the phenomenon of the megacities... or not? - what is a: Μεγάπολις (megapolis)?

The Phenomenonof the

Megacities… or not?What is a: Μεγάπολις (Megapolis)?

Megacity Environment PaintingArtist: Mark Weaver

Greek philosopher Plato thought the ideal POLIS (πόλις) had 5,000 inhabitants. A city that size is considered small in our times, but that ‘cap on’ population had a reason: • it allowed for participation; that is, that every citizen could have

a measurable contribution to the polis.

The Ideal ‘polis’

‘The Megacity’

The phenomenon of ‘The Megacity’ is not a new one. MEGALOPOLIS in Ancient Greece had a population of 40,000 in 370-371BC.(Chandler and Fox, 1974:80) ATHENS had a population of 300,000 in 432BC.In terms of population, Athens of 432BC was 1/30th the size of Greater London in the 1980’s and 1/38th the size of New York City in the 1980’s.(Chamoux, 1965; Ehrenberg, 1969; Grant and Huxley, 1964; Hammond, 1967; Kitto, 1951)

Under Emperor Trajan, 98AD-117AD, the population of ROME was at its largest 1.6 million people; a figure that is not reached again for another 1850 years later. ANTIOCH capital of Syria (Syria was a Roman (Byzantine) province from 64 BC to 636 AD) was one of the largest cities in the ancient world, with a total estimated population of 500,000. PATALIPUTRA (Ancient Patna, in India) around 300BC had a population of 400,000.THEBES, Egypt around 1,050BC had 50,000 people population. These cities were backed up by complex systems of administration, food supplies, traffic, water and a waste disposal system.

‘Populations’ settled with CONSTANTINOPLE (Istanbul) in the Middle Ages and PEKING (Beijing) in the early modern period. LONDON joined after the 1800’s, setting the precedent of rapid urban development, followed by cities in North America and Australasia in the C19th and those in the developing world in the C20th .

Year City CountryPopulatio

n (est.)

1050BC Thebes Egypt 50,000

500BC Babylon Iraq 150,000

432BC Athens Greece 300,000

370BC Megalopolis Greece 40,000

300BC Pataliputra (Patna) India 400,00064BC-636AD Antioch Syria

(Roman Empire) 500,00098AD-117AD Rome Italy

(Roman Empire) 1,600,000

500AD Constantinople (Istanbul)

Turkey(Byzantine Empire)

450,000

1800 Peking (Beijing) China 1,100,000

1900 London United Kingdom 6,480,000

Megacities in their ow

n tim

e?

Megalopolis, located in the south-western part of Arcadia, southern Greece, was clearly regarded by the Greeks as ‘a very big place’, at least potentially as it never became any bigger than about 40,000 people.

MEGALOPOLIS (Μεγαλόπολις) means ‘great city’ (big city) in Ancient Greek. When it was founded 370-371BC by Epaminondas of Thebes, it was the first large urbanization in Arcadia. It had a wall reaching about 9 kilometres round and Epaminondas helped its progress by forcibly moving into it the inhabitants of some forty local villages. Its theatre had a capacity of 20,000 visitors.

Megalopolis

Megapolis today.

Classical Athens

Even Athens, which we know seemed dangerously large to the people of the ancient world, was preposterously small by our standards. In 432 B.C., at the beginning of the Peloponnesian war, when its population probably reached its maximum, the entire Athenian polis - city and surrounding countryside - had between 215,000 and 300,000 people. It was the most populous Greek state, yet in population it was one-thirtieth the size of Greater London or one-thirty-eighth of New York City in the 1980s.(Kitto 1951, 95, Chamoux 1965, 304; Grant 1964, 195; Hammond 1967, 329-30; Joint Association of Classical Teachers 1984, 73, 157; Ehrenberg 1969, 31-2).

The Acropolis - ‘Acro’ = edge, ‘polis’ = city

Imperial Rom

e

Rome of course was much more serious: a kind of rehearsal or trailer for what cities would later become. It was, simply, the first giant city in world history. Precisely how big is a matter for conjecture: the estimates vary wildly, from 250,000 to 1,487,560 [plus slaves], but the great majority, for various dates from the late Republican age to the fourth century AD, come in the range from three quarters of a million to around one and a quarter million, most of them close to one million.

You can take your pick: the fact is that Rome was very big, bigger by far than any city before, two or three times the record set by Patna three hundred years earlier, or by Babylon one hundred and fifty years before that, and probably bigger than any that would follow it for the next seven hundred years. (Carcopino 1941, 18, 20; Korn 1953, 32; Packer 1967, 82-3, 86-7; Chandler and Fox 1974, 300-323; Stambaugh 1988, 89; Drinkwater 1990, 371; Robinson 1992, 8).

