Megalopolis (city type)

Population tables of world cities

World's largest cities

World's largest cities proper

World's largest municipalities

World's largest urban areas

World's largest metropolitan areas

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World's largest urban agglomerations

World megacities

World megalopolises

Northeast Megalopolis, Taiheiyō Belt

A megalopolis (sometimes called a megapolis or megaregion) is typically defined as a chain of roughly adjacent metropolitan areas. The term was used by Oswald Spengler in his 1918 book, The Decline of the West, and Lewis Mumford in his 1938 book, The Culture of Cities, which described it as the first stage in urban overdevelopment and social decline. Later, it was used by Jean Gottmann in 1957, to describe the huge metropolitan area along the eastern seaboard of the U.S. extending from Boston, Massachusetts through New York City; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Baltimore, Maryland and ending in Washington, D.C.

Definition

A megalopolis, also known as a megaregion, is a clustered network of cities with a population of about 10 million or more. America 2050, an organization sponsored by the Rockefeller and Ford Foundations, lists 11 megaregions in the United States and Canada. Megapolitan areas were explored in a July 2005 report by Robert E. Lang and Dawn Dhavale of the Metropolitan Institute at Virginia Tech. A later 2007 article by Lang and Nelson uses 20 megapolitan areas grouped into 10 megaregions. The concept is based on the original Megalopolis model.

Modern interlinked ground transportation corridors, such as rail and highway, often aid in the development of megalopolises. Using these commuter passageways to travel throughout the megalopolis is informally called megaloping. This term was coined by Davide Gadren and Stefan Berteau.

North America

The United States and Canada

Further information: Megaregions of the United States

Name	Population in millions 2000	Population in millions 2025 (projected)	Major cities	Related articles
Arizona Sun Corridor	5.7	7.4	Mesa, Phoenix, Tucson	Arizona Sun Corridor, Arizona, Valley of the Sun
Cascadia	10.3	10.2	Boise, Eugene, Portland, Salem, Seattle, Tacoma, Spokane, Vancouver, Victoria	Pacific Northwest, Ecotopia, Lower Mainland
Florida	14.7	21.4	Coral Springs, Fort Lauderdale, Jacksonville, Miami, Orlando, St. Petersburg, Tallahassee, Tampa	Florida, South Florida, Central Florida, North Florida
Front Range	4.7	6.8	Albuquerque, Cheyenne, Colorado Springs, Denver, Pueblo, Rio Rancho, Santa Fe, Taos	Front Range Urban Corridor
Gulf Coast	11.7	15.8	Baton Rouge, Corpus Christi, Houston, Mobile, Gulfport, Biloxi, New Orleans, Pensacola	Gulf Coast
Great Lakes	54.1	64.3	Akron, Buffalo, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, Des Moines, Detroit, Grand Rapids, Hamilton, Indianapolis, Kansas City, London, Louisville, Milwaukee,Minneapolis, Montreal, Ottawa, Pittsburgh, Quad Cities, Rochester, St. Louis, Toledo, Toronto, Windsor	Great Lakes Megalopolis, Great Lakes region, Midwestern United States
Northeast	49.6	58.1	Allentown-Bethlehem, Baltimore, Boston, Harrisburg, Hartford, Newark, New York City, Norfolk, Philadelphia, Portland, Providence, Richmond, Virginia Beach, Washington, Worcester	Northeast megalopolis, Northeast Corridor, Northeast
Northern California	12.7	17.3	Fresno, Modesto, Oakland, Reno, Sacramento, San Francisco, San Jose, Stockton	Northern California, California megapolitan areas
Piedmont Atlantic	14.9	20.5	Atlanta, Birmingham, Charlotte, Chattanooga, Columbia, Durham, Greensboro, Greenville, Huntsville, Knoxville, Memphis, Montgomery, Nashville, Raleigh, Winston-Salem	Piedmont Atlantic MegaRegion, Piedmont, New South, South Atlantic States, I-85 Corridor, Piedmont Crescent
Quebec City – Windsor Corridor	18	21	Hamilton, Kitchener, London, Mississauga, Montreal, Ottawa, Quebec City, Toronto, Windsor	Quebec City – Windsor Corridor, Southern Ontario
Southern California	24.9	34.7	Anaheim, Bakersfield, Las Vegas, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, Tijuana	Southern California, California megapolitan areas
Texas Triangle	16.5	26.8	Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio	Texas Triangle, TTC-35, I-35 Corridor

