Cities as spatial clusters

This article shows that Zipf’s Law for cities can emerge as a property of a clustering process. If initially uniformly distributed people chose their location based on a specific gravity equation as found in trade studies, they will form cities that follow Zipf’s Law in expected value. This view of...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Rauch, Ferdinand (Author)
Format: Article (Journal)
Language:English
Published: July 20141
In: Journal of economic geography
Year: 2014, Volume: 14, Issue: 4, Pages: 759-773
ISSN:1468-2710
DOI:10.1093/jeg/lbt034
Online Access:Verlag, lizenzpflichtig, Volltext: https://doi.org/10.1093/jeg/lbt034
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Author Notes:Ferdinand Rauch
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Summary:This article shows that Zipf’s Law for cities can emerge as a property of a clustering process. If initially uniformly distributed people chose their location based on a specific gravity equation as found in trade studies, they will form cities that follow Zipf’s Law in expected value. This view of cities as spatial agglomerations is supported empirically by the observation that larger cities are surrounded by larger hinterland areas and larger countryside populations.
Item Description:Online veröffentlicht am 30. Oktober 2013
Gesehen am 14.03.2023
Physical Description:Online Resource
ISSN:1468-2710
DOI:10.1093/jeg/lbt034