3D Reconstruction of Classical Rome

Imperial Rom

e

Its huge size positively forced its administrators to devise complex systems of international food supplies, to grapple successfully with long-distance delivery of water and with complex systems of waste disposal, even to formulate rules of urban traffic management.

After that, things settled down for a bit. It took another seventeen centuries before another western city came to rival and then overtake Classical Rome. Constantinople (Istanbul) may have equalled ancient Rome in the middle ages, Peking (Beijing) in the early modern period; but, some time just after 1800, London became indisputably the greatest city that had ever existed in the world.

3D Reconstruction of Classical Rome

‘Greater London’

Around 1800 LONDON became indisputably the greatest city that had ever existed in the world.

The population of the area, that later became the METROPOLITAN BOARD OF WORKS and then the LONDON COUNTY COUNCIL, rose from:• 959,000 in 1801 to reach 2,363,000 in 1851 – more than doubling

it; and then • doubled again in 1901 to 4,536,000.

But by the start of the C20th, the LCC area was already inadequate as a description of the real London: the real London was GREATER LONDON.

Even by 1801, Greater London had more than 12% of the population of England and Wales; by the end of the century, over 20%. By 1885 its population was larger than that of Paris, three times that of New York or Berlin.(Chandler and Fox 1974, 368; Mitchell and Deane 1962, 19-23; Young and Garside 1982, 14).

New

York

NEW YORK soon took over from GREATER LONDON.Between 1870 and 1900 the population of the old city of New York – just Manhattan island and the Bronx – doubled; whereas that of the outer three counties increased by more than two and half times.

The extension of the New York City boundary in 1898, to include those outer counties – which became the boroughs of Queens, Brooklyn and Richmond – increased the city’s area tenfold and more than doubled the population from 1.5 million to 3.4 million.

In the short forty-year period to 1940, the population more than doubled again to 7.45 million.

New York was the 3rd largest city of the world in population terms in 1875; 2nd in 1900, 1st by 1925.(Rischin 1962, 10; Condit 1980, 105; Jackson 1984, 321; Hammack 1982, 186, 200, 227-8).

Skyline of New York: 1898

How Rapidly Cities are Growing - Infographic -

To see the above INFOGRAPHIC larger please select the link below:How Rapidly Cities Are Growing [INFOGRAPHIC]

The mass movement of population across the world means that cities particularly in Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and South America, are growing in size by the hour. In 2011, the majority of the planet’s population of 6.9 billion people live in cities rather than the countryside.

2% of the earth’s

surface is occupied by cities53%

of the world’s population lives in

cities(2011)

World Map showing projected population growth per hour of world cities in 2011. What about 2013?i.e. every hour:

• 40 people migrate to Lagos to live.• 43 people migrate to Karachi to live.• 49 people migrate to Delhi to live.• 9 people migrate to New York to live• 3 people migrate to Sydney to live.• 10 people migrate to Mexico City to

live.

http://infographiclist.com/2012/01/15/how-rapidly-cities-are-growing-infographic/


Year City Country Population (est)

98AD-117AD Rome Italy

(Roman Empire) 1,600,000775 Bagdad Iraq 1,000,0001800 Peking (Beijing) China 1,100,0001825 London United Kingdom 1,350,0001850 London United Kingdom 2,320,0001875 London United Kingdom 4,241,0001900 London United Kingdom 6,480,0001925 New York USA 7,774,0001950 New York USA 12,463,0002012 New York – Urban USA 20,464,0001965 Tokyo-Yokohama Japan 20,000,0001985 Tokyo-Yokohama Japan 30,273,0002012 Tokyo-Yokohama Japan 37,200,000

Firsts: 1, 5, 10, 20, 30m

EkisticsDefining: What is a polis? What does it consist of?

There are several approaches that attempt to define what a city (polis) consists of. Ekistics was introduced as the science of human settlements (Doxiades, 1968). Ekistics studies how human settlements were inhabited by humans and provides a conceptual framework for a better understanding of human settlements. The foundation of the concept is in nature, which contains ecological systems, within which humans form social network and societies and build the ‘shells’ which are the physical structures providing comfortable living conditions. The basic elements of human settlements in the ekistics studies are described below (Doxiades, 1968, p.12):1. “Nature, providing the foundation upon which the settlements are

created and the frame within which they can function” 2. “Human” 3. “Society” 4. “Shells, or the structures within which a human lives and carry out his

different functions” 5. “Networks, or the natural and human-made systems which facilitate the

functioning of the settlements, as for example roads, cycling corridors and infrastructure in general.”

