Megalopolis
Topic: Human Settlements and Urbanisation in India · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
A megalopolis is a very large urban belt. It forms when several big metropolitan regions grow along transport routes until they join. Each metropolitan region is a big city plus the towns that depend on it. Jean Gottmann gave the term in 1961. The belt has many centres rather than one, so it shows the most advanced stage of urban growth.
Example
Gottmann's model case is the Boston-Washington belt on the north-east coast of the USA, which runs through New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore. In India, Delhi-NCR and the Mumbai-Pune corridor are seen as possible megalopolises in the making.
Don't confuse with
- Conurbation: Patrick Geddes's 1915 term for neighbouring towns that have grown into each other, such as the Hugli belt. A megalopolis is far bigger: it is a chain of whole metropolitan regions.
- Megacity: a single urban agglomeration (one continuous built-up area) with 1 crore or more people. It is defined by population, not by several regions merging.