Spatial Analysis of Khorasan Urban Network (1956- 2011)

This research tends to study the changes of Khorasan's urban network in the period between 1956 and 2011 Census, explaining explains the factors affecting these changes. Also, it seeks to study the correlation between the results obtained from common indicators in Khorasan’s urban network. The current research adopts a descriptive – analytical approach anddocument analysis and library methods have been used for gathering data. In this research, 11 indicators in form of three groups of primate city, concentration and equivalent indices as well as Crictaller's central place theory and the diffusion pattern of urban settlements (the nearest neighborhood technique) have been usedfor data analysis.Findings and The results show that urban network of Khorasan region was nonequivalent in all censuses in the period between1956 and 2011. Landreform, the rise of revenues gained by selling oil in 1970s, investment in urban areas, development in Afghanistan, existence of facilities and job opportunities in Mashhad and so on are among factors contributing to nonequivalence in the Khorasan region. These indicators however, show that the trend of changes in recent years is moving toward equivalence. According to the results, indicators derived from urban network of Khorasan region are Inconsistent.