The application of the regional rank-size rule in Turkey (2000-2012)

During the last two decades, an extensive literature on the city-size dynamics of urban systems in developed and developing countries has been produced through the application of Zipf ’s law. In this paper, first, the regional distribution of hierarchical city-size groups is investigated in Turkey. Following this, the regional application of the rank-size rule for 2000 and 2012 is examined, and the results are compared with those of the research carried out in 1975. An analysis of the regional dynamics of hierarchical city-size distributions illustrates that the higher out-migration rates from the under-developed regions of the east to the large cities in the west of the country do not allow the full development of city systems, which is important for economic development. In addition, they have caused over urbanization in the west, which has resulted in higher costs of living, traffic congestion and pollution. Therefore, it is suggested that a more balanced distribution of investments at the country level is required to provide a more balanced distribution of economic development and urbanization.