Mexico

• Greater Mexico City - Mexico City plus 60 municipalities in the State of Mexico, Mexico City, State of Hidalgo in Mexico (almost 25 million)

• The Megalopolis of Central Mexico was defined to be integrated by the metropolitan areas of Mexico City, Puebla, Cuernavaca, Toluca and Pachuca. The megalopolis of central Mexico is integrated by 173 municipalities (91 of the state of Mexico, 29 of the state of Puebla, 37 of the state of Tlaxcala, 16 of Morelos and 16 of Hidalgo) and the 16 boroughs of the Federal District,[7] with an approximate total population of 35 million.

• The "Región Metropolitana del Bajío" in Northern Central Mexico is a chain of settlements that stretches 334 km (208 mi) in four states (Querétaro, Guanajuato, Jalisco, and Aguascalientes). Federal Highway 45 works as the backbone for this megalopolis, which includes 4 metro areas (León (ranked 7th nationwide), Querétaro (11th), Aguascalientes (13th) and San Francisco del Rincón (53rd)) and 5 medium sized cities (Lagos de Moreno, Irapuato, Salamanca, Celaya, and San Juan del Río). Route 45 runs through 5 more municipalities (Encarnación de Díaz, Cortazar, Villagrán, Apaseo el Grande, and Pedro Escobedo). This system of 21 municipalities has a population of 5.141 million people and high levels of growth. However, some other cities could be included in this megalopolis (such as San Miguel de Allende and Guanajuato) since even if they are not located on Route 45 they are close enough to interact heavily with the system. It is expected that in 2040, this corridor will fuse with the megalopolis of Central Mexico.

South America

Name	Country	Population in millions 2000	Major cities
Caracas	Venezuela	19	Valencia, Maracay, Miranda, Los Teques, San Antonio de los Altos, Petare, Guarenas, Puerto Cabello
Greater Buenos Aires	Argentina	22	Buenos Aires, La Matanza, Moreno, Avellaneda, Lanús, San Isidro, Lujan, Hurlingham, Pilar, Quilmes, Morón, La Plata in Argentina
Greater Rio de Janeiro	Brazil	11 (13*)	Rio de Janeiro, Niterói, São Gonçalo, Duque de Caxias, Nova Iguaçu, (*if including Sul Fluminense mesoregion)
Greater São Paulo	Brazil	29	Campinas, Jundiaí, Sorocaba, São Paulo, Santos, São José dos Campos, Taubaté
Lima Metropolitan Area	Peru	9	Lima, Callao
Metropolitan Area of Bogotá	Colombia	20.3	Bogotá, Soacha, Funza, Tenjo, Chía, Cajicá, Zipaquirá, Facatativá, Sopó, Mosquera, Medellín, Cali, Ibague, Eje Cafetero (Pereira, Armenia, Manizales)
Santiago Metropolitan Region	Chile	6.9	Valparaíso, San Antonio, Santiago, Los Andes, Rancagua

Europe

View of Europe at night

• The "Blue Banana" Megalopolis - European backbone: Liverpool–Manchester–Leeds–Birmingham-London-Brussels–Antwerp–Amsterdam–Rotterdam–The Hague–Luxembourg–Rhine-Ruhr–Frankfurt am Main–Munich–Stuttgart–Basel–Zürich–Turin–Milan (78,000,000)

• Greater London (Larger Urban Zone) - London and surrounding urban area of South East England (14 million)
• Chain of large towns in Northern England and English Midlands - Blackpool (261,088), Preston (264,601), Blackburn (136,655), Burnley (149,796), Liverpool (1,365,900), Warrington (158,195), Manchester (2,629,400), Leeds (2,161,200), Sheffield (1,299,400), Chesterfield (100,879), Mansfield (158,114), Nottingham (666,358), Derby (236,738), Leicester (441,213), Nuneaton (132,236), Coventry (336,452), Birmingham (2,284,093), Telford (138,241), The Potteries (362,403), Total (13,283,000).
• Rhine-Ruhr in the western part of Germany, including Cologne, Düsseldorf, Dortmund (11.5 million).
• Flemish Diamond - Brussels, Antwerp, and the central provinces of Flanders (5.5 million)
• The Randstad in the Netherlands is a conurbation with approximately 7.5 million inhabitants. It consists of the four largest Dutch cities (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht), and the surrounding areas. If the adjacent Brabantse Stedenrij (Eindhoven, Tilburg, Breda, 's Hertogenbosch and Helmond) is included, its population would be around 9.5 million.
• Milan metropolitan area in Italy - According to OECD, with approximately 7.5 million. Potentially some parts of the Swiss Canton Ticino can be considered within the metropolis, thus making it a transnational city; however, this is not recognized by the OECD definition.

