A megalopolis () or a supercity, also called a megaregion, is a group of

metropolitan area A metropolitan area or metro is a region that consists of a densely populated urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories sharing industries, commercial areas, transport network, infrastructures and housing. A metro area usually com ...

s which are perceived as a continuous urban area through common systems of transport, economy, resources, ecology, and so on. They are integrated enough that coordinating policy is valuable, although the constituent metropolises keep their individual identities. The megalopolis concept has become highly influential as it introduced a new, larger scale thinking about urban patterns and growth.

Etymology and earlier definitions

The term ''megalopolis'', also sometimes spelled ''megapolis'', is described as being of Greek origin—where it was in reported use by ancient philosophers, with regard to the "world of ideas"—by Jean Gottmann, a professor of political science at the University of Paris, and member of the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton, who in the late 1950s and early 1960s directed "A Study of Megalopolis" for The Twentieth Century Fund. Specifically, the term has earlier, specifically geographic definitions dating to 1832, when its meaning was ''"a metropolis,"'' that is, "a very large, heavily populated urban complex", which is noted to derive from the Greek ', meaning "great", and ', meaning "city". Harper offers the Greek genitive ''megalou'' as the precise antecedent. The '' Online Etymology Dictionary'' notes that the term was used "in classical times as an epithet of great cities ( Athens,

Syracuse Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York **North Syracuse, New York *Syracuse, Indiana * Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, Miss ...

, Alexandria)", that is, for the large cities of that day, and that it was the "name of a former city in

Arcadia Arcadia may refer to: Places Australia * Arcadia, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney * Arcadia, Queensland * Arcadia, Victoria Greece * Arcadia (region), a region in the central Peloponnese * Arcadia (regional unit), a modern administrative un ...

". Gottmann, in his extensive studies, applied the term megalopolis to an analysis of the urbanized northeastern seaboard of the U.S., in particular from Boston, Massachusetts to Washington, D.C. (now commonly referred to as the Northeast Corridor). He chose the term megalopolis in consultation with classicists, noting earlier usage "with quite different meaning" (besides by the ancients, by Lewis Mumford with regard to the general trend in history and geography "toward large cities"). Mumford, in his ''The Culture of Cities">Lewis_Mumford.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Lewis Mumford">Mumford, in his ''The Culture of Cities'' (1938), describes their formation as the first stage in urban overdevelopment and social decline.] In 1994, William S. Ellis and the editors of the ''National Geographic'', writing about the city of Boston, asserted that Gottmann's c.1961 use of the term for the

Northeast megalopolis The Northeast megalopolis, also known as the Northeast Corridor, Acela Corridor, Boston–Washington corridor, or BosWash, is the world's largest megalopolis in terms of economic output and the second most populous megalopolis in the United St ...

was the first specific use of the term with the refined meaning of an amalgam of multiple urban areas into a larger area. Yoav Hagler, writing in 2009 for the

America 2050 Megaregions of the United States are generally understood to be regions in the U.S. that contain two or more roughly adjacent urban metropolitan areas that, through commonality of systems—of transport, economy, resources, and ecologies—exp ...

project of the Regional Plan Association (RPA) likewise, in introducing the term historically, states megalopolis as the antecedent of the RPA's preferred term for U.S. examples, which is "megaregion" Pedagogically, the term "supercity" has been offered as a synonym for these two terms. According to

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

assistant professor of architecture Lydia Kallipoliti (and her students, citing Volker Welter's ''Biopolis: Patrick Geddes and the City of Life''), the term megalopolis was coined by Patrick Geddes in his 1915 book, ''Cities in Evolution'', Note, this work makes other original, untested claims, including that the term is now no longer relevant, insofar as digital aspects of business have (fully) made physical geographical descriptions "outdated". For the further information regarding the date of, and attribution of this work to Kallipoliti et al., se
this link
and that it was then used by Oswald Spengler in his 1918 book '' The Decline of the West''.

Modern definitions

A megalopolis and its synonym megaregion, following the work of Gottmann, refer to two or more roughly adjacent

s that, through commonality of systems—e.g., of transport, economy, resources, and ecologies—experience a blurring of the boundaries between the population centers, such that while some degree of separation may remain, their perception as a continuous urban area is of value, e.g., "to coordinate policy at this expanded scale". Simply put, a megalopolis (or a megaregion) is a clustered network of big cities. Gottmann defined its population as 25 million, while Doxiadis defined a small megalopolis a similar cluster with a population of about 10 million. America 2050, a program of the Regional Plan Association (RPA), lists 11 megaregions in the United States and Canada.

Megaregions of the United States Megaregions of the United States are generally understood to be regions in the U.S. that contain two or more roughly adjacent urban metropolitan areas that, through commonality of systems—of transport, economy, resources, and ecologies—exp ...

