We study the distribution of sizes in the Israeli system of cities, using a rank-size representation of population distributions from 1950 to 2005. Based on a multiplicative model of proportionate growth, we develop a quantitative comparison relating the change in the rank-size curves to the change in the real data of Israeli cities during this period. At the level of macro dynamics, there is good agreement between the model and the real data. At the micro level, however, the model is less successful as the mean variation of the cities’ rank during the period studied is much larger in the model than in the real data. To illustrate this difference, we use the rankclock representation
