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Abstract

Urban system and the spatial distribution of population and activities are of utmost importance, not only at the national, but also at the provincial level. Accelerated urbanization, coupled with concentration of population and activities in primate cities of the developing countries, requires a thorough analysis of the existing urban system both at the national as well provincial levels so as to adopt suitable policies for the guidance of this urbanization process.
In this article the existing urban system of the Khuzestan Province, using such techniques as factor analysis and cluster analysis, is surveyed and analyzed. Based on the findings of these analysis, three alternatives for the future urban
system of the Khuzestan Province is proposed. Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), a multi-criteria evaluation technique, is applied to select the most suitable urban system for the Khuzestan Province. The study also proposes that in studying the urban system of the provinces, the strengths, opportunities and potentials of the adjacent provinces also need to be taken into consideration.

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