Introduction to the Mega City

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Introduction to the Mega City the Global City
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How did Industrial Revolution create a push
towards Urbanization?

• In 1800 only 3 of the worlds population lived
  in cities.
• By end of 20th Century, 47 did so.
• In 1950, there were 83 cities with populations
  exceeding one million but by 2007, this had
  risen to 468

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Continued

• The Industrial revolution kick started the city
  growth by
• Improving food availability better roads,
  trains and trucks
• Movement of jobs no longer were people working
  the land, now factories were being built in the
  cities, thus a migration from rural areas to
  cities, mechanization of machines eliminates
  manual labour
• Elimination of the health risks the industrial
  revolution improved handling of sewage/ garbage
  and also provided safe drinking water less
  deaths and greater population densities

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Continued

• Mass transit the travel distance between people
  was reduced by subways and street.
• No more walking to work living greater
  distances from work

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Mega Cities Are

• Urban areas with populations greater than 10
  million people
• Rapidly growing
• Characterized as having high levels of poverty,
  crime and high levels of social fragmentation.
• A mega city can be a single metropolitan area or
  two or more metropolitan areas that converge upon
  one another.

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Mega Cities Around the World

• In 1950, New York was the only urban area with a
  population of over 20 million.
• Currently 24 Mega Cities in the world
• Top 5 Mega Cities
• 1. Tokyo, Japan - 28,025,000 2. Mexico City,
  Mexico - 18,131,000 3. Mumbai, India -
  18,042,000 4. Sáo Paulo, Brazil - 17, 711,000
  5. New York City, USA - 16,626,000

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Canadian Mega Cities

• The 1990s, the forced amalgamation of several
  municipalities created what was labeled a mega
  city by the media
• None of the municipalities actually fit the
  definition of a mega city
• Examples include
• Halifax - the cities of Halifax and Dartmouth and
  surrounding municipalities were merged in 1996
  into the HRM, often called a "mega city," with a
  total population of 360 000.
• Toronto - In 1998 the municipalities that
  constituted the Municipality of Metropolitan
  Toronto were merged into a new City of Toronto,
  currently the largest of the Canadian cities,
  with a population of 2,503,281 in 2006. The
  Greater Toronto Area (or GTA) had a population of
  5,555,912 in 2006.

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Global Cities
PRESTIGE STATUS POWER INFLUENCE

• Economic
• -Capital/money
• centre
• Large corporation headquarters

• Political
• - National seat of democratic government
• Headquarters of major governing bodies

• Cultural
• Excellence in arts and entertainment
• Rich heritage
• Prestigious universities and research institutes
• Museums

• Demographic
• Large population
• Many well educated people
• Ethnic diversity

• Technological
• Good access
• by air
• State of the
• art communication
• - Centre of research and development

QUALIFYING ATTRIBUTES
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A Few More Characteristics

• International, first-name familiarity Paris NOT
  Paris, France
• Active influence on and participation in
  international events and world affairs - New York
  City is home to the United Nations headquarters
  complex
• A fairly large population of at least one
  million, typically several million
• several international cultures and communities
  such as a Chinatown, Little Italy

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Just to Name a Few

• London
• New York City
• Paris
• Tokyo
• San Francisco
• Sydney
• Toronto
• Zürich

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Push Factors

• The poverty and living conditions in the rural
  areas actually push people from the rural to the
  urban settings. They move in hopes of finding
  better living conditions.
• In the MDCs the rural areas are usually more
  attractive places to live than in the LDCs. Some
  find there are fewer services in the rural areas.
  
• Negative
• Giving up clean air, peaceful environment.

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Pull Factors

• The skyscrapers, freeways and excitement are
  equally attractive in both the LDCs and MDCs.
  Dont forget the work opportunities in the urban
  LDCs and MDCs. Both have the opportunity of
  better education, jobs and better medical
  facilities.
• Negatives
• They also offer less desirable opportunities such
  as landfill scavenging, and begging for money on
  the overcrowded streets.