The video below gives an outline of this dot point. One you have watched it, complete the Google Quiz regarding the nature, character and spatial distribution of mega cities. (See if you pick up on my mistake I make in the video… oops)
One Measure: Developed Economies, Economies in Transition, Developing Economies
According to the NSW Geography syllabus megacities are: very large agglomerations of at least 10 million inhabitants
A more recent definition given to us by the United Nations, defines megacities as very large urban agglomerations of 10 million or more people. A megacity can be one or more cities that have grown to such an extent that they form one urban area. When we consider the syllabus dot point, we need to differentiate between which of the megacities are within the developed world and which of those are within the developing world. But that’s simple isn’t it? According to the OECD, there is no established convention for the designation between developed and developing countries. The following regions are generally considered to be part of the developed world:
- North America
- Western Europe
- Australia & New Zealand
There are exceptions to this rule including Japan, South Korea, but if we use the syllabus examples and some of the world’s new African megacities (for example, Lagos) we are provided with a number of prime case studies to explore.
Urban growth continues to occur at a rapid rate in within all areas of the globe. The UN’s 2014 World Urbanisation Prospects highlights this fact and provides us with the graph below. We have seen in less than twenty-five years the number of megacities grow from 10 cities to 28 cities. This number is only expected to grow as urbanisation, particularly in the developing world continues.
The 2014 World Urbanisation Prospects also details that:
- Megacities are notable for their size and concentration of economic activity, but are home to only about one in eight of the world’s urban dwellers.
- In 1990 there were 10 cities with more than 10 million inhabitants, and these so-called “megacities” were home to 153 million people, representing less than 7 per cent of the global urban population.
- Today, the number of megacities has nearly tripled to 28, the population they contain has grown to 453 million, and these agglomerations now account for 12 per cent of the world’s urban dwellers.
- Tokyo is the world’s largest city with an agglomeration of 38 million inhabitants, followed by Delhi with 25 million, Shanghai with 23 million, and Mexico City, Mumbai and São Paulo, each with around 21 million inhabitants.
- By 2020, Tokyo’s population is projected to begin to decline, although it will remain the world’s largest agglomeration in 2030 with 37 million inhabitants, followed closely by Delhi, whose population is projected to rise swiftly to 36 million.
Spatial Distribution of Mega Cities:
This graphic which is a ‘proportional circle’ map identifies the rate and distribution of urban growth. Asia, South and Central America and represent regions of significant urban growth. Megacities such as Mexico City, Mumbai, Lagos, Dhaka and Sao Paulo represent the continual growth of these large cities due to an influx of new city dwellers, drawn to these agglomerations because of pull factors including promises of better employment, education and health standards. Dhaka with a daily urban growth of approximately two thousand people daily, thirteen thousand people weekly and six hundred and seventy thousand new citizens annually is just one example of a city that struggles to provide its population with adequate living conditions.
| Indicator-based Checklist for Megacities | |
| Social indicators | § Population growth rate
§ Population density § Life expectancy rate § Migration rate (migration from rural areas and immigration) § At-risk-of-poverty rate § Social polarization rate § Inequality rate of income distribution § Crime rate § Dimension of housing shortages; ghettos, slums, squatters § Unemployment rate § Rate of people with unhealthy living conditions |
| Economic indicators | § Development of the local economy/economic structure
§ Real GDP growth rate § Unemployment rate § Accessibility of public transportation infrastructure § Quality of transportation network § Infrastructure deficiencies; overtaxed infrastructures § Risk of economic loss in case of a disaster |
| Ecological indicators | § Air pollution from vehicle emissions, industry etc.; smog
§ Groundwater and drinking water pollution § Quality of sewage treatment § Capacities of waste collection and disposal services § Land sealing rate § Suburbanization (urban sprawl) rate § Number and dimension of brownfields § Destruction of original vegetation; deforestation; damage to flora, fauna, biodiversity per year § Risks to natural disasters or industrial accidents |
Characteristics of Mega Cities of The Developing World
- Inequality within many mega cities of the developing world
- They perform many national and international functions and have CBD’s
- They are simultaneously nationally dominant, but dependent upon World Cities
- Many are former colonial cities that have expanded rapidly (Mumbai, Lagos and Manila are three cities in this category)
- They are major centres of manufacturing. These cities have attracted labour intensive services from Trans National Corporations.
Megacities suffer from the effects of overurbanisation. Results of this include:
- Insufficient employment
- Insufficient tax revenue to provide essential city infrastructure such as public transport, roads, sewerage, and fresh water.
- Shanty towns develop on the outskirts of mega cities and along transport routes such as roads and railways
- Many mega cities in the developing world have large informal economies
- Widespread pollution
- Social division, unrest and crime
- Health issues
Case Study: Dhaka, Bangladesh
Spatial Distribution of Megacities
Using the criteria provided above, identify those cities which are located within the ‘developing world’. Create a table that identifies the Megacity, the country and continent in which it is located.
Location of Urban Growth
The large red circles represent those cities that have a population greater than 10 million people. This is inclusive of developing and non-developing.
Creating an interactive Google Map of Mega Cities of the Developing World
Using the World Bank data spreadsheet, select the 2015 population estimate for each of the top 30 urban agglomerations. Copy the latitude, longitude, name of the city and its population and paste it into the relevant column of this Google Sheet. Once we have completed this we will import this data into a Google My Map to produce an interactive display of the 30 largest Urban Agglomerations in 2015. To ensure that we differentiate between those cities of the developing world, edit the colour of the place markers so that blue represents developed and red represents developing.
Connectography 