المدن في محافظة الكرك بين تطور أحجامها ورتبها وتوزيعها وتفاعلها خلال الفترة من عام 2004 إلى عام 2024

Abstract

The study aimed to identify the trends of the development of city sizes and ranks, their spatial distribution pattern, and the extent of interaction between them in Karak Governorate. The study relied on the descriptive analytical approach, using a number of quantitative methods, including: the rank and size rule, neighborhood relationship analysis, the Raleigh model, the population center of gravity model, and the gravity model. The study showed through the rank and size rule that cities in Karak Governorate do not appear in the form of a hierarchical structure. It also showed, based on the distances between cities through neighborhood relationship analysis, that these cities follow a random, scattered pattern. It showed through interaction models the difference in the distances of the cut-off points between the first city and the second city in Karak Governorate, and that the closer the cut-off point is to the first city, the greater the interaction with the second city.

The study reached some recommendations, including: grouping small cities, merging them with some medium and large cities depending on the distances between them, building new cities as growth points to stimulate balanced urban development, and continuously evaluating the urban development process and determining its priorities.