-density hypothesis is further supported by direct test, made possible by a recent reorganization of British counties. Results show that reorganization has restored the expected inverse relation between size and density and has restructured the size and density of counties in a manner precisely specified by underlying theory.