Megalopolis

A megalopolis (sometimes called a megapolis) is defined as an extensive metropolitan area or a long chain of roughly continuous metropolitan areas. The term was used by 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; and ending in Washington, D.C. According to Gottmann, it resulted from changes in work and social habits. The concept was later extended to include the following regions: BosWash (Boston–Washington), ChiPitts (Chicago to Pittsburgh), Quebec City–Windsor Corridor, SanSan, and Bajalta California. A megalopolis is also frequently a megacity, megapolitan area, or a metropolitan area with a total population in excess of 10 million people.

Megalopolis is used in urban studies as a term to link the metropolitan Combined Statistical Areas of Boston–Worcester–Manchester, MA–RI–NH; Springfield, MA–Holyoke, MA, Hartford–West Hartford–Willimantic, CT; New York–Newark–Bridgeport, NY–NJ–CT–PA; Philadelphia–Camden–Vineland, PA–NJ–DE–MD; and Washington, D.C.–Baltimore–Northern Virginia, DC–MD–VA–WV.

The Pittsburgh–Chicago Corridor is an urban studies term that describes the area running through the Rust Belt from the Mid-Atlantic States to the Western Great Lakes region, although great spans of agricultural land and woodlots separates the urban areas. Within this megalopolis, the Steel City Corridor describes the area connecting Cleveland to Pittsburgh via Youngstown and Warren, Ohio, and Sharon–Farrell–New Castle, Pennsylvania. Historically, these areas are known as the Steel Valleys (along the Mahoning and Shenango rivers).

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 called megaloping.

Extension of term

Although U.S.-based demographers did not look beyond the U.S. and Canada, there exists roughly the same concept and structures worldwide, namely "long chains of roughly continuous metropolitan areas". A 2005 study by The Metropolitan Institute at Virginia Tech attempted to create strict, contemporary criteria for definition as a megalopolis or megaregion; within the United States, the criteria included cultural links, commuting patterns, a contiguous regional configuration, and a population within a precisely defined area of at least 10 million. The study identified 10 areas in the U.S. that would meet this strict definition of a present or emergent megalopolis.

The concept exists conceptually in other nations, though not always called by the U.S. term megalopolis. The following is a list of dense, built up areas of multiple large cities each with suburbs that coalesce into one large urban zone or corridor, with few or little rural areas in between. Like U.S. megalopolises, they often have a strong interlinked ground transportation backbone (rail, highway, etc.) aiding in their growth. In nighttime aerial photographs, these areas are artificially lit and stand out from their surroundings. They can be thought of as a worldwide (non-U.S. centric) extension of the term megalopolis.

This is a list of continuously built up areas. Population estimates are a general guide, but the criteria are not meant for comparison. Significant variation applies when comparing chains of metropolitan areas – as there can be several metropolitan areas definitions even for the same city – and methods differ from city to city, nation to nation, and year to year.