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'', a term coined by Davide Gadren and Stefan Berteau. In Brazil, the term has a legal meaning, different from the English word ''megaregion'': mesoregions of Brazil () and microregions of Brazil (). In

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, the official term corresponding to the meaning of "megalopolis" is '' (), which literally means "city cluster". City cluster '' is defined as " area in which cities are relatively densely distributed in a certain region". Until 2019, and the publication of National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) guidelines, there was no clear distinction between "megalopolis" and "

" () in China.

Africa

File:ISS-30 Mediterranean Sea, Nile River Delta and Levante.jpg,

Nile Delta The Nile Delta ( ar, دلتا النيل, or simply , is the delta formed in Lower Egypt where the Nile River spreads out and drains into the Mediterranean Sea. It is one of the world's largest river deltas—from Alexandria in the west to Po ...

and

Nile River The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered the longest rive ...

at night from space File:Pretoria CBD1.jpg, Pretoria, South Africa Nairobi, view from KICC.JPG, Nairobi, Kenya File:Lagos, Nigeria.jpg, Lagos, Nigeria

Egypt

* Greater Cairo: The Governorates of Cairo,

Giza Giza (; sometimes spelled ''Gizah'' arz, الجيزة ' ) is the second-largest city in Egypt after Cairo and fourth-largest city in Africa after Kinshasa, Lagos and Cairo. It is the capital of Giza Governorate with a total population of 9.2 ...

Qalyubiyya Qalyubia Governorate ( ar, محافظة القليوبية ' ) is one of the governorates of Egypt. Located in Lower Egypt. It is situated north of Cairo in the Nile Delta region. Its capital is Banha. Name Name of Qalubiyya governorate is driv ...

and

Helwan Helwan ( ar, حلوان ', , cop, ϩⲁⲗⲟⲩⲁⲛ, Halouan) is a city in Egypt and part of Greater Cairo, on the bank of the Nile, opposite the ruins of Memphis. Originally a southern suburb of Cairo, it served as the capital of the now de ...

have a population of over 16 million. The area around the Nile is also very densely populated. *

: The Governorates of Alexandria, Beheira,

Kafr el-Sheikh Kafr El Sheikh ( arz, كفر الشيخ ) is an Egyptian city and the capital of Kafr El Sheikh Governorate, Egypt, about 134 km north of Cairo, in the Nile Delta of lower Egypt. As of November 2006, the town had a population of around 500,0 ...

, Gharbia, Monufia,

Dakahlia Dakahlia Governorate ( ar, محافظة الدقهلية ', ) is an Egyptian governorate lying northeast of Cairo. Its area is approximately 3,500 km2. Although the capital of the governorate is Mansoura, it got its name from the ancient to ...

, Damietta, Al Sharqia, and

Port Said Port Said ( ar, بورسعيد, Būrsaʿīd, ; grc, Πηλούσιον, Pēlousion) is a city that lies in northeast Egypt extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, north of the Suez Canal. With an approximate population of 6 ...

have a population of over 41 million.

South Africa

* Gauteng Province: The cities of Pretoria, Witwatersrand and Vereeniging includes the urbanised portion of Pretoria,

Centurion A centurion (; la, centurio , . la, centuriones, label=none; grc-gre, κεντυρίων, kentyríōn, or ) was a position in the Roman army during classical antiquity, nominally the commander of a century (), a military unit of around 80 ...

, Midrand, Johannesburg and the Vaal Triangle, with a population of over 14 million.

Morocco

* The region of El Jadida-

Casablanca Casablanca, also known in Arabic as Dar al-Bayda ( ar, الدَّار الْبَيْضَاء, al-Dār al-Bayḍāʾ, ; ber, ⴹⴹⴰⵕⵍⴱⵉⴹⴰ, ḍḍaṛlbiḍa, : "White House") is the largest city in Morocco and the country's econom ...

Rabat Rabat (, also , ; ar, الرِّبَاط, er-Ribât; ber, ⵕⵕⴱⴰⵟ, ṛṛbaṭ) is the capital city of Morocco and the country's seventh largest city with an urban population of approximately 580,000 (2014) and a metropolitan populati ...

- Salé-

Kenitra Kenitra ( ar, القُنَيْطَرَة, , , ; ber, ⵇⵏⵉⵟⵔⴰ, Qniṭra; french: Kénitra) is a city in north western Morocco, formerly known as Port Lyautey from 1932 to 1956. It is a port on the Sebou River, Sebou river, has a popul ...

, concentrating in a long coastal belt, has a population of more than 11 million.

