Megapolises of the world. Cities with over one million inhabitants

The growth of the urban population is one of the most important characteristics of the modern era. The largest megacities of the world until recently were located exclusively in the European region and the old civilizations of Asia - China, India and Japan.

Two centuries of urbanization: 1800-2000

Until the XVIII century, no city reached the threshold of one million inhabitants, with the exception of Rome in the ancient period: during the culmination of its population was estimated at 1.3 million people. In 1800 there was only one settlement with a population of more than 1 million - Beijing, and in 1900 there were 15. The table lists the ten largest cities in the world in 1800, 1900 and 2000 with an appropriate estimate of the population.

The 1800 rating reflects the demographic hierarchy. Among the ten most densely populated cities, four are Chinese (Beijing, Canton, Hangzhou and Suzhou).

After a period of political turmoil, China under the Qing Dynasty experienced a prolonged peace period of demographic expansion. In 1800, Beijing became the first city after Rome (at the peak of the Roman Empire), whose population exceeded 1 million inhabitants. Then he was number one in the world; Constantinople was in a state of decline. Then London and Paris appear (the second and fifth respectively). But in this world ranking the urban tradition of Japan already manifests itself, since Edo (Tokyo) begins the 19th century with a half-million population close to the population of Paris, and Osaka is among the top ten.

The heyday and decline of Europe

In 1900, the growth of European civilization becomes evident. The main megacities of the world (9 out of 10) belonged to the Western civilization on both sides of the Atlantic (Europe and the USA). The four largest metropolitan regions of China (Beijing, Canton, Hangzhou, Suzhou) disappeared from the list, thereby confirming the decline of the Chinese empire. Another example of regression was Constantinople. On the contrary, cities such as London or Paris grew at an accelerated pace: between 1800 and 1900 their population increased by 7-8 times. Greater London had 6.5 million inhabitants, which exceeded the number of residents of countries such as Sweden or the Netherlands.

The growth of Berlin or New York was even more impressive. In 1800, New York with its 63 thousand inhabitants was not the size of the capital, and a small town; One century later, its population exceeded 4 million people. Of the 10 megacities of the world, only one-Tokyo-was outside the sphere of European settlement.

The demographic situation at the beginning of the 21st century

By the end of the twentieth century, the world's largest megacities had a population of 20 million inhabitants each. Tokyo is still expanding to such an extent that the city became the most gigantic agglomeration of the world, whose population of 5 million people exceeded the number of New Yorkers. New York itself, which for a long time took the first place, is currently on the fifth with a population of about 24 million people.

While in 1900 out of the ten largest urban agglomerations, only one was outside the European sphere, the current situation is completely opposite, since none of the ten most populated megalopolises belongs to European civilization. The ten largest cities are located in Asia (Tokyo, Shanghai, Jakarta, Seoul, Guangzhou, Beijing, Shenzhen and Delhi), Latin America (Mexico) and Africa (Lagos). For example, Buenos Aires, which was a village as far back as the beginning of the 19th century, reached the 6th place in 1998 with a total population of 11 million people.

Explosive growth is observed in Seoul, where the number of residents during the last half-century has increased 10-fold. Sub-Saharan Africa does not have an urban tradition and is only at the very beginning of this process, but there is already a million-million city of Lagos with a population of 21 million people.

About 2.8 billion urban residents in 2000

In 1900, only 10% of the earthlings lived in cities. In 1950, there were already 29% of them, and by 2000 - 47%. The urban population of the world has increased significantly: from 160 million in 1900 to 735 million in 1950 and to 2.8 billion in 2000

The growth of cities is a universal phenomenon. In Africa, the size of some localities has doubled every decade, as a result of explosive growth in the number of residents and intensive rural emigration. In 1950, in almost every country in sub-Saharan Africa, the proportion of urban residents was below 25%. In 1985, this situation was preserved in only one third of the countries, and in 7 states the number of citizens prevailed.

Town and village

In Latin America, on the contrary, urbanization began quite a long time ago. It reached its peak in the first half of the 20th century. The urban population is still a minority in only a very few of the poorest countries in Central America and the Caribbean (Guatemala, Honduras, Haiti). In the most densely populated states, the percentage of urban residents corresponds to those of developed Western countries (more than 75%).

The situation in Asia is radically different. In Pakistan, for example, 2/3 of the population are rural; In India, China and Indonesia - 3/4; In Bangladesh - more than 4/5. Villagers largely prevail. The overwhelming majority of citizens still live in rural areas. The concentration of urban population is limited to several areas of the Middle East and industrial regions of East Asia (Japan, Taiwan, Korea). It seems that the high density of the rural population limits isolation and thus prevents excessive urbanization.

