MEGALOPOLIS MEGALOPOLIS Megalopolis at Night

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MEGALOPOLIS

• Term used to describe any large urban Regional Landscapes of the area created by the growth toward each United States and Canada other and eventual merging of two or MEGALOPOLIS more cities. • The French geographer Jean Gottman Prof. Anthony Grande adopted the term in 1961 for the title of his ©AFG 2013 book, “Megalopolis: The Urbanized Northeastern Seaboard of the United States.”

Megalopolis Megalopolis at Night

When used with a capital “M”, the term denotes the almost unbroken urban Megalopolis development that extends extends over 500 from north of Boston, MA miles from the to counties south of Wash- northern fringe of ington, DC (from Portsmouth, the Boston metro Boston NH approaching Richmond, VA). area (in NH) to Washington, DC New York City metro area. With a lower case “m” the Philadelphia term is applied to any string Some people have of adjoining very large it extending to Baltimore cities. Richmond, VA. Washington

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LANDSCAPES of Megalopolis From the beginning: SETTLEMENT

Includes large cities, small towns and rural areas where most of the A place where one people reside in an urban place. person or a group of people live.

Settlements are differentiated on the basis of size = number of people present spacing = distance from each other function = reason for people grouping there

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HIERARCHY of SETTLEMENT HIERARCHY of SETTLEMENT The smallest settlements are greatest in number As the number of settlers (people) and located relatively close to each other. They increase from the single provide residents with basic necessities. dwelling (house ) to hamlet (group The larger settlements (cities) are more complicated, offer variety of goods and services of houses) to village to town to and are located at greater distances from each city, a hierarchy of form and other. function is created. People will travel to get the goods and services they need. 7 8

URBAN SETTING URBAN SETTING

What is an urban area? How is it characterized? An URBAN area (city) is surrounded by a SUBURB (less than urban) that is dependent Has a large number of pppeople. on the urban area and an Has a high concentration (density) of people EXURB (beyond the city and suburb) where and buildings (usually in tall buildings). residents live in a rural setting but are city Has numerous functions (activities/services) oriented. for the people to offer, use and be a part of.

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URBANIZATION Urban Landscape Development

Urbanization is tied to changes in The development of an urbanized area takes economic activities away from agriculture. on a life cycle. It allows people to develop a social order 1. Creation with a di vi si on of l ab or – specialists, crafts- 2. Growth men, merchants, etc. – that supports the 3.Stagnation activities of other people. 4. Demise Service sector of economy grows. 5. Resurgence Resurgence leads to the creation of a new identity. 11

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Historic Unique FUNCTIONS URBANIZED AREA (remember these when we look at other regions)

Exhibits unique activities or “functions” that Activities that draw people include: draw people to it. – Defense (fort) Spatial organization (intense and complex) – Government (administration) Site/situation advantages (reasons for location). – Transportation conveniences ((,ford, crossroads, fork) Pull factors (reasons to concentrate people). – Commerce and trade (market) Economic advantages associated with – Manufacturing (raw materials to finished product) accessibility and movement (as both a collection and – Recreation (resorts) distribution point). –Culture(education/religion/the arts) – Special activity (mining/forestry/fishing)

SITE & SITUATION Historic Favored SITE Factors (remember these when we look at other regions) The original location aspects of an urban • Fertile river valley o Sheltered bay place’s physical and cultural environments • Freshwater source o Head of navigation are related to function (reason for being; why  Island  Source of waterpower there?), accessibility to resources, and  Hilltop  Mineral location growth pattern. River crossing Strategic overlook Crossroads BUT Area near entrance to Confluence of two a mountain pass The quality of location changes with time. rivers The rise and fall of urban places can be docu- Portage point mented by the changing quality of their location. 15 16

ECONOMIC BASE Economic Base

A city can only survive if it has an The basic sector earns money from outside economic base. the city by selling products. Economic base of a city is a mix of The non-basic sector services the resident manuftifacturing and servi ce acti tiitivities workers with grocery stores , retail shops , that satisfy the needs of the city and earn repair shops, schools, local transit, health care, etc. income for the city. Multiplier Effect: On average, 2 non-basic The economic base consists of a BASIC workers are needed for every 1 basic worker. sector and a NON-BASIC sector. Non-basic workers are needed to support other non-basic workers. (But the reverse happens, too.) 17 18

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Megalopolis Today SITE CHARACTERISTICS of Megalopolis • Urban landscape is the •Has17% of the total U.S. . Coastal location allowed for regional trade dominant. population but only 1.5% and interaction with the world, esp. Europe. of the total land area • Urbanization has expand- . Numerous estuaries (drowned river mouths) ed into the surrounding • 17% of all U.S. export which form good harbors. farmland. trade moves through its . Moderate climate; cold winters. • Rural areas persist but six major ports. are getting smaller. • It is a region of inter- . Variable soils that provided enough food for • 10 major metropolitan areas national significance. residents but tend to be less productive. (Better in the area south of Philadelphia). of over 1 million people, • Higher than average plus numerous smaller proportion of white-collar . Relatively flat to gently rolling terrain. cities with large populations. employment. . Straddles 2 physiographic regions and includes the Fall Line.