Kenya

* Nairobi Metropolitan Region: The counties of Kajiado, Kiambu, Nairobi,

Machakos Machakos, also called Masaku is a town in Kenya, southeast of Nairobi. It is the capital of the Machakos County, Kenya. Its population is rapidly growing and was 150,041 as of 2009 and Machakos County had a population of 1,421,932 as of 2019 ...

and

Murang'a Murang'a (or Muranga) is a town in Murang'a County of Kenya. Before the independence of Kenya in 1963, this town used to be called Fort Hall. It is the administrative centre of Murang'a County and is mainly inhabited by the Kikuyu community. A ...

, have a population of 8 million.

Asia

East Asia

File:National Centre for the Performing Arts and Great Hall of the People.jpg, Beijing,

File:Hong Kong Night Skyline.jpg, Hong Kong,

File:Seoul (175734251).jpeg, Seoul, South Korea File:Shanghai skyline waterfront pudong 5166168 69 70.jpg, Shanghai,

File:Taipei Skyline 2016.jpg, Taipei, Taiwan File:Skyscrapers of Shinjuku 2009 January.jpg, Tokyo,

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

China

In July 2012, the Economist Intelligence Unit brought out a report that described 13 emerging megalopolises in China, highlighting the demographic and income trends that are shaping their development. Eleven Chinese megalopolises (not necessarily drawn from the preceding source), are: * Pearl River Delta Megalopolis () a.k.a.

Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area The Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area (GD-HK-MO; ) also referred to as the Greater Bay Area (GBA), is a megalopolis, consisting of nine cities and two special administrative regions in South China. It is envisioned as an integrated ...

(): Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Dongguan, Guangzhou,

Foshan Foshan (, ), alternately romanized as Fatshan, is a prefecture-level city in central Guangdong Province, China. The entire prefecture covers and had a population of 9,498,863 as of the 2020 census. The city is part of the western side of the ...

, Jiangmen, Zhongshan, Zhuhai, Macau, Huizhou (55,000,000). Pan-Pearl River Delta further includes provinces adjacent to Guangdong. * Yangtze Delta Megalopolis (): Shanghai, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Ningbo,

Suzhou Suzhou (; ; Suzhounese: ''sou¹ tseu¹'' , Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Soochow, is a major city in southern Jiangsu province, East China. Suzhou is the largest city in Jiangsu, and a major economic center and focal point of trade ...

, Jingjiang, Wuxi, Changzhou, Zhenjiang, Yangzhou, Taizhou, Nantong,

Huzhou Huzhou (, ; Huzhounese: ''ghou² cieu¹'') is a prefecture-level city in northern Zhejiang province (Hangzhou–Jiaxing–Huzhou Plain, China). Lying south of the Lake Tai, it borders Jiaxing to the east, Hangzhou to the south, and the provinc ...

, Jiaxing, Shaoxing, Jiangyin, Haimen, Zhangjiagang,

Zhoushan Zhoushan , formerly romanized as Chusan, is an urbanized archipelago with the administrative status of a prefecture-level city in the eastern Chinese province of Zhejiang. It consists of an archipelago of islands at the southern mouth of H ...

, Ma'anshan (88,000,000). * Bohai Economic Rim (): Beijing,

Shenyang Shenyang (, ; ; Mandarin pronunciation: ), formerly known as Fengtian () or by its Manchu language, Manchu name Mukden, is a major China, Chinese sub-provincial city and the List of capitals in China#Province capitals, provincial capital of Lia ...

, Tianjin,

Dalian Dalian () is a major sub-provincial port city in Liaoning province, People's Republic of China, and is Liaoning's second largest city (after the provincial capital Shenyang) and the third-most populous city of Northeast China. Located on the ...

, Anshan, Fushun,

Dandong Dandong (), formerly known as Andong, is a coastal prefecture-level city in southeastern Liaoning province, in the northeastern region of People's Republic of China. It is the largest Chinese border city, facing Sinuiju, North Korea across the ...

, Sinuiju, Tangshan, Yantai,

Jinan Jinan (), Postal Map Romanization, alternately romanization of Chinese, romanized as Tsinan, is the Capital (political), capital of Shandong province in East China, Eastern China. With a population of 9.2 million, it is the second-largest city i ...

, Qinhuangdao,

Qingdao Qingdao (, also spelled Tsingtao; , Mandarin: ) is a major city in eastern Shandong Province. The city's name in Chinese characters literally means " azure island". Located on China's Yellow Sea coast, it is a major nodal city of the One Belt ...

, Weihai (66,400,000) * Western Taiwan Straits Economic Zone (): Xiamen,

Fuzhou Fuzhou (; , Fuzhounese: Hokchew, ''Hók-ciŭ''), alternately romanized as Foochow, is the capital and one of the largest cities in Fujian province, China. Along with the many counties of Ningde, those of Fuzhou are considered to constitute t ...

, Wenzhou,

Shantou Shantou, alternately romanized as Swatow and sometimes known as Santow, is a prefecture-level city on the eastern coast of Guangdong, China, with a total population of 5,502,031 as of the 2020 census (5,391,028 in 2010) and an administrative ...

