What is a megacity: the concept, history, the problems of modern megacities

A man builds his cities in breadth and upward, occupying an ever larger space around the centers of his states. Thus, unusually large cities are formed, in which millions live, seek their happiness, work and rest.

The lights of the big city, city-megalopolis, hypnotize. The second word, such exquisitely-impressive, is increasingly used in conversations. It has long replaced the word "city" for some such centers. As we know, the metropolis is a very large city. Or maybe we know very little about him, about this beautiful word? We offer a little more detailed understanding of what a metropolis is.

Megapolis: the word and its origin

The word itself comes from a combination of two Greek forms. If someone came up with an association with this phenomenon of ancient civilization, like policies, city-states, then this is very handy. Megalo, which means "big" and polis, which translates as "city" - from these two components is composed of the modern designation of the largest city. So, we got the answer to the most important question - what is a metropolis. The definition and origin of the word are known to us. His historical development will be discussed further.

The history of the use of the word "metropolis" in geographical science began in the 17th century. English researcher T. Herbert first used this term as the designation of the capitals of states. Since then, the evolution of the meaning of the word has tied it to the name of only especially large cities in the world significance. According to the criterion, introduced in the publications of the United Nations, in a megacity must live at least 10 million inhabitants.

Features of the metropolis

Megapolis - this is the largest form of settlement, which is formed as a result of the merger of many neighboring urban agglomerations.

For reference, let's take a look at the additional concept of agglomeration (from Latin agglomero - "attach") - a set of cities with strong economic and cultural ties. As a result, they become a single functional unit. They are formed around large cities, mainly in industrial areas with a high population density. With further growth and development of ties, cities and agglomerations are merged into megacities.

World trends in the context of history

Now we know what a metropolis is in geography. For the formation and development of major cities, observations were made constantly. So, according to statistics, in 1900 there were only 10 cities around the world that could be considered megacities. In 1955, there were 61 cities with more than a million inhabitants, and in 1990 - as many as 276. As can be seen from the figures, the tendencies towards globalization, the enlargement of settlements, are gaining momentum.

The most populated cities have historically appeared in America. So, back in 1950 in New York there were more than 12 million inhabitants. The Eurasian continent lagged quite a bit - Shanghai with its 10 million and London.

Before the beginning of the new millennium, in 1995, the picture of the mega-cities of the world was even more impressive. In Japan, in the mega-city of Tokyo-Yokohama, there were more than 26 million inhabitants. New York has grown not so much - up to 16 million, Mexico City - to 15.5.

We examined what a metropolis is, a definition of geography, some statistics. Next, we need to address the problems of a modern big city.

What is a megacity: the ecological side of the issue

Besides comfort and a wide range of possibilities, life in a big city has many negative sides. Residents of metropolitan areas, they are very familiar, but those who are full of the desire to move there, will meet with them. And it's better to be prepared.

What is a metropolis in the context of the impact of its scale on the life of the population? A person in him is surrounded by many dangerous factors. You could not even think about them: an extremely fast rhythm of life, a constant noise background, nervous loads experienced in moments, for example, waiting in a traffic jam, a long road to work and home. The mentality of a megalopolis is subject to constant negative effects.

In big cities there is a higher probability of not such frequent, but global problems: terrorism, technogenic catastrophes. Separately in this issue, we consider the epidemiological danger.

The spread of diseases in the megalopolis

Due to the densely populated, frequent and long contacts of people in big cities, the risk of rapid spread of diseases here is off scale.

So, the USA faced this problem in 2013 closely. The country experienced an epidemic of influenza in which hundreds of thousands of people were registered. Hospitals were clogged, in queues for medical help people became even worse. There were many deaths. At that time, New York was the most vulnerable to the disease.

With a high population density, any epidemic quickly escapes control. It is worth looking at this, assessing the metropolis as a place for life.

Ecology is the problem №1

After the examples given here, we already know what a metropolis is: it is not only convenience and opportunities, but also a number of dangers.

However, the leader among the problems of the big city, after all, is ecological. Working industrial zones, car smog cause a huge impact on people's health. The inhabitants of the metropolis often have heart attacks, they suffer from allergies, experience nervous breakdowns and other health problems.

Conclusion

So, we looked at what a metropolis is. This is the largest form of human settlement in the world, and it has many advantages for a comfortable life, but also many problems. The most important of the latter is the ecological situation, adversely affecting the health of citizens.

We hope you were interested in learning more about the largest human settlements of our time. And despite a significant number of negative factors, I want to believe that still pleasant impressions of the world's megacities will be more vivid and large-scale.