It was
recently announced in the news that the world’s population is now over 50%
urban. To be sure, we may have already reached this milestone a few years ago,
depending on how urbanism is measured. Be that as it may, I now want to play
with this idea a bit. I used to teach urban sociology, which I find a
fascinating subject. Also, I have lived
in or visited several dozen of these mega-cities, and I love large cities.
I consulted a number of sources to examine the current ranking of the world’s 150 largest metropolises. (World’s Largest Cities; The 150 Largest Cities of the World; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_metropolitan_areas_by_populationList of MSAs).
Much has changed since I was young. When I disembarked from the boat in America as a Hungarian refugee in Hoboken, New jersey, staring in awe at the magic New York skyline, that city was the world’s largest, as was its harbor. In subsequent decades, its harbor was overtaken first by Rotterdam, and then by Shanghai. As to population, New York is now the 10th largest city in the world.
I consulted a number of sources to examine the current ranking of the world’s 150 largest metropolises. (World’s Largest Cities; The 150 Largest Cities of the World; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_metropolitan_areas_by_populationList of MSAs).
Much has changed since I was young. When I disembarked from the boat in America as a Hungarian refugee in Hoboken, New jersey, staring in awe at the magic New York skyline, that city was the world’s largest, as was its harbor. In subsequent decades, its harbor was overtaken first by Rotterdam, and then by Shanghai. As to population, New York is now the 10th largest city in the world.
Table One shows where the world’s 150 largest cities are located, and it ranks countries on this measure.
Table One.
Countries ranked by how many of the world’s 150 largest cities they possess.
Country
|
Number
|
Including
|
population
|
Rank
|
continent
|
1. China
|
36
|
Shanghai
Beijing
Guangzhou (Canton)
|
23.7 mill.
20.4 mill.
13.3 mill.
|
#3
#7
#20
|
Asia
|
2. USA
|
16
|
New
York
Los Angeles
Chicago
|
18.6 mill.
12.3 mill.
8.7 mill.
|
#10
#21
#39
|
North America
|
3. India
|
11
|
Delhi
Mumbai
|
25.7 mill.
21 mill.
|
#2
#5
|
Asia
|
4. Brazil
|
10
|
Sao Paulo
Rio de Janeiro
|
21 mill.
12.9
|
#4
#19
|
Latin America
|
5. Germany
|
6
|
Ruhr-Essen
|
7.3 mill.
|
#48
|
Europe
|
6. Japan
|
5
|
Tokyo
Osaka
|
38
million
20.2 mill.
|
#1
#8
|
Asia
|
7. Mexico
|
3
|
Mexico City
|
20.1 mill.
|
#6
|
Lat. Am.
|
8 - 11: Pakistan,
Nigeria,
Indonesia,
Italy
|
4 x 3
|
Karachi
Lagos
Jakarta
Rome
|
16.6 mill.
13.1 mill.
10.3 mill.
3.7 mill.
|
#12
#17
#27
#113
|
Asia (2)
Africa
Europe
|
12 - 22: Egypt, Bangladesh,
Russia, South Korea
Colombia, South
Africa
Vietnam, Saudi
Arabia
Spain, Canada, Australia
|
11 x 2
|
Cairo
Moscow
Seoul
Johannesburg
Ho Chi Minh City
Riyadh
Madrid
Toronto
Sydney
|
18.8 mill.
12.2 mill
9.8 mill.
9.4 mill.
7.3 mill.
6.4 mill.
6.2 mill.
6 mill.
4.5 mill.
|
#9
#22
#33
#36
#51
#56
#60
#62
#95
|
Asia (4)
Europe (2)
Afr. (2)
Latin Am.
North Am.
Australia
|
23-51: 29 countries, each
with 1 city:
Latin America: Argentina, Peru and Chile
Asia: Turkey, Philippines, Thailand, Iran, Taiwan,
Malaysia, Iraq, Singapore, Myanmar, Afghanistan, Israel, Syria
Africa:Congo, Angola, Sudan, Tanzania, Cote
d’Ivoire, Kenya, Senegal, Morocco,
Ethiopia, Cameroon
Europe:France, the UK, Holland and Greece
|
29 x 1
|
Buenos Aires
Istanbul
Manila
Tel Aviv
Kinshasa
Nairobi
Paris
London
Randstad
Athens
|
15.2 mill.
14.2 mill
12.9 mill.
3.6 mill.
11.6 mill
3.9 mill.
10.8 mill.
10.3 mill.
7.1 mill.