• Taiheiyō Belt – Ibaraki, Saitama, Chiba, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Shizuoka, Aichi, Gifu, Mie, Osaka, Hyogo, Wakayama, Okayama, Hiroshima, Yamaguchi, Kitakyushu, Fukuoka, and Oita in Japan. (roughly 82.9 million)
• Boston–Providence–Hartford–Manchester–New York–Newark–Philadelphia–Wilmington–Baltimore–Washington, D.C., known as BosWash or the Northeast Corridor, the most populous and largely developed area in the Western Hemisphere (55 million)
• London-Birmingham-Sheffield-Leeds-Manchester-Liverpool-Sunderland-Newcastle, also known as the Lon-Leed-Chester. (51 million).
• Green Bay–Milwaukee–Chicago–Indianapolis–Rockford–Madison–Grand Rapids–Detroit/Windsor–Fort Wayne–Toledo–Cleveland–Columbus–Cincinnati–Pittsburgh–Erie–Buffalo–Toronto–Hamilton, known as ChiPitts and previously known as the Rust Belt (54 million)
• Campinas-Jundiaí-Sorocaba–São Paulo–Santos–São José dos Campos–Taubaté-Volta Redonda–Rio de Janeiro in Brazil (43 million)
• Jakarta–Depok–Bogor–Tangerang–Bekasi (Jabodetabek)-Purwakarta–Bandung in Indonesia (36.5 million)
• Metro Manila and surrounding regions of Central Luzon, and CALABARZON (Metro Luzon Urban Beltway) in the Philippines (33 million)
• Ayutthaya–Bangkok–Pattaya–Chon Buri–Nakhon Ratchasima in Thailand, includes three metropolitan areas and is the most urbanized and developed area in Indochina or mainland South East Asia (25 million)
• Beijing–Tianjin–Tangshan in China (23 million, all other Hebei cities excluded)
• Mexico City (plus 60 municipalities in the State of Mexico and Tizayuca, Hidalgo) in Mexico (over 21 million)
• West coast of Taiwan, from Taipei to Kaohsiung (18 million)
• Rhine-Ruhr in the western part of Germany (approximately 10 million, including Cologne, Düsseldorf, Dortmund)
• The Randstad in the west (including Brabantse Stedenrij) of the Netherlands (approximately 10.5 million)
• Most of South Korea (Incheon–Seoul–Daejon–Daegu–Busan) (32 million)
• Delhi–New Delhi–Gurgaon–Faridabad–Noida–Ghaziabad, India (18 million)
• Cairo–Giza-Kalyoubia-Helwan-6th of October (Greater Cairo), Egypt (16 million)
• Los Angeles–Ventura–San Bernardino–Riverside–Orange, collectively known as Greater Los Angeles, includes the 5-county region of the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area, the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario Metropolitan Area, and the Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura metro area and includes 17.7 million residents.
• San Francisco–Oakland–San Jose–Monterey–Salinas–Santa Rosa–Napa Valley–Sacramento–Stockton–Modesto–Fresno, California known as the Bay Area, the Central Valley, and outlying areas in Northern California, as well as Reno, Nevada (entire area known as the Northern California megaregion); (14 million)
• Kolkata–Asansol, India (20 million)
• Mumbai–Pune, India (25 million)
• Lagos–Ibadan–Cotonou, including Porto Novo and Abeokuta, Nigeria/Benin (22 million)
• Extended Golden Horseshoe - London–Tillsonburg–Ingersoll–Woodstock–Kitchener/Waterloo–Guelph–Brantford–Hamilton–Greater Toronto Area–Oshawa/Whitby–Barrie–Peterborough–Cobourg–Niagara Falls, ON/NY–Buffalo (11 million, <9 million in ON, >2 million in NY)
• Quebec City–Windsor Corridor (17 million - Canadian population only; >25 million if U.S. border cities within 100 km included)
• The Gauteng City Region (PWV), which includes the urbanised portion of Gauteng Province (Johannesburg, Pretoria and the Vaal Triangle, with a population of over 10 million), and urban areas outside the province which are functionally linked, such as Witbank-Middelburg, Secunda, Rustenburg, and Potchefstroom-Klerksdorp, pushing the population up to between 15 and 20 million
• Greater La Plata–Buenos Aires Metropolitan area–Greater Rosario–Santa Fé–Paraná, in Argentina along the Rio de la Plata and Paraná rivers (19 million).
• Chicago–Milwaukee–Madison–Rockford–South Bend (14 million)
• Istanbul–Gebze-Kocaeli-Yalova-Gemlik-Bursa–Çorlu-Tekirdag, Turkey. This is an example of a transcontinental megalopolis and Istanbul is a transcontinental city, since both cover land in both Asia and Europe. (20 million)
• Greater Hyderabad (Hyderabad,Secunderabad) in India (more than 10 Million)
• Metropolitan Area of Bogotá (Bogotá, Soacha, Funza, Tenjo, Chía, Cajicá, Zipaquirá, Facatativá, Sopó, Mosquera) in Colombia (more than 9 Million)
• Katowice–Kraków–Bielsko-Biala, Poland (about 7 million)

Emergent or potential megalopolis

Brazil

• São Paulo–Campinas–Santos–Rio de Janeiro–Belo Horizonte, in Brazil, with approximately 49 million inhabitants (includes the Sorocaba, Jundiaí, Jacareí, São José dos Campos, Taubaté, Volta Redonda, Juiz de Fora, Barbacena, Conselheiro Lafaiete, Divinopolis, Campos dos Goytacazes areas).