Resource efficiency in an urban context: Defining the framework of eco-municipalities

http://nortech.oulu.fi/GREENSETTLE_files/M.T.Chamilos.pdf



Ekistic Logarithmic Scale(ELS) (1976)

Community Scale I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X XI XII

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

Ekistic units

Anthropos

Room

House

House

Group(hamlet)

Small Neighbourhoo

d(village

)

Neighbourhoo

d

Small

Polis

(town)

Polis

(city)

Small

Metropolis

Metropolis

Small Megalopoli

s

Megalopoli

s

Small

Eperopolis

Eperopolis

Ecumenopolis(Global City

)

E k i s ti c E l e m e n

t s

Nature

Anthropos

Society

Shells

Networks

Synthesis: Human Settlements

EKISTICPOPULATION:T = ThousandM = Million

1 2 5 40 250

1.5 T

10 T

75 T

500 T

4 M

25 M

150 M

750M

7,500 M

50,000 M

EKISTIC ELEMENTS

The 5 elements, which compose the human settlements:Nature, Anthropos

(Man), Society, Shells and Networks.

A classification of settlements according to their size, presented on the basis of a logarithmic scale, running from Anthropos (ekistic unit 1), as the smallest unit of measurement, to the whole earth (ekistic unit 15). The ekistic logarithmic scale can be presented graphically, showing area or number of people corresponding to each unit, etc., so that it can be used as a basis for the measurement and classification of many dimensions in human settlements.

EKISTIC POPULATION

The maximum number of people for each of the Ekistic units.

ie House Group: 40 people max.

(from: 6-40 is a ‘House Group’)

EKISTIC UNITS

A classification of parts of whole human settlements, starting from unit 1 corresponding to Anthropos, and ending with unit 15, corresponding to Ecumenopolis. From unit 4, which corresponds to community class I, to unit 15, which corresponds to community class XII.

Ekistic UnitsSelect, with your mouse, each EKISTIC UNIT to see the

definition according to the ‘Ekistic Logarithmic Scale and C.A. Doxiades.

When you have read the definition click the definition with your mouse to clear it and then select another

EKISTIC UNIT.(press the right arrow to clear these instructions but before you do that…

when you have read Unit 15 return here, and press the right arrow to continue with the powerpoint)

ΜεγάπολιςMegapolis – Megacity – Mega-city

Μεγάπολις

megapolis

Precise scientific language:

“one million”eg megawatt, megaton

coined: 1894“ancient Greek city-

state”: From the Greek: Polis

(Πόλις)“city, one’s city; the

state, citizens”coined/origin: 1965-1970

Megacity (Mega-city - 1968 (C.A. Dioxiades))

“A city having a population of one million or more.” Online Etymology Dictionary

+

1stinterpretation

http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=polis&searchmode=none



Μεγάπολις

megapolis

From the Greek: Megas (Μέγας)

“great, large, vast, big, high,

tall, mighty, important”

coined: 1894“ancient Greek city-

state”: From the Greek: Polis

(Πόλις)“city, one’s city; the

state, citizens”Definition: 1970+Megacity (Mega-city - 1968 (C.A. Dioxiades))

“A Great City”, “A Big City”“A city over 10,000,000 inhabitants and under

20,000,000.”Online Etymology Dictionary

+

2nd interpretation



“The concept of MEGA-CITY is a very simple one. Developed by UN institutions to describe ever-larger urban AGGLOMERATIONS, they are defined as cities with populations above a given high threshold. The latter has increased as city sizes have grown and currently the threshold is 10 million.”

Mega-cities in Theoretical Perspective - P.J. TaylorA MEGACITY is generally defined as a METROPOLITAN AREA with a total population in excess of 10 million people but under 20 million; over 20 million the term generally used is METACITY or HYPERCITY.

Some definitions also set a minimum level of POPULATION DENSITY (at least 2,000 persons per sq. km.). Megacities although wrongly called GLOBAL CITIES, (also WORLD CITIES*, ALPHA, BETA and GAMMA CITIES), can be distinguished from global cities by their:

• Rapid growth;• New forms of SPATIAL DENSITY of population;• Formal and informal economics, as well as,

• Poverty,• Crime,• High levels of social fragmentation.

