Rank Size Rule and Primate City
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• The Rank Size Rule notes the relationship between the ranks of cities and their populations.
• It was advanced by Zipf in 1941
• The formula is Pn=P1/n where Pn is the population of towns ranked n, P1 is the population of the largest town and n is the rank of the town.
  For example, 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.

  The Law of the Primate City

• The primate city is the largest most dominant city in a region.
• The degree of primacy refers to the dominance of the largest city over the rest of the country.
• Most LDCs (Less Developed Countries) have a high degree of primacy while most MDCs (More Developed Countries) have a low degree of primacy.
• Factors that affect high primacy include
  • Having an underdeveloped economy
  • Having an agriculturally dominant economy
  • A rapidly expanding population
  • A recent colonial history

  Other Notes in this Category

  1. Central Place Theory
  2. Christaller's CPT
  3. Definition
  4. Rank Size Rule and Primate City
  5. The growth of towns and cities
  6. Urban Morphology

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