Indication of long-range correlations governing city size

Area of Science:

• Urban studies
• Spatial analysis
• Network science

Background:

• City systems exhibit functional organization on regional/national scales.
• Understanding city size distributions is good, but spatial organization insights are conceptual.
• Empirical analysis of long-distance city size correlations is needed.

Purpose of the Study:

• To empirically analyze long-distance correlations between city sizes (area).
• To investigate the spatial organization of city systems.
• To assess the scale of interactions between cities.

Main Methods:

• Defining city clusters.
• Obtaining neighborhood networks using Voronoi cells.
• Applying fluctuation analysis along shortest paths.

Main Results:

• Most European countries show long-range correlations in city sizes.
• Some countries exhibit anti-correlations.
• A Central Places Theory-inspired model shows positive correlations unless spatial disorder is high.

Conclusions:

• City interactions extend over large, country-wide distances.
• Urban development or decline can have considerable distant impacts.
• Findings are relevant for urban planning and policy making.