, Jieyang,

Chaozhou Chaozhou (), alternatively Chiuchow, Chaochow or Teochew, is a city in the eastern Guangdong province of China. It borders Shantou to the south, Jieyang to the southwest, Meizhou to the northwest, the province of Fujian to the east, and the Sou ...

(25,000,000). *

Central Plain Central Plain or Central Plains may refer to: Regions * Zhongyuan, a plain in Northern China in the lower reaches of the Yellow River which was the cradle of Chinese civilisation ** Central Plains Economic Zone * Central Plain (Wisconsin), one ...

(): Kaifeng, Xinxiang,

Zhengzhou Zhengzhou (; ), also spelt Zheng Zhou and alternatively romanized as Chengchow, is the capital and largest city of Henan Province in the central part of the People's Republic of China. Located in north-central Henan, it is one of the National ...

, Luoyang (14,170,000). *Central-Southern

Liaoning Liaoning () is a coastal province in Northeast China that is the smallest, southernmost, and most populous province in the region. With its capital at Shenyang, it is located on the northern shore of the Yellow Sea, and is the northernmost ...

(): Within 150 km from its center

(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

(6.2 million),

Fuxin Fuxin () is a prefecture-level city in northwestern Liaoning province, People's Republic of China, bordering the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region to the north. As of the 2020 census, its decreasing total population was 1,647,280 inhabitants (1,8 ...

(2 million) and

(2.4 million). This area used to be the most industrialized region in China, but began to decline in the 1980s. *

Harbin Harbin (; mnc, , v=Halbin; ) is a sub-provincial city and the provincial capital and the largest city of Heilongjiang province, People's Republic of China, as well as the second largest city by urban population after Shenyang and largest ...

Changchun Changchun (, ; ), also romanized as Ch'angch'un, is the capital and largest city of Jilin Province, People's Republic of China. Lying in the center of the Songliao Plain, Changchun is administered as a , comprising 7 districts, 1 county and 3 c ...

Megalopolis (), also referred to as the Northeastern Cities ():

, Qiqihar,

Daqing Daqing (; alternately romanized as Taching) is a prefecture-level city in the west of Heilongjiang province, People's Republic of China. The name literally means "Great Celebration". Daqing is known as the "Oil Capital of China" and has experi ...

, Jilin City, Siping including Rason in North Korea and Vladivostok in Russia (21,832,000). * Sichuan Basin () a.k.a. Chengyu Megalopolis ():

Chengdu Chengdu (, ; Simplified Chinese characters, simplified Chinese: 成都; pinyin: ''Chéngdū''; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively Romanization of Chi ...

Chongqing Chongqing ( or ; ; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), Postal Romanization, alternately romanized as Chungking (), is a Direct-administered municipalities of China, municipality in Southwes ...

, Mianyang, Deyang, Leshan, Meishan, Ziyang, Zigong,

Luzhou Luzhou (; Sichuanese Pinyin: Nu2zou1; Luzhou dialect: ), formerly transliterated as Lu-chou or Luchow, is a prefecture-level city located in the southeast of Sichuan Province, China. The city, named Jiangyang until the Southern and Northern Dyna ...

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

Guanzhong Guanzhong (, formerly romanised as Kwanchung) region, also known as the Guanzhong Basin, Wei River Basin, or uncommonly as the Shaanzhong region, is a historical region of China corresponding to the crescentic graben basin within present-day ce ...

(关中): Xi'an, Xianyang, Baoji, Weinan (16,722,000). * Changzhutan Megalopolis () a.k.a. Greater Changsha Metropolitan Region (): Changsha, Zhuzhou, Xiangtan (12,994,400 in 2000).

Japan

Major_metropolitan_employment_areas_of_Taiheiyō_Belt

Japan is made up of overlapping megapolises. The Taiheiyō Belt megapolis itself includes both the Greater Tokyo Area and

Keihanshin is a metropolitan region in the Kansai region of Japan encompassing the metropolitan areas of the cities of Kyoto in Kyoto Prefecture, Osaka in Osaka Prefecture and Kobe in Hyōgo Prefecture. The entire region has a population () of 19,302,746 o ...

megapoles. * Taiheiyō Belt – Ibaraki, Saitama,

Chiba Chiba may refer to: Places China * (), town in Jianli County, Jingzhou, Hubei Japan * Chiba (city), capital of Chiba Prefecture ** Chiba Station, a train station * Chiba Prefecture, a sub-national jurisdiction in the Greater Tokyo Area on ...

, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Shizuoka, Aichi,

Gifu is a city located in the south-central portion of Gifu Prefecture, Japan, and serves as the prefectural capital. The city has played an important role in Japan's history because of its location in the middle of the country. During the Sengoku ...

