The pattern where the nth largest is 1/n the population of the largest

• A. Urban hierarchy
• B. Annexation
• C. Blockbusting
• D. Rank-size rule

Answer: (D)

The main idea is the rank-size rule for urban systems. In many countries, city populations follow a simple scaling: the nth largest city has about 1/n of the population of the largest city. So if the biggest city has 1,000,000 people, the second largest would be around 500,000, the third around 333,000, and so on. This creates a predictable urban hierarchy where a few large cities dominate, and many smaller ones fill in the rest. It’s a mathematical description of how city sizes tend to distribute themselves, though real-world factors like geography, history, and policy can cause deviations. This pattern is different from broader ideas like an overall urban hierarchy alone or practical processes like annexation or blockbusting.