Applying Zipf’s Power Law Over Population Density and Growth as Network Deployment Indicator

Vagia Kyriakidou, Christos Michalakelis, Dimitris Varoutas

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DOI: 10.4236/jssm.2011.42017                

Abstract

Population distribution analysis contains useful information regarding decision making of networks’ deployment. However, both the public and the private sector should decide the development of networks based on qualitative and quantitative criteria, such as the application of power laws. In this work, one of the most widely used power laws ap-plied in demographics, the Zipf’s law, is tested over urban cities in Greece. Apart from the examination of Zipf’s law validation over population, this study provides further results according the distribution of population density as far as an analysis based on population differentiations in the last decades. According to the results, it is proved that the con-sidered sample plays a crucial role to the final conclusions, since the acceptance or the rejection of the law depends on it. Moreover, important information regarding the deployment of networks are revealed and discussed.

Keywords

Population Distribution, Zipf’s Law, Population Density, Network Deployment, Population Growth

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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