Megapolises and the largest agglomerations of the world

Modern society, due to many global processes, is becoming more and more urbanized. Therefore, the question of studying and describing megacities and agglomerations is more than relevant. The article describes the largest agglomerations of the world, and also defines the term "agglomeration".

What is agglomeration?

Most modern encyclopedias define the agglomeration as a large cluster of settlements that are mainly urban, and in exceptional cases also rural entities, which are united in a single unit due to economic, political and cultural ties. The largest agglomerations of the world began to form in the middle of the twentieth century, when the growth of cities occurred everywhere. In the 21st century, the process of urbanization intensified and continued in a new form.

The agglomeration can form around one big city and be called monocentric. Examples of such agglomerations are New York and Paris. The second type of agglomeration is called polycentric, which means that the agglomeration structure includes several large settlements that, independently of one another, are central. A vivid example of polycentric agglomeration is the Ruhr region in Germany.

For 2005 there were about 400 agglomerations worldwide, the number of residents in each of them exceeded 2 million people. The largest agglomerations of the world on the map are quite uneven, but their largest concentration is observed in economically developed countries. In the ten largest agglomerations of the world, there are more than 230 million people (much more than the population of the Russian Federation).

Tokyo and Yokohama

Undoubtedly, the largest metropolitan area is the capital of Japan, Tokyo. Its population today is close to 38 million people, which exceeds the population of many European countries (Switzerland, Poland, the Netherlands and others). The agglomeration is inherently polycentric and unites two central cities - Yokohama and Tokyo, as well as a huge number of small settlements. The agglomeration area is 13.5 thousand km ² .

The center of this huge metropolitan area is made up of three urban districts, which are located around the imperial palace in Tokyo. In addition, the city has 20 more districts and several prefectures (Gunma, Kanagawa, Ibaraki, etc.). This whole structure is usually called Big Tokyo.

London

At the moment, there are many definitions of the territory on which the city of London is located. Among them are Greater London, the London county and even the London postal or telegraph district. Scientists usually share in the territorial structure of the British capital the historical center (City), Inner London (13 city blocks), Outer London (suburban old districts). All these territorial elements form such a structure and population as the largest agglomerations of the world have.

The administrative boundaries of the London metropolitan area occupy about 11 thousand km ² with a population of about 12 million people. This territory includes the so-called satellite cities of London: Bracknell, Harlow, Basildon, Crowley and others. And also directly those territories that are adjacent to the capital: Essex, Surrey, Kent, Hertfordshire.

Paris

In administrative terms, the city of Paris is only one of the departments within the Ile-de-France region. But the capital for a long time has crushed under itself all eight departments, the administrative division at the moment is conditional. And Paris is an urban center, which has the same qualities as the largest agglomerations and megacities of the world. In particular, Paris has a significant number of satellite cities, which were built and merged into the capital in the 1960s.

The construction of the so-called new cities - specially created satellites of Paris, began in the big crown in the 1960s.

Paris as the capital of France, together with the so-called new cities and crowns, forms a huge agglomeration, or Greater Paris. The metropolitan area is 12 thousand km ² , and the population is more than 13 million people. Paris represents the largest agglomerations of the world on the map of Europe.

Asian agglomerations

Recently, Asia has begun to gain in the world economic and cultural life. In Asian countries , the largest agglomerations of the world are also concentrated. A clear example is the city of Mumbai, whose population exceeds 22 million people. Or the capital of the Philippines, Manila with a population of 20 million, and Delhi with 18 million inhabitants. In China, agglomerations occupy about 10% of the territory of the whole country. Such megacities as Shanghai (19 million people) and Hong Kong (15 million inhabitants) are clear examples of urban processes in the East.

Thus, in the current conditions of globalization and urbanization, large cities are growing and becoming agglomerations, which are becoming more and more in the world.