World cities are those that exert a dominant influence over continental and global economies and processes. This is INDEPENDENT of population size, as world cities do not have to have huge populations (but usually do) to exert such a huge influence. Indeed, a world city (also called global city or world centre) is a city generally considered to be an important node (FOCAL POINT) in the global economic system such as London, New York and Tokyo.


A Megacity can be a single metropolitan area or two or more metropolitan areas that converge upon one another.The terms: CONURBATION and METROPLEX are also applied to ‘metropolitan area’.The terms: MEGAPOLIS and MEGALOPOLIS are sometimes used synonymously with ‘Megacity’.

“Even so using the term MEGACITY has been a problematic one.There are two major problems associated with the common use of the term ‘Megacity’.

Firstly:‘Megacity’ is strictly ‘QUANTATIVE defined’– according to UN (2008), megacities have at least 10 million inhabitants.The WUP (World Urbanization Prospects) does not provide a rationale for determining the threshold nor does anyone else (although: C.A. Doxiades attempts with his Ekistics) – suggesting that saying - five or eight million inhabitants also make a ‘Megacity’, would not be wrong – (Davis 2006).

Ponder:• Has anything changed in Istanbul in recent years due to the crossing of the 10

million-line? • Do any disparities between the megacity Lagos and the ‘non-megacity'

Chicago stem from the difference in population size? • Do Los Angeles and Rio de Janeiro have, except for the size of their respective

population, enough in common to be qualified in the same category of cities?


Despite the claim that 'mass matters' (IGU Megacity Taskforce), researchers writing on megacities do not provide answers to these and similar questions. The question, whether crossing a certain ‘quantitative threshold’ makes any ‘QUALITATIVE difference’ in urban development or city life, remains unassessed.

Secondly:More problematic is that much of the literature on ‘Megacities’ deflects from the ‘quantitative’ definition and uses ‘Megacity’ as a synonym for problems in big cities in poorer countries; a popular account is Davis’ “Planet of Slums”. ‘Megacities’ are portrayed as ‘major global risk areas’ (IGU Megacity Taskforce).

According to Kraas (2008, 583) “[Megacities are] particularly prone to supply crisis, social disorganization, political unrest, natural and man-made disasters due to their highest concentration of people and extreme dynamics of development.””

Megacities in the Geography of Global Economic Governance - C.Pamreiter

KEEP IN MIND:There are problems with defining population size of cities, as it often depends upon where researchers draw the boundary of the city. Do they just count within the city boundaries, or do they count all of the suburbs, or do they also count all of the surrounding satellite towns as well as a conurbation?


MIGRATION, CITIES AND THE MODERN-WORLD SYSTEMMega-cities in Theoretical Perspective - P.J. Taylor

“Historically, cities have been great DEMOGRAPHIC sinks: they lessened life expectancies. Thus cities only grew through MIGRATION. In other words RURAL - URBAN migration has been, literally, the lifeline of cities.

And before the modern era there have been very large cities: three in particular can lay claim to be the first ‘millionaire city’:

• Imperial Rome [55BC-476AD],• Caliphate Baghdad [Caliphs of Bagdad: 750-1258], and • Ch’ing Peking [Ch’ing Dynasty: 1644-1912].

And these examples clearly indicate the forces behind growth of the largest cities. These great cities are reflections of the political power wielded by large world-empires; the centralization of power is accompanied by the concentration of wealth requiring in-migration to service both state function needs and satisfy market consumption wants.

In these societies there were non-political cities of reasonable size with mainly economic functions – largely coastal and river ports – but they never challenged imperial capitals for sheer size.


Continued: MIGRATION, CITIES AND THE MODERN-WORLD SYSTEM

Mega-cities in Theoretical Perspective - P.J. Taylor

However, this dominance of political cities was challenged with the transition to the modern world-system in Europe in the long sixteenth century (c. 1450-1650)*.

Although Europe did not have a dominant world-empire before 1450, and its urban trajectory was led by the commercial cities of northern Italy, nevertheless Europe’s largest city at the peak of the ‘commercial revolution’ in 1300 was not Venice, with an estimated 110,000, but a political city, Paris, capital of the largest kingdom, which was more than twice this size with some 228,000 residents (Chandler 1987, 17).

However in the transition there is the beginning of a new pattern with economic cities within the HEGEMONIC STATE dominating urban growth (Taylor et al 2010).

In this case, cities in Holland, led by Amsterdam, which was not then a capital city, show very fast growth rates relative to the rest of Europe (Israel). This is the first modern example of economic forces rivalling political forces as a maker of cities.*The Renaissance was a period of time from the 14th to the 17th century in Europe. This era bridged the time between the Middle Ages and modern times. The word "Renaissance" means "rebirth".