, Mie, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo, Wakayama,

Okayama is the capital city of Okayama Prefecture in the Chūgoku region of Japan. The city was founded on June 1, 1889. , the city has an estimated population of 720,841 and a population density of 910 persons per km2. The total area is . The city is ...

Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui h ...

, Yamaguchi, Fukuoka, and Ōita in Japan. (81,859,345) ** Greater Tokyo Area - Part of the larger

Kantō region The is a geographical area of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. In a common definition, the region includes the Greater Tokyo Area and encompasses seven prefectures: Gunma, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Saitama, Tokyo, Chiba and Kanagawa. Slight ...

, broadly including Tokyo and Yokohama, Japan's two most populous cities. (38,000,000) **

- Part of the larger Kansai region, includes Osaka, Kyoto,

Kobe Kobe ( , ; officially , ) is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture Japan. With a population around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Tokyo and Yokohama. It is located in Kansai region, whic ...

. (19,341,976)

South Korea

* Seoul National Capital Area - Seoul,

Incheon Incheon (; ; or Inch'ŏn; literally "kind river"), formerly Jemulpo or Chemulp'o (제물포) until the period after 1910, officially the Incheon Metropolitan City (인천광역시, 仁川廣域市), is a city located in northwestern South Kore ...

Suwon Suwon (, ) is the capital and largest city of Gyeonggi-do, South Korea's most populous province which surrounds Seoul, the national capital. Suwon lies about south of Seoul. It is traditionally known as "The City of Filial Piety". With a populati ...

Goyang Goyang (''Goyang-si''; ) is a city in Gyeonggi Province in the north of South Korea. It is part of the Seoul Capital Area, making Goyang one of Seoul's satellite cities. It is one of the largest cities in the Seoul Capital Area, with a populatio ...

, Yongin, Seongnam, and the rest of Gyeonggi Province: (26,000,000) * Greater Busan Area - Busan,

Daegu Daegu (, , literally 'large hill', 대구광역시), formerly spelled Taegu and officially known as the Daegu Metropolitan City, is a city in South Korea. It is the third-largest urban agglomeration in South Korea after Seoul and Busan; it is ...

, Ulsan,

Changwon Changwon () is the capital city of Gyeongsangnam-do, on the southeast coast of South Korea. With a population of 1.07 million , Changwon is South Korea's ninth-most populous city. A port city, Changwon is bordered by Masan Bay to the south ...

Gimhae Gimhae () is a city in South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. It is the seat of the large Gimhae Kim clan, one of the largest Kim clans in Korea. The Gimhae Kims claim descent from the ancient royal house of Geumgwan Gaya, which was based in Gim ...

, Pohang,

Gumi Gumi may refer to: * Gumi, Iran, a village in South Khorasan Province, Iran * Gumi, Nepal, a village development committee in Surkhet District, Bheri Zone, Nepal * Gumi, North Gyeongsang, a city in Gyeongsangbuk-do, South Korea ** Gumi University * ...

, Yangsan,

Jinju Jinju () is a city in South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. It was the location of the first (1592) and second (1593) Sieges of Jinju by Japanese forces during the Imjin War. The Republic of Korea Air Force Education and Training Command is ...

Suncheon Suncheon () (''Suncheon-si'') is a city in South Jeolla Province, South Korea. It is a scenic agricultural and industrial city of around 250,000 people near Suncheon Bay. It is located in the southeastern corner of Jeollanam-do, just over an hour ...

, Yeosu, etc. (13,000,000)

Taiwan

* West Coast of Taiwan - Taipei, New Taipei City,

Keelung Keelung () or Jilong () (; Hokkien POJ: '), officially known as Keelung City, is a major port city situated in the northeastern part of Taiwan. The city is a part of the Taipei–Keelung metropolitan area, along with its neighbors, New Taipe ...

, Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Taichung, Changhua, Chiayi, Tainan, and

Kaohsiung Kaohsiung City (Mandarin Chinese: ; Wade–Giles: ''Kao¹-hsiung²;'' Pinyin: ''Gāoxióng'') is a special municipality located in southern Taiwan. It ranges from the coastal urban center to the rural Yushan Range with an area of . Kaohsi ...

: (18,000,000)

Middle East

Iran

Greater Tehran Greater Tehran is the urban agglomeration around Tehran that covers the central part of the Tehran Province and eastern part of the Alborz Province, that covers the contiguous cities of Tehran, Ray, Shemirānāt, and other areas. As of 2012 ...

: A region located Tehran and Alborz provinces in central northern Iran with its influence expanding in Mazandaran, Qazvin, and

Qom Qom (also spelled as "Ghom", "Ghum", or "Qum") ( fa, قم ) is the seventh largest metropolis and also the seventh largest city in Iran. Qom is the capital of Qom Province. It is located to the south of Tehran. At the 2016 census, its popul ...

provinces, home for at least 15 million people, it is one of the most populous urban areas in the Greater Middle East and the surrounding regions. Tehran was a small village 200 years ago when it was first chosen as the Capital city and it has been growing at a very fast rate.

