The evolution of city size distribution in Portugal: 1864-2001

Konferenzbeitrag

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 stylised facts or amazing empirical regularities, in spatial economics. A common problem in city size distribution studies concerns the definition of “cities”, namely the consistency of those definitions over time. In this paper we use a city-proper data base which uses a consistent definition of cities from 1864 to 1991. Portugal is a country with long established national borders and whose mainland urban system shows a constant number of cities over that period. In Portugal, empirical evidence on city size distribution based on census data shows that two large cities dominate the urban system, associated with a large number of very small cities and a clear deficit of medium-size cities. In this paper we analyse the evolution of the rank size exponent and examine the effect of varying city size cut-offs on the estimated value of that exponent. Then, we study the deviations of the rank-size distribution from linearity. Finally, we explore the dynamics underlying the evolution of the urban system by examining the relationship between city growth rates and city size. Keywords: city size distribution, Zipf’s law, rank-size, urban hierarchy, urban primacy

Angaben zum Objekt

• Sprache: Englisch

Verweise und Beziehungen

• Erschienen in: Series: 44th Congress of the European Regional Science Association: "Regions and Fiscal Federalism", 25th - 29th August 2004, Porto, Portugal

Klassifikation und Themen

• Klassifikation: Wirtschaft
• Thema: city size distribution ; Zipf’s law ; rank-size ; urban hierarchy ; urban primacy

Beteiligte, Orts- und Zeitangaben

• Ereignis: Geistige Schöpfung
• (wer): Delgado, Ana Paula ; Godinho, Isabel Maria
• Ereignis: Veröffentlichung
• (wer): European Regional Science Association (ERSA)
• (wo): Louvain-la-Neuve
• (wann): 2004

Weitere Informationen

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/117123
• Letzte Aktualisierung: 10.03.2025, 11:43 MEZ