This is exemplified by the British industrial revolution where • Birmingham, • Glasgow, • Liverpool, and • Manchester

are the fastest growing cities of the eighteenth century (Taylor et al 2010).

By 1900 seven of the 16 ‘millionaire cities’ previously referred to do not have state capital functions: Birmingham, Boston, Chicago, Glasgow, Manchester, New York, and Philadelphia.

All the latter cities grew by attracting migrants for the economic opportunities that were perceived as being available. The remaining millionaire cities at this time are all capital cities but ones that were themselves rapidly industrializing such as Berlin, London, Paris and Vienna.

This is the first modern effect on urbanization that is unprecedented in history: the creation of great industrial cities as described by Weber (1899).“The large urban agglomerates we call megacities are increasingly a developing world phenomenon that will affect the future prosperity and stability of the entire world.”

George Bugliarello - Megacities and the Developing World




The second modern effect on urbanization unprecedented in history is the rise of mega-cities in the twentieth century.

Whereas the rural-urban migration for both political and economic cities was largely based on the pull of the cities, urban opportunities seemingly outweighing the attractions of staying rural, with mega-cities the situation is much more complex.

Certainly push factors relating to reorganizations of rural worlds seem to be just as important as city pull factors. This is especially the case where the mega-city in poorer countries is unable to provide anywhere near the formal jobs to match in-migration. The result has been the production of what Davis (2006) calls ‘MEGA-SLUMS’ including many ‘millionaire slums’: first, second and third generation urban slum dwellers are becoming a major global demographic (Brugmann 2009).”Push and Pull Factors:Push factors are reasons why people leave an area/country.Pull factors are reasons why people move to a particular area/country.

Push factors include: lack of services, high crime, war, povertyPull factors include: higher employment, safer, political stability, more wealth.


WHAT MAKES A CITY A “MEGA-CITY” AND WHAT ARE THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS?

Mega-cities Project and Yale Center for Study of Globalization

“Demographers define “mega-cities” as sprawling, crowded urban centres with populations topping 10 million. In 1995, 14 cities qualified as mega-cities; analysts predict that by 2015 there will be 21.

The world’s first mega-cities were in Latin America: • Mexico City, • Rio de Janeiro, • São Paulo and • Buenos Aires.

But in recent years Asian countries: • Japan, • South Korea, • China and • India

have grown the fastest.

http://www.megacitiesproject.org/

http://www.ycsg.yale.edu/map.html




continued: WHAT MAKES A CITY A “MEGA-CITY” AND WHAT ARE THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS?


Today the five largest cities are • Tokyo, • Mexico City, • São Paulo, • Mumbai (Bombay) and • New York City.

The rapid population growth of these cities is due primarily to intra-country migrations as the rural poor move from the countryside to urban areas in search of better lives. The result, unfortunately, is often:

• the proliferation of urban slums, • increased crime, • high rates of unemployment and • profound environmental degradation accompanied by serious health

challenges for the majority of residents.

“By 2050, two-thirds of the world’s population will live in urban areas, imposing even more pressure on the space infrastructure and resources of cities, leading to social disintegration and horrific urban poverty,”

says Werner Fornos, president of the Washington-based Population Institute.








According to the World Resources Institute, “Millions of children living in the world’s largest cities… are exposed to life-threatening air pollution two to eight times above the maximum tolerable level [as established by World Health Organization guidelines].

Indeed, more than 80% of all deaths in developing countries attributable to air pollution-induced lung infections are among children under five.”

One organization addressing the issue is the non-profit Mega-Cities Project, based at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. The organization has brought together a diverse international group of community, government and business leaders to share ideas on ways to make mega-cities more ECOLOGICALLY SUSTAINABLE and economically vital. Indeed, the fate of many of the world’s poor rests with such efforts to smooth the transition to a planet where 60% of all people crowd into a few dozen sprawling metropolises.The rise of mega-cities, poses formidable challenges in health care and the environment…the urban poor in developing countries live in squalor unlike anything they left behind…”

agrees The Washington Post








Worldwide, over a billion people live without regular access to clean water. Mega-city residents, crowded into unsanitary slums, also fall victim to serious diseases. Lima, Peru (with population estimated at 9.4 million by 2015) suffered a cholera outbreak in the early 1990s partly because, as The New York Times reported, “Rural people new to Lima…live in houses without running water and use the outhouses that dot the hillsides above.”