Turkey

Bosphorus_Megalopolis_at_Night_from_Space

* Ista-Burs Megalopolis: In addition to the mega cities of Istanbul and

Bursa ( grc-gre, Προῦσα, Proûsa, Latin: Prusa, ota, بورسه, Arabic:بورصة) is a city in northwestern Turkey and the administrative center of Bursa Province. The fourth-most populous city in Turkey and second-most populous in the ...

; Gebze, Yalova, Kocaeli, and Adapazarı cities form a contiguous urban area. In 2020, these provinces are home to about 21 million people.

South Asia

India

* Kolkata Megalopolis - Some areas of Presidency, Medinipur and Burdwan divisions. Population 100 million. * Delhi Megalopolis - National Capital Region (India). Population 46 million. * Chennai Megalopolis - Chennai Metropolitan Region,

Kanchipuram Kanchipuram ('; ) also known as ''Conjeevaram,'' is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu in the Tondaimandalam region, from Chennaithe capital of Tamil Nadu. Known as the ''City of Thousand Temples'', Kanchipuram is known for its temple ...

, Tiruvallur, Chengalpattu and Vellore. Population 20 million. *

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

- Mumbai Metropolitan Region includes cities of Mumbai, Thane, Navi Mumbai,

Kalyan-Dombivali Kalyan-Dombivli is a twin city and it comes under Mumbai metropolitan region and it is a municipal corporation with its headquarters located in Kalyan in Thane district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It was formed in 1982 to administe ...

, Vasai-Virar, Panvel and surrounding towns and cities Pune Metropolitan Region includes cities of Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad as well as nearby towns and the cities of Nashik, Aurangabad,

Ahmednagar Ahmednagar (), is a city located in the Ahmednagar district in the state of Maharashtra, India, about 120 km northeast of Pune and 114 km from Aurangabad. Ahmednagar takes its name from Ahmad Nizam Shah I, who founded the town in 1494 ...

and other cities and towns in the region. Population 48 million. * Karnataka Cities like Bangalore, Mangalore, Mysore, Hubli, Kalaburagi and other cities *

Telengana Telangana (; , ) is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated on the south-central stretch of the Indian subcontinent, Indian peninsula on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India b ...

and Andhra Cities like Hyderabad, Visakhapatanam, Warangal, Vijayawada, Tirupati,

Guntur Guntur () is a city and the administrative headquarters of Guntur district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Guntur is spread across 168.49 km square and is the third-largest city in the state. It is situated to the west of the Ba ...

and other cities. * Gujarat - cities of

Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ; Gujarati: Amdavad ) is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 (per t ...

, Gandhinagar,

Anand Anand may refer to: People * Anand (name), a surname and given name (including a list of people with the name) * Anand (actor), Indian actor * Anand (Maoist), Indian communist * Anand (writer) (born 1936), Indian Malayalam writer Places * Anand ...

, Nadiad, Vadodara,

Surat Surat is a city in the western Indian state of Gujarat. The word Surat literally means ''face'' in Gujarati and Hindi. Located on the banks of the river Tapti near its confluence with the Arabian Sea, it used to be a large seaport. It is now ...

Rajkot Rajkot () is the fourth-largest city in the Indian state of Gujarat after Ahmedabad, Vadodara, and Surat, and is in the centre of the Saurashtra region of Gujarat. Rajkot is the 35th-largest metropolitan area in India, with a population of ...

and nearby towns and cities. Population 20 million.

Southeast Asia

File:0008871 - Krung Thep Bridge 001.jpg, Bangkok, Thailand File:West Hanoi.jpg, Hanoi, Vietnam File:Ho Chi Minh City Skyline (night).jpg,

Ho Chi Minh City , population_density_km2 = 4,292 , population_density_metro_km2 = 697.2 , population_demonym = Saigonese , blank_name = GRP (Nominal) , blank_info = 2019 , blank1_name = – Total , blank1_ ...

, Vietnam File:Jakarta Skyline Part 2.jpg,

Jakarta Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...

, Indonesia File:Kuala Lumpur at dawn (18794580599).jpg, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia File:Roxas_Boulevard_skyline_with_Navy_-_sunset_(Manila;_12-31-2019).jpg, Manila, Philippines File:1 singapore city skyline dusk panorama 2011.jpg, Singapore File:Tunjungan Plaza 23 June 2019.jpg,

Surabaya Surabaya ( jv, ꦱꦸꦫꦧꦪ or jv, ꦯꦹꦫꦨꦪ; ; ) is the capital city of the Provinces of Indonesia, Indonesian province of East Java and the List of Indonesian cities by population, second-largest city in Indonesia, after Jakarta. L ...