Canada

• Quebec City–Windsor Corridor – the densest populated area in Canada, with over 17 million people, estimated to double in the next 10 to 20 years. (2001 Census)

China

• The Pearl River Delta (PRD) in Guangdong region, China could be considered a megalopolis, as it is dense and contains 11 cities including Hong Kong (7 million), Macau (0.5 million), Guangzhou (over 10 million), Shenzhen (over 7 million), Zhuhai (1.3 million), Dongguan (6.6 million), Foshan (5.5 million), Jiangmen (4.1 million), parts of Zhaoqing (3.4 million), parts of Huizhou (3.3 million) and Zhongshan (2.4 million). Total 50 million, migrant workers included.

• The Yangtze River Delta between southern Jiangsu province and northern Zhejiang, China could also be considered a megalopolis, though less developed compared to the Pearl River Delta. It contains at least 16 cities including Shanghai (over 15 million), Nanjing (6.4 million), Hangzhou (6.4 million), Ningbo (5.5 million), Nantong (7.7 million), Suzhou (6.1 million), Taizhou (5.5 million), Taizhou (5.0 million), Yangzhou (4.5 million), Wuxi (4.5 million), Shaoxing (4.4 million), Changzhou (3.5 million), Jiaxing (3.3 million), Zhenjiang (2.7 million), Huzhou (2.6 million) and Zhoushan (1 million). Total 80 million.

• The central Liaoning city cluster in China. Within 150 km from its center Shenyang (7.2 million), it has Fushun (3 million), Anshan (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.

Europe

• The Oresund Region comprising Zealand and adjacent islands in Denmark and Skåne, Sweden, has 3.7 million inhabitants, linked together by the Oresund Bridge.

• 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.

Republic of India

• The National Capital Region of Delhi, Noida, and Gurgaon can be considered as a megalopolis with a population of about 12 million.

• The industrial-IT hub between Mumbai and Navi Mumbai with a total population of around 16 million can also be considered a megalopolis.

• The Bengaluru-Hosur corridor with a population of 7 million may soon be a megalopolis with the current rate of increase in population.

Japan

• The megalopolis of the Pacific coast is connected from the Greater Tokyo to Kyūshū by the Shinkansen and the highway. The distance is 1,200 km and is called the Taiheiyo Belt.
  • Taiheiyō Belt : Ibaraki, Saitama, Chiba, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Shizuoka, Aichi, Gifu, Mie, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyogo, Wakayama, Okayama, Hiroshima, Yamaguchi, Fukuoka, and Oita. (roughly 82.9 million)

Mexico

• 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 almost 25 million people.

• The “corredor 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.

United States

• The Northeast Megalopolis, nicknamed "BosWash", extends from Boston to Washington, D.C.. Some of the cities included in this chain are Boston, Providence, Hartford, New Haven, New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., and Alexandria, Virginia, plus the urban county of Arlington, Virginia.

• The ChiPitts Megalopolis includes many major cities throughout the Great Lakes/Upper Midwest/Northeast region, including: Green Bay, Madison, Milwaukee, Chicago, Indianapolis, Detroit, Grand Rapids, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, as well as dozens of other smaller and medium sized cities and their metropolitan areas. This megalopolis is estimated to have a population of at least 54 million.

• Studies by two U.S. universities – Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech – identify much of the southern two thirds of Florida as an emergent megalopolis, which the Virginia Tech study calls "Peninsula". It includes the core metropolitan areas of Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Melbourne, Orlando, Daytona Beach, Tampa, St. Petersburg, and Fort Myers, along with suburban and rural counties linked through economic and commuting patterns. As of 2005, the population of the region is 13.7 million.

• The I-85 Corridor in the Southeastern United States: the same pair of studies define this areas as an "emergent" megalopolis including the primary cities of Birmingham, Atlanta, Greenville, Spartanburg, Charlotte, Winston-Salem, Greensboro, Durham and Raleigh. Both studies refer to the area as the Piedmont megalopolis; the Georgia Tech survey defines the region narrowly, focusing on the urban, suburban and rural counties between Birmingham and Raleigh. The Virginia Tech study proposes a broader definition, which would also include Columbus, Macon, Huntsville, Augusta, Columbia, Knoxville, Chattanooga, Johnson City, Asheville and a number of smaller cities; the western extent of this definition is somewhat disconnected by the Appalachian mountain range. Both reports highlight the "emergent" nature of this possible megalopolis, noting comparatively low urban densities, but also noting a pattern in growth (in the individual, component urban areas) towards each other. As of 2005, this region (as defined in the Virginia Tech study) has a population of 19 million .