Consumption of unsafe food and water subjects these people to regular and life-threatening diarrhoea and dehydration. “All the demographic data point to the 21st century emerging as the urban century,” says Deane Neubauer of the Yale Centre for the Study of Globalization. “But evidence also indicates that a vast portion of the new ‘megacities’…will be infested by 19th-century-style poverty.”

The rise of mega-cities, poses formidable challenges in health care and the environment…the urban poor in developing countries live in squalor unlike anything they left behind…”

agrees The Washington Post





Agglomerations (see also: Urban Agglomeration)Agglomerations include a central city and neighbouring communities linked to it (e.g.) by continuous built-up areas or commuters. Some agglomerations have more than one central city (e.g. "The Ruhr").

Alpha CityAn alpha city is a city which plays a major role in the international community. Alpha cities have tremendous economic, political, and social clout, and they are viewed as primary hubs for global industry, in addition to centres of culture.

Beta CitiesThese are important world cities that are instrumental in linking their region or state into the world economy.

CaliphThe chief Muslim civil and religious ruler, regarded as the successor of Muhammad.

ConurbationAn extended urban area, typically consisting of several towns merging with the suburbs of one or more cities.

Vocabulary[Remember:

as cities grow and merge, new urban configurations are formed.]

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DemographicThe study of population statistics. It measures trends and tracks births, deaths and migration.

DemographyDemography is the study of statistics such as births, deaths, income, or the incidence of disease, which illustrate the changing structure of human populations.

Ecocity or Ecopolis [also called ‘Sustainable City’] see also Sustainable City.An Ecocity is a human settlement modelled on the self-sustaining resilient structure and function of natural ecosystems. The ecocity provides healthy abundance to its inhabitants without consuming more (renewable) resources than it produces, without producing more waste than it can assimilate, and without being toxic to itself or neighbouring ecosystems. Its inhabitants’ ecological impact reflect planetary supportive lifestyles; its social order reflects fundamental principles of fairness, justice and reasonable equity.

EcologyThe branch of biology that deals with the relations of organisms to one another and to their physical surroundings. The study of the interaction of people with their environment.

EkisticsEkistics mean the science of human settlements. It conceives of the human settlement as a living organism having its own laws and, through the study of the evolution of human settlements from their most primitive phase to Megalopolis and Ecumenopolis, develops the interdisciplinary approach needed to solve its problems.

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Gamma CitiesThese can be world cities linking smaller regions or states into the world economy, or important world cities whose major global capacity is not in advanced producer services.

Global CitySee: World City

HegemonyLeadership or dominance, esp. by one country or social group.

In-migrationTo move into a different region of the same country or territory.

LEDCLess Economically Developed Country – has low level of development based on economic indicators such as GDP (Gross Domestic Product) ie country’s income.

MEDCMore Economically Developed Country - has high level of development based on economic indicators such as GDP (Gross Domestic Product) ie the country’s income.

MegalopolisA very large, heavily populated city or urban complex.

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Metacity (Hypercity)A city with a population of over 20 million also called a hypercity. A major conurbation – a megacity of more than 20 million people.

MetroplexA very large metropolitan area, esp. an aggregation of two or more cities.

Metropolitan Area/RegionA formal local government area comprising the urban area as a whole and its primary commuter areas, typically formed around a city with a large concentration of people (ie. a population of at least 100,000).

MigrationMigration is the movement of people from one place to another. The reasons for migration can be economic, social, political or environmental. There are usually push factors and pull factors at work.

Migration impacts on both the place left behind, and on the place where migrants settle.

• Internal migration is when people migrate within the same country or region.

• International migration is when people migrate from one country to another.

• Emigration - when someone leaves a country.• Immigration - when someone enters a country.

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Population DensityPopulation density is an often reported and commonly compared statistic for places around the world. Population density is the measure of the number per unit area. It is commonly represented as people per square mile (or square kilometre), which is derived simply by dividing...

total area population / land area in square miles (or square kilometres) For example, Canada's population of 33 million, divided by the land area of 3,559,294 square miles yields a density of 9.27 people per square mile.

QualitativeRelating to, measuring, or measured by the quality of something rather than its quantity.

QuantitativeRelating to, measuring, or measured by the quantity of something.

RuralRelating to the country and the people who live there instead of the city (urban area).

Rural MigrationA shift of population to urban areas.

SlumsRun-down area of a city characterized by substandard housing and squalor.

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Spatial DensitySpatial density deals with the space and not the number of things in it.