, Indonesia File:ShwedagonPagoda.jpg, Yangon,

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

Philippines

Mega Manila area 50,525.48 km² is made up of 4 Regions: * Central Luzon (11,218,117) * Metro Manila (12,877,253) * Calabarzon (14,414,774) *

Mimaropa Mimaropa (usually capitalized in official government documents), formally known as the Southwestern Tagalog Region, is an administrative region in the Philippines. It was also formerly but still colloquially designated as Region IV-B until 2016 ...

''excluding Palawan'' (2,113,891) Regional centers: * San Fernando- Manila- Calamba- Calapan ''Total Population of Mega Manila as of 2015'': (40,624,035)

Indonesia

* Jakarta metropolitan area/"Jabodetabek" (31,240,000). The area comprises Jakarta Special Capital Region and surrounding satellite cities, with the name taken from the first two (or three) letters of each city's name:

Bogor Bogor ( su, , nl, Buitenzorg) is a city in the West Java province, Indonesia. Located around south of the national capital of Jakarta, Bogor is the 6th largest city in the Jakarta metropolitan area and the 14th overall nationwide.Depok, Tangerang and Bekasi.

Thailand

* Bay of Bangkok Economic Rim: Bangkok–Ayutthaya–Pattaya (16,000,000)

Vietnam

* Red River Delta ( Hanoi, Hai Phong, Nam Định, and

Hải Dương Hải Dương () is a city in Vietnam. It is the capital of Hải Dương, an industrialized province in the Hanoi Capital Region and the Red River Delta in Northern Vietnam. The city is at the midpoint between the capital Hanoi and major port H ...

) (10,000,000)

Europe

The Blue Banana, also known as the European Megalopolis or the Liverpool-Milan axis, is a discontinuous corridor of urbanization spreading over Western and Central Europe, with a population of around 111 million.

North America

Canada

Mexico

Note: Tijuana, Mexico is part of the Southern California megalopolis.

United States

Constituent urban areas of each megalopolis are based on reckoning by a single American organization, the Regional Plan Association (RPA). The RPA definition of the Great Lakes Megalopolis includes some Canadian metropolitan areas with the United States, including some but not all major urban centres in the Windsor-Quebec City Corridor. Note that one city, Houston, is listed in two different Megalopolis regions as defined by the RPA, (the Gulf Coast and the Texas Triangle). 77% of the U.S. population lives in at least one of the megalopolises listed below.

South America

Argentina

Brazil

Colombia

The following megaregions in Colombia are expected to have nearly 93% (55 million people) of its population by 2030, up from the current 72% . There are currently four major megaregions in Colombia. Other sourcesOrdóñez Burbano, Luis A. (2007). Universidad del Valle 60 años 1945-2005: Atando cabos en clave de memoria. Cali, Valle del Cauca, Colombia: Universidad del Valle. p. 58. show that another megaregion may be considered:

Chile

Peru

Venezuela

Transnational urban agglomeration

Africa

Kinshasa–Brazzaville Kinshasa–Brazzaville is a transborder agglomeration comprising Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Brazzaville, the capital of the Republic of the Congo, which face each other across the Congo River. In addition to ...

, a transnational megalopolis along the Congo River. *The

Abidjan–Lagos Corridor The Abidjan–Lagos Corridor, also known as the Abidjan–Lagos Megalopolis, is an emerging Transnationalism, transnational megalopolis on the coast of southern West Africa. It stretches from Abidjan to Lagos, crossing five independent states (Ivo ...

( Abidjan– Sekondi-Takoradi– Kasoa–

Accra Accra (; tw, Nkran; dag, Ankara; gaa, Ga or ''Gaga'') is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , ...

– Prampram– Lomé–

Cotonou Cotonou (; fon, Kútɔ̀nú) is a city in Benin. Its official population count was 679,012 inhabitants in 2012; however, over two million people live in the larger urban area. The urban area continues to expand, notably toward the west. The ci ...

– Lagos, spanning the coasts of

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...

, Ghana, Togo, Benin and Nigeria) is expected to become a megalopolis in the 21st century, with a population of 51 million people by 2035.

Asia

* SIJORI Growth Triangle:

Johor Bahru Johor Bahru (), colloquially referred to as JB, is the capital city of the state of Johor, Malaysia. It is located at the southern end of Peninsular Malaysia,along the north bank of the Straits of Johor, opposite of the city-state Singapore. T ...

– Singapore– Batam– Bintan (10,000,000)

Europe

North America

In popular culture

Metropolis

'' Metropolis'' is a 1927 German expressionist science-fiction drama film directed by Fritz Lang. Written by Thea von Harbou in collaboration with Lang, it stars Gustav Fröhlich, Alfred Abel, Rudolf Klein-Rogge and Brigitte Helm.

