Assessment of Health Infrastructure as a Major Asset in Rural Himachal Pradesh, 2001-2011

The present study is an attempt to understand the existing pattern of settlement in western India which includes Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra. The application of rank size rule developed by George Kingsley Zipf (1949) and urban primacy developed by Mark Jefferson (1939) are tested on the above mention study area. The main objective of the study is to find out the level of urban primacy and the relationship between population size and number of settlements. Distribution of actual and theoretical population of different rank size cities were calculated and plotted on logarithmic scale to examine the spatial pattern of settlements and the relevance of rank size rule in Western India. Likewise, city primacy Indices was calculated for Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Gujarat. Maharashtra and Gujarat follow primary pattern whereas Rajasthan display binary settlement pattern. The Greater Mumbai is the largest city of the region and more than two times in size than the second largest city Ahmadabad. Further it is more than four time larger than the third rank city of Pune. Thus it is clearly shows that city primacy is exist in western India and Greater Mumbai dominance extends over the entire Western India.