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A PROPERTY OF THE RANK‐SIZE DISTRIBUTION AND ITS USE IN AN URBAN HIERARCHY CONTEXT
Author(s) -
Beguin Hubert
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
journal of regional science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.171
H-Index - 79
eISSN - 1467-9787
pISSN - 0022-4146
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9787.1985.tb00311.x
Subject(s) - hierarchy , property (philosophy) , rank (graph theory) , urban hierarchy , mathematics , distribution (mathematics) , symmetry (geometry) , context (archaeology) , interpretation (philosophy) , population , dispersion (optics) , statistics , population size , combinatorics , geography , mathematical analysis , geometry , computer science , demography , physics , sociology , law , political science , epistemology , quantum mechanics , philosophy , archaeology , programming language
This paper proves the symmetry of the classical rank‐size distribution with respect to any city according to a criterion of relative population difference. This property is used to characterize the distribution of city sizes around the median center of their hierarchical level by the existence of symmetry, of an upper bound to dispersion, and of a regular spacing. An interpretation is suggested.