SITE FACTOR: Boston The Fall Line

•Marks the border between the Piedmont and the Atlantic Coastal Plain. • Rapids and waterfalls are present. Rivers flow from FALL LINE the Piedmont’s (hard rock) higher elevation onto the soft rock coastal plain. • These were the sites for the first water mills that were the catalyst for urban development.

Boston New York City

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New York City Site and Situation of Philadelphia

Philadelphia Baltimore

Baltimore Washington, DC

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Regional SITUATION Plan of Washington, DC of Megalopolis Good location relative to Europe for trade and immigration. Accessible. – Along the trade routes to Europe, Caribbean and South America. – Good harbors. – Routes to the interior (hinterland). Natural and man-made, esp. Hudson- Mohawk corridor and the Erie Canal) – Convenient stop-off/service point for ships sailing the North Atlantic route.

HINTERLAND Access to the Interior (hinterland)

A tributary or service area defined as: Only NYC had direct access to the interior of North America. 1. The inland area lying beyond a The Hudson-Mohawk Corridor provided an easy and fast route coastal district. The Erie Canal enhanced 2. The l and surroundi ng a cit y th at from the Atlantic Ocean to the this route . It led to the rapid Great Lakes. growth of NYC and NYS. a) gets goods and services from that city. b) supplies the city with goods, resources and labor.

Urban Landscape NEEDS of the Urban Landscape GENERALIZATIONS • Visible characteristics • Public services – Tall buildings – Water, sewage, garbage pickup – Many people – Public safety – Busy streets –Welfare – Industrial plants • Accessibility/mobility – Cultural institutions – Early cities less concerned with accessibility • Metropolitan expansion – Demand increased by high level of interaction – First, merging of nearby urbanized areas into – Shaped by spatial arrangement of land uses metropolitan centers – Highways, parkways, beltways, expressways, – Then, a process of channeled growth along lines of mass transit created to move people and goods transportation quickly.

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CHANGING Urban Landscape Agriculture and Megalopolis

• Dynamic nature of the urban landscape; • Changes related to land availability: shift to seems to be always changing; evolving. table or specialty crops: • Things are done on a large scale. – High value, perishable: dairy products, fruits, and vegetables; horticulture; floriculture • Vertical use replaces horizontal use as RiRequire cons idbllldiderably less land space runs out – • Seems to be less “natural” and more of an • Changes in land value artificial environment. – Valued for more intense uses – Rise in property taxes – Greatest impact along lines of interurban access

Changes in Megalopolis’s Changes in Megalopolis’s Population: Population: Composition Redistribution over 50 years An urban area needs workers. – Growth of suburbs (1950s). – Migration of urbanites to small, distant towns Original Immigration from Europe now between cities (1980s). worldwide. – High-rise office and residential clusters in the – Establishment of ethnic neighborhoods. central business districts “CBD” (1990s). Internal migration from other regions – Slowing of movement out of central cities. – Increased African American migration to northern – Movement back to cities “gentrification” (2000s). cities for jobs. • Attraction of jobs and amenities to higher-income – Job-related settlement created high-density workers. neighborhoods. • Displacement of low-income residents. – From 1960s: Dispersal away from job locations to • Ethnic neighborhoods change. residential neighborhoods and suburbs.

GENTRIFICATION PROBLEMS of Megalopolis and its cities The process of socio-economic and cultural  Congestion: large numbers of people, local change that occurs when wealthier people (the transportation, housing “gentry”) buy and move into housing property in  Health Issues: food, water supply, waste management, urban areas where the existing population is controlling disease, dealing with dying and dead people less prosperous.  Quality of Life Issues: crowding, crime, poverty, health care, pollution Includes the conversion of other properties  Pollution: air, water, land, noise (as warehouses and factories) into other upscale  Hazards: storms, earthquakes, flooding, fire, terrorism uses – stores, residential rentals, co-ops and condos.

Characteristics of neighborhoods change.

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FILLING IN THE SUBURBS of Megalopolis Suburbanization began in Nassau County, NY, as people wanted a better life while still working in NYC.

60 yrs later all suburbs have problems: • Aging infrastructure. • Political fragmentation/service fragmentation. • Sprawl. • Need for more commuter and mass transit connections. Expansion in spatial extent, vertical development • Need for municipal and social and density of land use. Rural gaps are quickly services. being filled (suburbanization and exurbanization).