Mar 3, 2019
It’s not nation states or even cities, but mega-regions—combinations of multiple metro areas—that are the real forces powering the global economy.
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It’s not nation states or even cities, but mega-regions—combinations of multiple metro areas—that are the real forces powering the global economy.
Mega-regions
Mega-cities are blooming into mega-regions. More than half of all mega-cities are in Asia (list of all mega-cities), and China has the most and fastest growing mega-regions.
(For context, a dense Boston to Washington DC corridor would be a single mega-region.)
Mega-regions are a necessary progression from the mega-city, but to succeed, the region must have many complementary city centers -- very few mega-regions do. With the planning flaw, comes challenges.
A few articles on the challenges of the current designs:
China's Mega-Cities are Combining to Mega-Regions, But They're Doing It Wrong
China's New Megalopolis Would Be Bigger Than Uruguay and More Populous Than Germany
Introducing China's Future Megalopolis: The Jing-Jin-Ji
Research shows that the world's largest 40 mega-regions cover only a tiny fraction of the habitable surface of our planet... but account for 66% of all economic activity and about 85% of technological and scientific innovation"
UN report: World's biggest cities merging into 'mega-regions' | guardian.co.uk