The emergence of megacities

Urban residents are gradually more and more concentrated in giant agglomerations. Almost all of them were located within European civilization - in Europe itself (London, Paris, Berlin), in Russia (St. Petersburg, Moscow) or in its North American branch (New York, Chicago, Philadelphia). The exception was only a few cities with a long history of political and industrial centers of countries with a high population density: Tokyo, Beijing, Calcutta.

Half a century later, by 1950, the urban landscape had changed profoundly. The largest megacities of the world still belonged to the European sphere, but Tokyo rose from 7th to 4th place. And the most eloquent symbol of the decline of the West was the fall of Paris from 3rd to 6th place (between Shanghai and Buenos Aires), and London from the position of the leader in 1900 to number 11 in 1990.

Cities and slums of the third world

In Latin America and even more in Africa, where the withdrawal from the land began suddenly, the crisis of cities is extremely deep. The pace of their development is two to three times less than the rate of population growth; The speed of urbanization is now an aggravating factor: the acceleration of technological progress and globalization limits the potential for creating a sufficient number of new jobs, while schools and universities supply millions of new graduates each year to the labor market. Life in a metropolis of this type is fraught with disappointments that fuel political instability.

Among 33 agglomerations with more than 5 million inhabitants in 1990, 22 were in developing countries. The cities of the poorest states, as a rule, become the largest in the world. Their excessive and anarchic growth entails such problems of megacities as the formation of slums and shacks, the overload of infrastructure and the aggravation of social ills, such as unemployment, crime, insecurity, drug abuse, etc.

The further spread of megacities: the past and the future

One of the most striking features of development is the formation of megacities, especially in less developed countries. According to the UN definition, these are settlements with at least 8 million inhabitants. The growth of large urban formations is a new phenomenon that has occurred over the past half century. In 1950, only 2 cities (New York and London) were in this category. By 1990, the metropolitan areas of the world included 11 settlements: 3 were located in Latin America (Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro), 2 were in North America (New York and Los Angeles), 2 in Europe (London and Paris) and 4 - in East Asia (Tokyo, Shanghai, Osaka and Beijing). In 1995, 16 megalopolises of 22 were in less developed countries (12 in Asia, 4 in Latin America and 2 in Africa-Cairo and Lagos). By 2015, their number has increased to 42. 34 of them (81%) are located in undeveloped states and only 8 in developed countries. Megapolices of the world in the overwhelming majority (27 of 42, which is about two-thirds) are in Asia.

Unconditional leader countries in the number of millionaires are China (101), India (57) and the United States (44).

Today, the largest European metropolis - Moscow, which takes 15th place with 16 million people. It is followed by Paris (29th place with 10.9 million) and London (32nd with 10.2 million). The definition of "metropolis" Moscow received in the late XIX century, when the census of 1897 recorded 1 million people of citizens.

Candidates for megalopolises

Many agglomerates will soon cross the 8-million barrier. Among them - the city of Hong Kong, Wuhan, Hangzhou, Chongqing, Taipei-Taoyuan, etc. In the United States, candidates are much behind in population. These are the agglomerates of Dallas / Fort Worth (6.2 million), San Francisco / San Jose (5.9 million), 5.8 million Houston, Miami, Philadelphia.

A total of 8 million has been overcome by only 3 American cities - New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. The fourth most populous in the US and the first in Texas is Houston. The city is on 64 place of the list of the largest settlements of the world. Prospective in the United States and the growth of relatively small conurbations. Examples of such formations are Atlanta, Minneapolis, Seattle, Phoenix and Denver.

Wealth and poverty

The importance of hyperurbanization varies from continent to continent and from one country to another. The demographic profile, the nature of economic activities, the type of housing, the quality of the infrastructure, the growth rate, the history of settlement are significantly different. For example, the cities of Africa do not have a past, and suddenly they are flooded with a massive and continuous influx of poor rural migrants (mostly peasants), and also expand due to high natural growth. Their growth rate is about twice the world average.

In East Asia, where population density is extremely high, huge conurbations, which sometimes cover very large areas and include a network of surrounding villages, have emerged due to improved economic conditions.

In the Indian sub-continent, megacities such as Bombay, Calcutta, Delhi, Dhaka or Karachi tend to expand at the expense of the rural poor, as well as excessive fertility. In Latin America, the picture is somewhat different: urbanization here occurred much earlier and since 1980 has slowed down; The key role in this turn seems to have been played by the policy of structural adjustment.