Megacities Flashcards
Define a megacity
Any large urban agglomeration that has 10 million or more inhabitants, typically found in the developing world.
Megacity examples in different continents
Asia –> Shanghai, Dehli, Mumbai, Wu Han, Beijing, Karachi (Pakistan), Bankok, Dhaka
South America –> Rio De Janero, Sau Paulo, Buenos Aires
North America –> Mexico City
Africa –> Lagos, Cairo, Kinsasha
Area and density of megacities
- Megacities have the largest urban footprint of all urban places; typically occupying areas in excess of 1,000 square kilometres. The world’s largest megacities by area are in MEDCs (NYC – 12,000km2, Tokyo – 8,000km2 and Greater LA 6,000km2) as a result of urban sprawl.
- Megacities in LEDCs typically have higher city wide population densities of 2,000 per square kilometre or more. Karachi, in Pakistan (population 14 million) has an average population density of 25,000 per square km. Urban slums within megacities have even higher population densities, such as Dharavi, in Mumbai, which has a population density of 400,000 per square kilometre.
Spatial distrubution
- Megacities are primarily in LEDC countries, with 34 out of 42 located in countries with developing and emerging economies.
- Many of these urban agglomerations are in China (8) and India (6). By 2025, Asia alone will have at more than 30 megacities.
- Megacities in the developing world have unsustainable growth rates of 2-3% annually (ideal is 1%)
- 8% of the world’s population now live in a megacity.
Which megacity will grow the fastest over the next 15 year period?
Lagos
- -> Africa has largest rural population so largest potential to urbanise
- -> Between now and 2030 will increase by 30%. Karachi in Pakistan is also experiencing about 30% in ten years and Cairo 25% in 10 years.
Why are megacities growing so rapidly
- natural increase, migration (especially rural to urban), reclassification
- push and pull factors
Contrast the character of megacities with world cities
Character of MC – challenges, high density, urban decay, social and economic disadvantage, sites of manufacturing
Character of WC – World leading infrastructure, transport hubs, HQs of TNCs, Leading cultural institutions, sites of high wealth accumulation
Why do megacities experience challenges?
- Explosive population growth.
- A concentration of poverty and unemployment
- Massive infrastructure deficits in the delivery of telecommunications services, the availability of transportation, and the presence of congestion.
- Pressures on land and housing
- Environmental concerns, such as contaminated water, air pollution, unchecked weed growth due to the destruction of original vegetation, and overdrawn aquifers.
- Disease, high death rates, drug-resistant strains of infection, and lethal environmental conditions.
- Economic dependence on federal or state governments that constrains the independence of megacity administrations
- Capital scarcity
Problem: water shortages
- 27% of urban dwellers in the developing world do not have access to piped water at home and megacities are now experiencing water scarcity or drought conditions. 4 billion live in regions that experience severe water stress for at least one month
Mexico City water shortage challenge and response
- close to 5 million people in Mexico live without access to clean water
- The new bill aims to alleviate this deficit by outsourcing water provision to the private sector, which claims it can provide water better, cheaper, and cleaner than the Mexican government.
- Privatization, they claim, will divert water away from Mexico’s citizens and toward its polluting industries. Costs would rise, and quality would decline.
- hundreds of protestors marched down Mexico City’s Avenida de los Insurgentes toward the office of the National Water Commission
- thousands of signatures and thousands protesting on the streets halted the progress of water privatisation - the bill was delayed