• The "Golden Banana" or "European Sunbelt" Megalopolis - European arch: Genoa–Monaco–Nice–Toulon–Marseille–Nîmes–Montpellier–Narbonne–Perpignan–Girona–Barcelona–Tarragona–Castelló–Valencia–Alicante–Murcia) Approx. 22.5 million. Some also include Toulouse–Andorra–Manresa, plus Zaragoza–Lleida and even the Balearic Islands, increasing all up to 25 million.

• Genoa metropolitan area in Italy
• Nice metropolitan area in France
• Toulon metropolitan area in France
• Marseille metropolitan area in France
• Montpellier metropolitan area in France
• The "Mediterranean Axis" in Spain and south-east France - Perpignan–Girona–Barcelona–Tarragona–Castellón de la Plana–Valencia–Alicante–Murcia (12 million).

• Perpignan metropolitan area (300,000).
• Greater Barcelona: Catalonia's coastal area (6.2 million).
• Valencia metropolitan region - Valencia–Sagunt–Castellón de la Plana (2.5 million).
• Murcia-Alicante metropolitan region - Benidorm–Alicante-Elche–Torrevieja–Orihuela–Murcia–Cartagena (2.5 million).

• Greater Istanbul - Istanbul, Gebze, Kocaeli, Yalova, Gemlik, Bursa, Çorlu, Tekirdağ, Turkey. This is an example of a transcontinental megalopolis and Istanbul is a transcontinental city, since both cover land in both Asia and Europe (24 million).

• Île-de-France - Paris and region (12 million)

• Centrope, Vienna Basin, including Brno and Bratislava, comprising roughly 6 million; connected to Budapest and Katowice, it may form a European metropolitan canal with up to 20 million inhabitants.

• The Gulf of Finland region is comprising Saint Petersburg federal city and Leningrad oblast in Russia, Uusimaa, Kymenlaakso, Päijänne Tavastia, Tavastia Proper, Pirkanmaa, Finland Proper and South Karelia regions in Finland and Harju County in Estonia. It links up the cities of Saint Petersburg, Helsinki and Tallinn and their surroundings. It has 10.1 million inhabitants, linked together by the Karelian Trains high-speed train "Allegro" which runs between Helsinki and St. Petersburg and high-speed craft ferries which sail between Helsinki and Tallinn.

• The Moscow metropolitan region - Moscow (11.5 million) and the Moscow Oblast (7 million)

• Greater Madrid (Community of Madrid and parts of Segovia, Guadalajara and Toledo provinces) - Madrid, Spain (7 million)

• Silesian metropolitan area - Katowice, Kraków (Kraków metropolitan area) and sometimes included Częstochowa and Opole metropolitan area, Poland and small part of Czech Republic with Ostrava (about 7.5 million)

• Attica - The megapolis of Athens, Greece, covering the most of the basin of the district of Attica. (4.5 million)

• The Mälaren Valley region in Sweden links up the cities of Stockholm, Uppsala, Västerås, Örebro and Eskilstuna and their surroundings, creating a region of 3.1 million people.

• The Øresund Region comprising Zealand and adjacent islands in Denmark and Skåne, Sweden, links up the cities of Copenhagen, Malmö, Lund, Helsingborg and Helsingør. It has 3.7 million inhabitants, linked together by the Øresund Bridge.

