Urban Population Systems in Iran: A comparative analysis of southern Alborz and Khorasan regions

Urban systems in each country explain how the interaction of regional cities happen. In this study, we have analyzed the spatial distribution of city population on ten regions of national and regional physical plans, the years 1956 to 2011 are discussed and has been analyzed both the urban population system and the ten physical regions. Of the ten regions of national and regional physical plans, two regions of the southern Alborz (Including the provinces of Tehran, Markazi, Semnan, Zanjan, Qazvin, Qom and Alborz) and Khorasan (Including the provinces of South Khorassan, Razvi Korasan and North Kohorasan) ,respectively, had the highest and lowest rates of change between the ten regions. In the follow-up analysis , indicators such as the first twenty positions in the years 1956 to 2011, the analysis of the actual population and population number of twenty cities Primary of the region in relation to the theoretical Zipf in 2011 and also the analysis of primacy city and decentralization city in the South Khorasan and Alborz, was completed separately. Finally, a comparison between Khorasan region and southern Alborz together and with physical national and regional regions determined that southern Alborz region despite its position among the ten regions was not affected by a change but the intra-regional changes are massive and large altered. Conversely, Khorasan region that on the variations between Regions has been a fundamental change, in the intra-regional variations was found in relative comfort. The study also revealed that due to the changes between regional, it cannot be possible to make an intra-regional analysis and predictions are imposssible.