3.1 mill.
|
#13
#15
#18
#120
#23
#107
#25
#29
#52
#148
|
Lat.Am.:3
Asia: 12
Africa: 10
Europe: 4
|
Total
|
150
|
3-38 mill.
|
|||
http://www.mongabay.com/cities_pop_01.htmhttp://www.worldatlas.com/citypops.htm
Table One shows that China has by far the largest number of mega-cities (36). The US is still in second place (16) but other enormous countries such as India (11) and Brazil (10) are catching up fast. If taken as a unit, Europe still has 17 of the world’s largest cities (6 of them in Germany).
Clearly, the Western world went through the industrial revolution during the 19th century, while the developing world is going through it now. It is simply catching up with the West.
Japan may be the most urbanized country in the world. Tokyo is still largest city on the globe - 38 million people, i.e. roughly the population of California!
Table Two gives the distribution of mega-cities by continent.
Table Two:Continents, by Population and Share of Mega cities
Continent
|
Population
|
%
|
Mega-cities
|
%
|
number of people per
mega-city
|
World
|
7.63 billion
|
100%
|
150
|
100%
|
51 million
|
Africa
|
1.22 Billion
|
16%
|
17
|
11%
|
72 million
|
Asia
|
4.44 billion
|
59%
|
78
|
52%
|
57 million
|
Europe
|
739 million
|
10%
|
17
|
11%
|
43 million
|
Latin America
|
639 million
|
8.4%
|
18
|
12%
|
36 million
|
North Am.
|
363 million
|
5%
|
18
|
12%
|
20 million
|
Oceania
|
38 million
|
.5%
|
2
|
1.3%
|
19 million
|
Table
Two shows that Asia has by far the
largest number of mega-cities (78). However, this does not indicate that it is
the most urbanized continent. In fact,
It is less urban than all other continents except Africa. Whereas the world has
one mega-city for every 51 million people, Africa only has one for every 72 million and Asia
one for every 57 million. These continents are therefore still less urban than
is the world at large. The most urban continent in the world is Australia, with
1 mega-city for every 19 million people, followed by North America, Latin American and Europe. In other words, the three
continents that make up the Western world are still more urban than the world at large (as is
Latin America).
As I said, the world’s urbanization is now occurring primarily in the developing world - Asia, Africa and Latin America. How rapidly the world is changing becomes vivid to me when I see on my lists the names of many enormous Chinese, Indian and Brazilian cities of which I haven’t even heard - and I am a pretty good geographer!
As I said, the world’s urbanization is now occurring primarily in the developing world - Asia, Africa and Latin America. How rapidly the world is changing becomes vivid to me when I see on my lists the names of many enormous Chinese, Indian and Brazilian cities of which I haven’t even heard - and I am a pretty good geographer!
I have
been in 39 of the world’s mega-cities, from the largest city - Tokyo with 38
million people - to Athens, with a population of 3.1 million. Most of my travel has been in
the Western world. I have been in 17 European mega-cities, 17 North-American
mega-cities, 2 mega-cities in Asia, 2 in
Australia and 1 in Africa.
Here are some of the great and magnificent cities which I have had the privilege of enjoying:
|
City
|
population
|
rank
|
|
Europe: Moscow
|
12.2 million
|
22
|
|
Paris
|
10.8
|
25
|
|
London
|
10.3
|
29
|
|
Randstad
|
7.1
|
52
|
|
Munich
|
5.9
|
63
|
|
Saint Petersburg
|
5
|
83
|
|
Naples
|
3.7
|
115
|
|
Athens
|
3.1
|
148
|
|
North America: New York
|
18.6
|
10
|
|
Toronto
|
6
|
62
|
|
Miami
|
5.8
|
65
|
|
Dallas
|
5.7
|
68
|
|
Washington D.C.
|
5
|
84
|
|
San Francisco
|
4.7
|
89
|
|
Boston
|
4.2
|
99
|
|
Montreal
|
4
|
105
|
|
Minneapolis-Saint Paul
|
3.6
|
127
|
|
Australia: Sydney
|
4.5
|
95
|
|
Melbourne
|
4.2
|
100
|
|
Asia: Tokyo
|
38
|
1
|
|
Not even on the List:
Europe: Vienna
|
1.8
|
|
|
Budapest
|
1.7
|
|
|
Amsterdam
|
1.1
|
Part of Randstad
|
|
US: Sacramento
|
2.3
|
27th MSA in the US
|
© Tom Kando 2019;All Rights Reserved
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