Asia

China

Emerging megacities in China (in decreasing order of population):

• Pearl River Delta (珠江三角洲): (Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Dongguan, Guangzhou, Foshan, Jiangmen, Zhongshan, Zhuhai, Macau, Huizhou) (120,000,000)

• Yangtze River Delta (長江三角洲): (Shanghai, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Suzhou, Jingjiang, Wuxi, Changzhou, Zhenjiang, Yangzhou, Taizhou, Nantong, Huzhou, Jiaxing, Shaoxing, Jiangyin, Haimen, Zhangjiagang, Zhoushan, Ma'anshan) (88,000,000)

• Beibu Gulf Economic Rim and Red River Delta (环北部湾经济圈): Greater Nanning (Nanning, Beihai, Yulin, Qinzhou, Chongzuo, Binhai, Fangchenggang) and the Red River Delta in Vietnam (Hanoi, Hai Phong, Thanh Hóa, Nam Dinh, & Hai Duong)(33,700,000)

• Bohai Economic Rim (环渤海经济圈): Beijing, Tianjin, Dalian, Anshan, Fushun, Dandong, Sinuiju, Tangshan, Yantai, Shenyang, Jinan, Qinhuangdao, Qingdao, Weihai (66,400,000)

• Coastal cities of Fujian Province: Xiamen, Fuzhou, Wenzhou, Shantou, Jieyang, Chaozhou (35,000,000)

• Central Plain (中原): Kaifeng, Xinxiang, Zhengzhou, Luoyang (24,170,000)

• The central Liaoning city cluster in China. Within 150 km from its center Shenyang (7.2 million), it has Fushun (3 million), Anshan City (3.6 million), Benxi (1.5 million), Liaoyang (1.8 million), Yingkou (2.2 million), Panjin (1.2 million), and Tieling (3.4 million), with a total population of 23 million. And it can be further extended to Dalian (6.2 million), Fuxin (2 million) and Dandong (2.4 million). This area used to be the most industrialized region in China. It declined during 1980s-1990s, but in recent years, it has rapidly revived.

• Northeastern Cities or the Harbin–Changchun Area (哈尔滨长春地区): Harbin, Qiqihar, Daqing, Changchun, Jilin City, Siping including Rason in North Korea and Vladivostok in Russia (21,832,000)

• Sichuan basin (四川盆地) or the Chengyu Megalopolis (成渝都市圈): Chengdu, Chongqing, Zigong, Luzhou (20,878,000)

• Greater Wuhan Megalopolis (大武汉都市圈): Wuhan, Huangshi, Xinyang, Jiujiang, Yueyang (20,000,000)

• Guanzhong (关中): Xi'an, Xianyang, Baoji (16,722,000)

• Greater Changsha Metropolitan region (长株潭城市群): Changsha, Zhuzhou, Xiangtan(12,994,400 in 2000)

India

• National Capital Region (NCR) - New Delhi, Ghaziabad, Noida, Faridabad & Gurgaon (24 million).
• Mumbai Metropolitan Region- Mumbai, Thane and Navi Mumbai (20 million).
• Kolkata metropolitan area- Kolkata, Howrah and Chandannagore (15 million)
• Bangalore metro area BDA - Bangalore, Hoskote ,Hosur(TN) (This is considered a part of the agglomeration for census purpose only) (9 million)
• Chennai Metropolitan Area- Chennai, Kanchipuram, Chengalpet, Thiruvallur, Mahabalipuram (11 million)
• Lucknow-Kanpur Metropolitan Area- (6 million)
• Hyderabad metro area GHMC - Hyderabad, Secunderabad (8 million)
• Ahmedabad Metro area- Ahmedabad (5.5 million)
• Pune Metropolitan Area- Pune (5 miilion)
• Kochi metropolitan area-Kochi (2.1 million)

Indonesia

• Jakarta–Depok–Bogor–Tangerang–Bekasi (Jabodetabek)-Purwakarta–Bandung in Indonesia (36.0 million)

Japan

• Taiheiyō Belt – Ibaraki, Saitama, Chiba, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Shizuoka, Aichi, Gifu, Mie, Osaka, Hyōgo, Wakayama, Okayama, Hiroshima, Yamaguchi, Kitakyūshū, Fukuoka, and Ōita in Japan. (80 million)

Korea

• Most of South Korea: Gyeonggi-do(Seoul–Incheon–Suwon–Seongnam–Goyang–Bucheon–Ansan–Anyang–Yongin etc.)-Cheonan–Jeonju–Daejeon–Cheongju–Daegu–Gwangju–Pohang–Changwon–Ulsan–Busan. (70 million)

