<p> The purpose of this research paper is to empirically examine
the evolution of the Canadian urban system throughout the
past century. This task is completed with the use of the
rank-size rule and the parameters that emanate from its
logarithmic distribution. This process entails the creation
of a historical data set from the inception of the urban
areas of each one of the twenty-four CMAs that are used in
this study. The collection of the evolving slope and yintercept
parameters during the study's fourteen rank-size
distribution periods, shows how policy decisions are
manifested in the empirical changes of the rank-size rule's
slope. Confederation and expansion of the railroad into the
prairie frontier are distictly evident in the evolving
parameters. It was also found that Canada's geographical
distribution of CMAs apparently limits the rank-size rule
constant to a value of -1.1 . This distribution is steeper
than the optimal market efficiency slope of -1.0 as
presented in Zipf's explanation of the forces of attraction
and dispersion of economic activity. The statistical
results of this paper can be used to· compare different
national systems or take a more regional approach in
comparing Canadian CMA sub-systems. </p> / Thesis / Bachelor of Arts (BA)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:mcmaster.ca/oai:macsphere.mcmaster.ca:11375/20367 |
| Date | 04 1900 |
| Creators | Thersidis, Christos |
| Contributors | Geography |
| Source Sets | McMaster University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
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