Sustainable City (see also Ecocity)A city with a liveable environment, a strong economy and a social and cultural sense of community; sustainable cities enhance the well-being of current and future generations of urban dwellers. Sustainable Cities:

• are concerned about the state of the environment and how it effects it.• take steps to preserve, reuse and reduce products.• are green. Using green materials for construction and energy sources.• generally have more citizens who; recycle and grow their own food.• are PEOPLE BASED in that they focus less on expanding the economic boom

of a city and more on preservation of the environment for future generations.

HOWEVER, NO SUSTAINABLE CITY currently exists that uses and is completely committed to the principles of a ‘people-based’ city.

UrbanRelated to or located in a city. The definition of ‘urban’ varies from country to country and with periodic reclassification, can also vary within one country overtime, making direct comparisons difficult.

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Urban (continued)An ‘Urban Area’ can be defined by one or more of the following:

• Administrative criteria or political boundariese.g. area within the jurisdiction of a municipality or town committee.

• A threshold population sizeo i.e. where the minimum for an urban settlement is typically in the

region of 2,000 people, although this varies globally between 200 and 50,000 people.

• Population density

• Economic functiono e.g. where a significant majority of the population is not primarily

engaged in agriculture or where there is surplus employment

• The presence of ‘urban’ characteristicso e.g. paved streets, electric lighting, sewerage.

In 2010, 3.5 billion people lived in areas classified as ‘urban’. Urban Agglomeration (see: Agglomerations)The population of a built-up or densely populated area containing the city proper, suburbs and continuously settled commuter areas or adjoining territory inhabited at urban levels of residential density. Return to text

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Webography & SourcesThe First Megacities Lecture February 1997, Rotterdam – Peter Hall

Megacities, World Cities, and Global CitiesBy Peter HallThe author of the first Megacities Lecture – in a series of lectures to be delivered by well known authorities in the field of Megacities – is Peter Hall, Professor in Planning at the Bartlett School of Planning in London. Peter Hall is specialized in metropolitan planning and can be considered the founder of the concept “World Cities”. He published many books about the origin and development of world cities.

How Rapidly Cities Are Growing [INFOGRAPHIC]Infographic depicts 2011January 15, 2012 by Arian de Raaf

A Trip to Ancient Greece: Megalopolis

Megalopolis: Site

Discover Ancient Rome in Google Earth

SMPL: 3D Rome Reconstruction

http://www.megacities.nl/lecture_1/lecture.html#Starting%20with%20Some%20History


http://chatephuck.wordpress.com/2012/10/16/our-trip-to-ancient-greece-day-3/

http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/artifact?name=Megalopolis&object=Site

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqMXIRwQniA&feature=player_embedded#t=67

http://www.smpl.de/en/portfolio/3d-reconstruction-rome/

http://www.smpl.de/en/portfolio/3d-reconstruction-rome/

Webography & Sources

Assembled: A. Ballas

Megacities and Microcities

Academic Dictionaries and Encyclopedias: Ekistics

Resource efficiency in an urban context: Defining the framework of eco-municipalities

FOREIGN POLICY: The most dynamic cities of 2025

DICTIONARY.COM: Megacity

REFERENCE.COM: Megacity

Megacities in the Geography of Global Economic Governance

Mega-cities in Theoretical Perspective

City Populations and Data

http://thisbigcity.net/tag/megacities-microcities/

http://thisbigcity.net/tag/megacities-microcities/

http://en.academic.ru/dic.nsf/enwiki/1132573




http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/08/13/the_most_dynamic_cities_of_2025

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/08/13/the_most_dynamic_cities_of_2025

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Megacity

http://www.reference.com/browse/megacity

http://www.lboro.ac.uk/gawc/rb/rb323.html

http://www.lboro.ac.uk/gawc/rb/rb373.html



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ANTHROPOS One of the five ekistic elements, it is the Greek word for human being, used instead of the English word, “Man” (άνθρωπος), since it has no connotation distinguishing sex or age but means men and women equally, belonging to all age groups.

EKTISTIC POPULATION: 1That is: 1 person



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ROOM

EKTISTIC POPULATION: 2That is: 2 people



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HOUSE This term replaces ‘dwelling’.

EKTISTIC POPULATION: 5That is: 3-5 people



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HOUSE GROUP This replaces ‘dwelling group’.

Also known as:Hamlet:A small settlement, generally one smaller than a village; also known as a thorp.




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SMALL NEIGHBOURHOOD

NEIGHBOURHOODA district, esp. one forming a community within a town or city.

Also known as a:Village:A group of houses and associated buildings, larger than a hamlet and smaller than a town, situated in a rural area.




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NEIGHBOURHOOD A district, esp. one forming a community within a town or city.

