Page 124 - Life & Land Use on the Bahrain Islands (Curtis E Larsen)

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Smith (1976) discusses modern economic development models for
undeveloped countries to explain both changes in agrarian development and
institutionalized markets. In many ways these are pertinent to this study. A first
appraisal of Bahrain in these terms can be gained by viewing the various villages of
the islands in relation to their hierarchical positions with Manama. In a general
way, this distribution can be approached by analyzing the ranking of settlements by
population. This is done by plotting settlement rank as a function of urban
population and utilizing logarithmic scales for both axes. Two significant
distributions can be perceived. In the first case, the size-ranked villages show a
relationship given by the formula:
Pn = ^(nf1

where Pj is the population of the nth town in a series 1, 2, 3...n in which all towns in
a region are arranged in descending order by population, and P. is the largest town.
This relationship is formally known as the rank-size rule (Haggett 1966:101). In the
second case, a primate pattern is common. Here, the distribution is irregular with
the first order center or centers noticeably larger than predicted by the rank-size
rule.
Berry (1961) suggests that the rank-size distribution occurs in mature,
large-scale, highly organized, stratified, or complex societies. The conditions that
seem to give rise to this distribution indicate a diffusion of economic growth along
three courses. The first is centrifugally away from the heartland center to those
of the hinterlands. Second, this diffusion is from centers of higher to centers of
lower order in the hierarchy. Finally, the economic growth is from urban centers
into their surrounding fields (Berry 1971). The primate pattern is more
straightforward. Smith sees it as resulting from fewer specific forces and as a
possible indicator of imperfect competition within the economy, In primate
patterns, all parts of a region are not equally serviced as they are with most
rank-size distributions. Specific urban centers may monopolize suppliers and
consumers and inadequately service the more distant rural areas. This case can be
linked to a von Thmen state with small market centers peripheral to and dominated
by a single large urban center (Smith 1976:30). Berry (1971) sees primacy as a