Pakistan

• Karachi - Hyderabad metropolitan area - 19,798,890 (Karachi - Hyderabad - Badin - Tando Muhammad Khan)
• Lahore - Faisalabad - Sheikhupura metropolis - 15,069,321
• Golden Triangle region - 8,172,429 (Gujranwala - Gujrat - Sialkot)
• Indus River metropolitan region - 6,566,827 (Larkana, Sukkar, Khairpur, Jacobabad)
• Islamabad - Rawalpindi - Taxilla - Wah Cantt belt - 5,444,081
• Peshawar Valley metropolitan region - 5,375,955 (Peshawar - Charsadda - Mardan - Nowshera)

Philippines

• Metro Manila and surrounding regions of Central Luzon, and Calabarzon (Metro Luzon Urban Beltway) in the Philippines (21 million)

Thailand

• Ayutthaya–Bangkok–Pattaya–Chonburi–Nakhon Ratchasima in Thailand, includes three metropolitan areas and is the most urbanized and developed area in Indochina or mainland Southeast Asia (25 million)

Taiwan

• West coast of Taiwan, from Taipei to Kaohsiung (18 million)

United Arab Emirates

• Dubai–Abu Dhabi–Sharjah–Ajman conurbation (4,570,000)

Saudi Arabia

• East coast of Saudi Arabia (Jubail–Qatif–Dhahran–Dammam–Khobar) (5,000,000)

Africa

• Kenitra–Salé–Rabat–Temara–sekhirate–Bouznika–Mohammadia–Casablanca, Morocco (over 10 million)

• Cairo–Giza–Qalyubia–Helwan–6th of October City (Greater Cairo), Egypt (16 million)

• Lagos–Ibadan–Cotonou, including Porto-Novo and Abeokuta, Nigeria/Benin (22 million)

• The Gauteng City Region (PWV), which includes the urbanised portion of Gauteng Province (Pretoria, Centurion, Midrand, Johannesburg and the Vaal Triangle, with a population of over 10 million)

Australia

• Sydney region (6.3 million) - Sydney including Gosford and Blue Mountains (5.3 million), Lake Macquarie (198,000) Hunter Valley (645,395) and Wollongong (292,000). These populations are forecast to increase dramatically over the next 30 years.^{[citation needed]}

• South East Queensland (3 million) - Brisbane (2.0 million), Gold Coast–Tweed Heads (583,000), Sunshine Coast (323,000) and Toowoomba (129,000).

Largest megalopolises

Distribution of world population in 1994.

See below for a list of the world's largest megalopolises, in descending order of population using the most recent census available:

1. Indo-Gangetic Plain: Delhi, Kanpur, Kolkata, Varanasi, Dhaka — 200 million.^{[citation needed]}.
2. Pearl River Delta: Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Dongguan, Huizhou, Guangzhou, Foshan, Jiangmen, Zhongshan, Zhuhai, Macau — 120 million.
3. Blue Banana: Dublin, Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, Sheffield, Birmingham, London, Randstad, the Netherlands–Rhine-Ruhr, Frankfurt/Rhine-Main, Rhine-Neckar, Basel, Zürich, Milan–^β — 90 million.
4. Yangtze River Delta: Shanghai, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Suzhou, Wuxi - 88 million.
5. Taiheiyo Belt: Chiba, Tokyo, Kawasaki, Yokohama, Nagoya, Kyoto, Osaka, Kobe, Hiroshima — 75 million.
6. Bohai Economic Rim: Beijing, Tianjin, Dalian, Anshan, Fushun, Dandong, Sinuiju, Tangshan, Yantai, Shenyang, Jinan, Qinhuangdao, Qingdao, Weihai — 66 million
7. Great Lakes Megalopolis: Chicago, Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, St. Louis, Minneapolis, Indianapolis, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Dayton, Columbus, Grand Rapids, Toledo, Akron, Rochester, Buffalo — 54 million.
8. Northeast Megalopolis: New York, Boston, New Jersey, Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Philadelphia, Hartford, Richmond, Norfolk — 50 million.

See also

• Merger (politics)
• Arcology
• Conurbation
• Ecumenopolis
• Ekistics
• Global city

• Settlement types:
  • Hamlet
  • Village
  • Town
  • City
  • Metropolis
  • Types of inhabited localities in Russia

• Megacity
• Metroplex
• Metropolitan area
• Transborder agglomeration
• Urban agglomeration

• Developed environments:
  • Exurban
  • Rural
  • Suburban
  • Urban

References

• "World Urbanization Prospects: The 2005 revision" (PDF). http://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/WUP2005/2005WUP_DataTables11.pdf.