EKTISTIC POPULATION: 1,500That is: 251-1,500 people



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SMALL POLIS

POLISA city-state in ancient Greece. A City.Etymology:"ancient Greek city-state," 1894, from Greek polis (πόλις) "city, one's city; the state, citizens," from PIE *pele- "citadel, enclosed space, often on high ground" (cf. Sanskrit pur,puram "city, citadel," Lithuanian pilis "fortress").Online Etymology Dictionary: Polis

Also known as a:Town:An urban area that has a name, defined boundaries, and local government, and that is larger than a village but smaller than a city.

EKTISTIC POPULATION: 10,000That is: 1,501-10,000 people




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POLIS A city-state in ancient Greece. A City. Etymology:"ancient Greek city-state," 1894, from Greek polis (πόλις) "city, one's city; the state, citizens," from PIE *pele- "citadel, enclosed space, often on high ground" (cf. Sanskrit pur, puram "city, citadel," Lithuanian pilis "fortress").Online Etymology Dictionary: Polis

Also known as a:City:A large town.

EKTISTIC POPULATION: 75,000That is: 10,001-75,000 people




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SMALL METROPOLIS

Metropolis:A major, multi-centre urban area with more than 50,000 people incorporating other small settlements, both urban and rural, growing dynamically to sizes as high as ten million people. The average population of such settlements between 50,000 and ten million inhabitants is of the order of 2.5 million, while about one half of these settlements have a population varying between 50,000 and 100,000. (μητρόπολη)Glossary DOXIADES: Metropolis

EKTISTIC POPULATION: 500,000That is: 75,001-500,000

http://www.doxiadis.org/files/pdf/GLOSSARY-ad.pdf



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METROPOLIS

Etymology:• From Greek metropolis "mother city" (μητρόπολις) (from which others

have been colonized), also "capital city," from meter (μήτηρ) "mother" + polis (πόλις) "city" – (parent state of a colony)

• Meaning "chief town or capital city of a province" is first attested 1580s, earlier metropol (late 14c.).

• "seat of a metropolitan bishop," 1530s, from Late Latin metropolis.Online Etymology Dictionary: Metropolis

EKTISTIC POPULATION: 4,000,000That is: 501,000-4,000,000

http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=metropolis&searchmode=none

http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=metropolis&searchmode=none



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SMALL MEGALOPOLIS

MEGALOPOLISAlso known as a:Megapolis (Μεγάπολις) or Megaregion is typically defined as a chain of roughly adjacent metropolitan areas, built by merging several cities and their suburbs.

EKTISTIC POPULATION: 25,000,000That is: 4,000,001-25,000,000



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MEGALOPOLIS A very large, heavily populated city or urban complex. (Μεγαλόπολις)

Also known as a:Megapolis (Μεγάπολις) or Megaregion is typically defined as a chain of roughly adjacent metropolitan areas, built by merging several cities and their suburbs.

Etymology:1832 from combination form of Greek MEGAS (Μέγας) (genitive megalou «μεγάλου») “great” + POLIS (πόλις) “city”. The word was used in classical times as an epithet (descriptive word; adjective used as noun) of great cities (Athens, Syracuse, Alexandria), and it also was the name of a former city in Arcadia.




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SMALL EPEROPOLIS

EPEROPOLIS (ηπειρόπολις)Derived from the Greek words epeiros (ήπειρος), "continent" and polis (πόλις), "city," it replaces the old term "urbanized continent”, which corresponded to ekistic unit 14 and community class XI.




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EPEROPOLIS Derived from the Greek words epeiros (ήπειρος), "continent" and polis (πόλις), "city," it replaces the old term "urbanized continent”, which corresponded to ekistic unit 14 and community class XI.

EKTISTIC POPULATION: 7,500,000,000That is: 750,000,001-7,500,000,000



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ECUMENOPOLIS Ecumenopolis (from Greek: οικουμένη, meaning world, and πόλις (polis) meaning city, thus a city made of the whole world; pl. ecumenopolises or ecumenopoleis) is a word invented in 1967 by the Greek city planner Constantinos Doxiadis to represent the idea that in the future urban areas and megalopolises would eventually fuse and there would be a single continuous worldwide city as a progression from the current urbanization and population growth trends.Academic Dictionaries and Encyclopedias: Ecumenopolis Also known as:Global City, Planet City, Universal City, City of the Universe, City of the Future

EKTISTIC POPULATION: 50,000,000,000That is: 7,500,000,001-50,000,000,000





the phenomenon of the megacities... or not? - what is a: Μεγάπολις (megapolis)?

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