• The I-35 Corridor in Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas beginning in San Antonio (2.0 million) and extending through Austin–Round Rock (1.6 million), Temple–Killeen (350,000), Waco (225,000), Dallas-Fort Worth (6.0 million), Oklahoma City (1.3 million), Tulsa (850,000), Wichita, Kansas (550,000), and the bi-state Kansas City Metropolitan Area (2.0 million). As of 2005, the population of this region is 15.2 million.

• The I-70 Corridor in Kansas, Missouri, and Illinois, including the cities of Topeka, Kansas (226,268), Lawrence, Kansas (112,123) and Columbia, Missouri (162,314), plus Greater St. Louis (3.0 million) and the Kansas City Metropolitan Area (2.0 million) is another potential megalopolis.

• The Gulf Coast corridor along I-10 in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama beginning in Houston (5.5 million) and extending through Beaumont–Port Arthur, Texas (383,443), Lake Charles, Louisiana (192,316), Lafayette, Louisiana (254,432), Baton Rouge (790,000), New Orleans (1.3 million), Gulfport–Biloxi, Mississippi (396,784), and Mobile, Alabama (540,258). The Virginia Tech study, which refers to this region as the Gulf Coast megalopolis, expands this definition somewhat, focusing on an area stretching from Brownsville, Texas to Panama City in Florida, encompassing a total population of 13 million.

• California's Bay Area and Central Valley; this region, with a total population of 14 million, is referred to as NorCal in the Virginia Tech study, and includes the Bay Area, the Monterey area, and a sizable portion of California's Central Valley and Sierra foothills; the region (which largely corresponds to the most developed portions of the Sacramento and San Joaquin drainage basins) also extends eastward to include Carson City and Reno in Nevada. Apart from the Bay Area cities, core cities in this region would include Sacramento, Monterey, Stockton, Modesto, Salinas, Fresno and Reno, and are primarily linked by Interstates 5 and 80, and California's route 99.

• Southern California (or Bajalta California), with over 25 million residents (22 million in the state of California and over 3 million in northern Baja California, Mexico) from the area including Los Angeles–Riverside–San Bernardino–Orange–Ventura–San Diego–Santa Barbara–Imperial County, plus Tijuana, Mexicali and Ensenada, Mexico.

• Cascadia, which includes the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada centred on the city of Vancouver and Bellingham, Washington, Everett-Seattle-Tacoma-Olympia, Washington, Portland–Vancouver, Salem, Oregon, Albany–Corvallis, Oregon, and Eugene–Springfield, Oregon. As of 2005, the total population of this region is 7.4 million.

• The Arizona Sun Corridor, roughly along I-10, has a current population of 5.5 million. This area includes the Phoenix metropolitan area (4.2 million), Pinal County, and the Tucson (1 million) metropolitan area and extends north through the Prescott Valley and south through Sierra Vista near the Mexico border. This area was defined and profiled in a 2008 study by Arizona State University and is projected to have a population of over 17 million by 2040.

• The Northstar Corridor, which includes the Minneapolis – Saint Paul metro area and the communities along I-94 and U.S. Route 10 between the St. Cloud metro area and Minneapolis-Saint Paul (including Elk River, Monticello, Big Lake Clearwater, Clear Lake and the St. Cloud area). The corridor has a population of approximately 3.6 million.

• The Front Range Urban Corridor, centered on Denver–Boulder, Colorado, and extending north through Fort Collins and Greeley, Colorado, and Cheyenne, Wyoming, south through Colorado Springs and Pueblo.

See also

• Amalgamation
• Arcology
• Conurbation
• Ecumenopolis
• Ekistics
• Global city

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

• List of megalopoleis
• Megacity
• Megapolitan Area
• Metroplex
• Metropolitan area
• Urban agglomeration

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