Zipf is associated with which rule describing city size distributions?

Zipf is associated with which rule describing city size distributions?

• A. Rank-size rule
• B. Central Place Theory
• C. Burgess model
• D. Concentric zone model

Answer: (A)

This question tests how city sizes tend to be distributed across a country. Zipf’s rule, or the rank-size rule, describes a regular pattern where a city’s population is roughly inversely proportional to its rank in the urban system. In plain terms, the largest city is about as large as the second-largest city times two, the third-largest about a third of the largest, and so on. This creates a predictable, stepped hierarchy of cities in many regions, though real-world deviations occur due to history, geography, and policy. The other ideas describe how settlements function or how land use is arranged around a center, not the rule governing city-size distributions. Central Place Theory explains the spacing and size of settlements based on service thresholds and ranges, while the Burgess concentric-zone models describe urban land-use patterns radiating from the central business district. Those focus on structure and layout, not the empirical pattern of city sizes.

This question tests how city sizes tend to be distributed across a country. Zipf’s rule, or the rank-size rule, describes a regular pattern where a city’s population is roughly inversely proportional to its rank in the urban system. In plain terms, the largest city is about as large as the second-largest city times two, the third-largest about a third of the largest, and so on. This creates a predictable, stepped hierarchy of cities in many regions, though real-world deviations occur due to history, geography, and policy.

The other ideas describe how settlements function or how land use is arranged around a center, not the rule governing city-size distributions. Central Place Theory explains the spacing and size of settlements based on service thresholds and ranges, while the Burgess concentric-zone models describe urban land-use patterns radiating from the central business district. Those focus on structure and layout, not the empirical pattern of city sizes.