Erich Pommer Erich Pommer (20 July 1889 – 8 May 1966) was a German-born film producer and executive. Pommer was perhaps the most powerful person in the German and European film industries in the 1920s and early 1930s. As producer, Erich Pommer was involved ...

produced it in the Babelsberg Studios for Universum Film A.G. (Ufa). The silent film is regarded as a pioneering science-fiction movie, being among the first feature-length movies of that genre. Filming took place over 17 months in 1925–26 at a cost of over five million Reichsmarks. Hahn, Ronald M. and Jansen, Volker (1998) ''Die 100 besten Kultfilme''

he 100 best cult movies He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...

Munich: Heyne Filmbibliothek. p.396. (''German'')

Judge Dredd

In the '' Judge Dredd'' (1977) comic book series and its spinoff series, Mega-City One is a huge fictional megalopolis-size city-state covering much of what is now the Eastern United States and some of Canada. The exact geography of the city depends on which writer and artist has done which story, but from its first appearance it has been associated with New York City's urban sprawl; originally it was presented as a future New York, which was retconned as the centre of a "Mega-City One" in the very next story. The '' Architects' Journal'' placed it at No. 1 in their list of "comic book cities".

Blade Runner

'' Blade Runner'' is a 1982 neo-noir

science fiction film Science fiction (or sci-fi) is a film genre that uses speculative, fictional science-based depictions of phenomena that are not fully accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial lifeforms, spacecraft, robots, cyborgs, interstellar ...

directed by

Ridley Scott Sir Ridley Scott (born 30 November 1937) is a British film director and producer. Directing, among others, science fiction films, his work is known for its atmospheric and highly concentrated visual style. Scott has received many accolades thr ...

, written by Hampton Fancher and

David Peoples David Webb Peoples (born February 9, 1940) is an American screenwriter who wrote ''Blade Runner'' (1982), ''Unforgiven'' (1992), and ''12 Monkeys'' (1995). He was nominated for Oscar, Golden Globe, and BAFTA awards. He won the best screenplay a ...

, and starring

Harrison Ford Harrison Ford (born July 13, 1942) is an American actor. His films have grossed more than $5.4billion in North America and more than $9.3billion worldwide, making him the seventh-highest-grossing actor in North America. He is the recipient o ...

, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, and Edward James Olmos. It is a loose

adaptation In biology, adaptation has three related meanings. Firstly, it is the dynamic evolutionary process of natural selection that fits organisms to their environment, enhancing their evolutionary fitness. Secondly, it is a state reached by the po ...

Philip K. Dick Philip Kindred Dick (December 16, 1928March 2, 1982), often referred to by his initials PKD, was an American science fiction writer. He wrote 44 novels and about 121 short stories, most of which appeared in science fiction magazines during his l ...

's novel '' Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?'' (1968). The film is set in a

dystopia A dystopia (from Ancient Greek δυσ- "bad, hard" and τόπος "place"; alternatively cacotopiaCacotopia (from κακός ''kakos'' "bad") was the term used by Jeremy Bentham in his 1818 Plan of Parliamentary Reform (Works, vol. 3, p. 493). ...

n future Los Angeles of 2019, in which synthetic humans known as replicants are bio-engineered by the powerful Tyrell Corporation to work on off-world colonies. When a fugitive group of replicants led by Roy Batty (Hauer) escapes back to Earth, burnt-out cop Rick Deckard (Ford) reluctantly agrees to hunt them down.

Sprawl trilogy

In William Gibson's Sprawl trilogy, "the Sprawl" is a colloquial name for the " Boston- Atlanta Metropolitan Axis" (BAMA), an urban sprawl environment on a massive scale, and a fictional extension of the real

. The Sprawl is a visualization of a future where virtually the entire East Coast of the United States, from Boston to Atlanta, has melded into a single mass of urban sprawl. It has been enclosed in several geodesic domes and merged into one megacity. The city has become a separate world with its own climate, no real night/day cycle, and an artificial sky that is always grey.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Megalopolis (City Type) Human habitats Urban studies and planning terminology City

Etymology and earlier definitions

Modern definitions

Africa

Egypt

South Africa

Morocco

Kenya

Asia

East Asia

China

Japan

South Korea

Taiwan

Middle East

Iran

Turkey

South Asia

India

Southeast Asia

Philippines

Indonesia

Thailand

Vietnam

Europe

North America

Canada

Mexico

United States

South America

Argentina

Brazil

Colombia

Chile

Peru

Venezuela

Transnational urban agglomeration

Africa

Asia

Europe

North America

In popular culture

Metropolis

Judge Dredd

Blade Runner

Sprawl trilogy

Further reading

See also

References

External links