Megacity

A megacity is usually defined as a metropolitan area with a total population in excess of ten million people. A megacity can be a single metropolitan area or two or more metropolitan areas that converge. The terms conurbation, metropolis and metroplex are also applied to the latter.

As of 2016, there are 35 megacities in existence, Chennai being the latest. The largest of these are the metropolitan areas of Tokyo and Jakarta, each of these having a population of over 30 million inhabitants. Tokyo is the largest metropolitan area, while Shanghai is the largest city proper.

Largest cities

This is the list of largest cities and metropolitan areas as of 2016.

History

The term "megacity" entered common use in the late 19th or early 20th centuries, one of the earliest documented uses being by the University of Texas in 1904. Initially the United Nations used the term to describe cities of 8 million or more inhabitants, but now uses the threshold of 10 million.

In 1800, only 3% of the world's population lived in cities, a figure that rose to 47% by the end of the twentieth century. In 1950, there were 83 cities with populations exceeding one million; by 2007, this number had risen to 468. The UN forecasts that today's urban population of 3.2 billion will rise to nearly 5 billion by 2030, when three out of five people will live in cities. This increase will be most dramatic on the least-urbanized continents, Asia and Africa. Surveys and projections indicate that all urban growth over the next 25 years will be in developing countries. One billion people, almost one-seventh of the world's population, now live in shanty towns. In many poor countries overpopulated slums exhibit high rates of disease due to unsanitary conditions, malnutrition, and lack of basic health care. By 2030, over 2 billion people in the world will be living in slums. Over 90% of the urban population of Ethiopia, Malawi and Uganda, three of the world's most rural countries, already live in slums.