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A Survey of Urban Hierarchy System with Emphasis of Systematic Relations Between Cities (Case Study: Ardabil Province)

This paper attempts to present the urban hierarchy in Ardabil province (I.R. Iran) between 1986-19962006. During this period, the urban hierarchy of this province is unbalanced but improving. Regarding the political, economical and cultural aspects, Ardabil city (the center of the province) attracts more immigrants and this fact has made urban hierarchy not follow the Rank-Size Role. In 1986, the population of Ardabil (the most populated city) was 9 times more than Meshkinshahr (the second populated city)and 10 times more than Parsabad(the third populated city). Although in 1986, Parsabad was the third populated city but in 1996 it became the second city and the population of Ardabil was 6 times more than it. In 2006 urban hierarchy in province has improved and the population of the first city (Ardabil) has been 5 times more than the second city (Parsabad) and 7 times more than the third city (Meshkinshahr). The use of the other methods (such as Mehta Index and Entropy Index) also gives the same results. On the whole, the urban hierarchy in urban network of Ardabil province has been unbalanced but moving to be balanced during this period. Providing equal opportunities for every city of the province and presenting better services in small cities could help the optimal spatial hierarchy in this province.