41 city
15 LARGEST MEGACITIES )
population (million)
SHANGHAI MUMBAI KARACHI DELHI
ISTANBUL SAO PAULO MOSCOW SEOUL
BEIJING
MEXICO CITY TOKYO
KINSHASA JAKARTA NEW YORK LAGOS
13.8 13.8 13.0 12.7 11.4 11.0 10.5 10.4 10.1 8.8 8.8 8.7 8.5 8.3 8.0
density (/ km2
7,174
22,937 3,683 29,149 6,211 7,247 9,722
17,288 7,400 5,954
14,254 878
12,738 10,452 7,938
PAULO SAO LEGEND Population NEW YORK
MEXICO CITY
LAGOS KINSHASA
MOSCOW ISTANBUL KARACHI DELHI MUMBAI JAKARTA BEIJING SHANGHAI
SEOUL TOKYO
0
Population Density 15 mln people
5 10 0 5,000 10,000 15,000 20,000 25,000 30,000 people/km2
Currently there are over 30 megacities in the world where the population exceeds 5 million residents.
conditions, subject to geohazards, such as f looding or landslides. This makes both initial development and long-term maintenance more expensive. The effects of global environmental
and socio-economic change can mag- nify the risks and impair quality of life for many people. Increasing population density can give rise to increased risks to people and property in the face of environmental and man-made hazards. Vigorous economic activity generates individual and societal prosperity and material wellbeing (although often at the price of greater personal, social, and environmental stress). To be sus- tainable, authorities must control the fabric and land use patterns within a megacity to minimize adverse environ- mental effects. This requires integrity in resource, logistics (traffic), and waste management, with cost-effective recov- ery of value, recycling of wastes and materials, and, as far as practicable, re- duction of risks to health.
REACHING LIMITS
Several megacities appear to have reached their physical and managerial limits, and others will do so sooner or later. When megacities run out of space, urban land prices become prohibitively high, leading to intensification of land use with development of more high-rise buildings and underground space. The skyscrapers of old and new world mega- cities demonstrate that we operate not in two dimensions, but in three. Surface development requires sound
foundation conditions. Skyscrapers, el- evated roads and railways, communica- tions, electrical and energy corridors, and many places where people live, shop, relax, and work, are built on and above this surface. Concentrated compact de- velopments may depress quality of life, and areas may become more vulnerable to natural and man-made hazards. Some infrastructure and development related to environmentally unfriendly or other
undesirable activities at the surface could be placed underground, thereby significantly improving the quality of liv- ing space at ground level. Geographers and Earth scientists
have long contributed to the understand- ing and management of complex mega- cities through their knowledge of Earth processes, as well as their ability to find and exploit natural resources. They have a unique understanding of how socio- economic and natural systems oper- ate at scales ranging from global to lo- cal, and they have a role to play in the sustainable management of megacities. Their input can ensure deeper under- standing of the complex socio-economic processes, wise management of human and economic resources, and reduction of risk from natural, man-made, and man- enhanced hazards. PE
PROF. DR FRAUKE KRAAS, specializing in metropolitan dynamics and megacities, is based in the Department of Geography, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany.
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PLANET EARTH \\ MEGACITIES
OUTLINE OF WORLD MAP: SHUTTERSTOCK
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