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'{{Short description|List of the Megaregions of the U.S.}} {{Use American English|date=September 2019}} {{Use mdy dates|date=September 2019}} [[File:Northeast megalopolis at night.jpg|thumb|262px|{{center|[[Northeast megalopolis|Northeast megaregion]] (megalopolis) at night. Imagery was collected by the Suomi NPP satellite in April and October 2012, courtesy of the NASA Earth Observatory/NOAA NGDC.}}]] {{U.S. city population tables}} '''Megaregions of the United States''' are generally understood to be regions in the U.S. that contain two or more roughly adjacent urban metropolitan areas that, through commonality of systems—of transport, economy, resources, and ecologies—experience blurred boundaries between the urban centers, such that perceiving and acting as if they are a continuous urban area is, for the purposes of policy coordination, of practical value.<ref name = Hagler2009America2050/> The antecedent term, with which "megaregions" is synonymous, is '''[[megalopolis]]''', which was coined in relation to the Boston through Washington, D.C. corridor in the Altlantic Northeast, by [[Jean Gottmann]] in the mid-twentieth century. ''America 2050'',<ref>{{cite web|title=About Us - America 2050|url=http://www.america2050.org/about.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090422204355/http://www.america2050.org/about.html|archive-date=April 22, 2009|access-date=December 7, 2021|work=America2050|publisher=Regional Plan Association|location=USA}}</ref> a project of the [[Regional Plan Association]], lists 11 megaregions encompassing urban regions in the United States, [[Canada]], and [[Mexico]] (e.g., the [[Great Lakes Megaregion|Great Lakes]] and [[Northeast megalopolis|Northeast Megaregion]]s).<ref name = Hagler2009America2050/> As of December 2000, these clustered networks of [[United States|American]] cities contained an estimated total population exceeding >280 million persons<ref name = Hagler2009America2050/>{{update after|2022|2|20}} (see also these other sources<ref>{{cite web|date=March 19, 2008|title=Who's Your City?: What Is a Megaregion?|url=http://www.bnet.com/2403-13070_23-192951.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=http://www.cbsnews.com/news/whos-your-city-what-is-a-megaregion|archive-date=March 6, 2015|access-date=December 7, 2021}}</ref><ref name=Doxiodis>[https://web.archive.org/web/20080222005705/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,842940,00.html Cities: Capital for the New Megalopolis].''Time magazine,'' November 4, 1966. Retrieved on July 19, 2010.</ref>{{verification needed|date = February 2022}}{{overcite|date = February 2022}}). Megaregions were independently explored in a 2005 report by [[Robert E. Lang]] and Dawn Dhavale of the [[Metropolitan Institute]] at [[Virginia Tech]].{{so what|date = February 2022}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mi.vt.edu/uploads/megacensusreport.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=March 27, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090327033216/http://www.mi.vt.edu/uploads/megacensusreport.pdf |archive-date=March 27, 2009 }} "Beyond Megalopolis" by the Metropolitan Institute at Virginia Tech</ref> A 2007 article by Lang and [[Arthur C. Nelson]] uses 20 areas grouped into 10 megaregions, based on an original [[Megalopolis (city type)|model]].{{clarify|date = February 2022}}<ref>http://www.des.ucdavis.edu/faculty/handy/ESP171/Readings2/Megapolitans.pdf ''The Rise of the Megapolitans'' (January 2007) by Robert E. Lang and Arthur C. Nelson. Retrieved on January 7, 2013.</ref><ref name=Doxiodis/> ==Definition== In the perspective of a Texas group research group whose focus is "education, and technology transfer initiatives to improve the mobility of people and goods in urban and rural communities of megaregions," there is no single, preponderant, widely agreed upon statutory/regulatory definition of a megaregion.<ref name="What are Megaregions">{{Cite web| author = Posner, Olivia | date = January 2019 | orig-date = Unknown | title=What are Megaregions?| work = UTexas.edu | format = university research perspective | location = Austin, Tex. | publisher = Cooperative Mobility for Competitive Megaregions (CM2) [multiuniversity consortium] | url = http://sites.utexas.edu/cm2/about/what-are-megaregions/ | access-date= February 19, 2019 | quote = ...there is no single definition of a megaregion. Lisa Loftus-Otway, research associate... and her team at UT Austin observed this... Because the term has been defined differently, there are variations on what should be prioritized within megaregions across jurisdictions... planning in cross-jurisdictional megaregions can be susceptible to varying levels of regulations. This makes creating plans for megaregions surprisingly complex. }}</ref>{{better source needed|date = February 2022}}<!--This is a narrow, in-house, university promotional/educational piece from a research grant initiative, and not a peer reviewed and widely respected secondary source. The preface written into the sentence is to make clear that broad conclusions should not be drawn from this narrowly focused and sourced sentence. Find a better source, and edit this opening sentence to what refereed scholars are saying.--> Historically, it is the modernised term offered to the geography, urban planning, and related communities via the [[Regional Plan Association|America 2050]]<ref name=RPA>Regional Plan Association (2006). ''America 2050: A Prospectus.'' New York, NY: Regional Plan Association.{{full citation needed|date = February 2022}}</ref><ref name = Hagler2009America2050>{{cite web | author = Hagler, Yoav | date = November 2009 | title = Defining U.S. Megaregions | work = [[America 2050]] | via = RPA.org | format = PDF | url = https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/rpa-org/pdfs/2050-Paper-Defining-US-Megaregions.pdf | access-date = February 19, 2022 | quote = As metropolitan regions continued to expand throughout the second half of the 20th century their boundaries began to blur, creating a new scale of geography now known as the megaregion. Interlocking economic systems, shared natural resources and ecosystems, and common transportation systems link these... The challenge of identifying... emerging regions has been undertaken... The most recent iteration... has been developed by Regional Plan Association (RPA) in partnership with the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy. Eleven such megaregions have been identified... that would make cooperative integrated planning advantageous... Th[e] tradition of geographers and planners attempting to enhance the value of geographic definitions to meet the needs of new generations continued with the first identification of a scale larger than the metro regions by French geographer Jean Gottmann in his 1961 book ''Megalopolis''. This “Megalopolis” referred specifically to the Northeastern United States ... Regional Plan Association also identified this emerging Northeast Megaregion in the 1960s. }}</ref> initiative to describe a group of two or more roughly adjacent [[metropolitan area]]s that, through commonality of systems—e.g., of transport, economy, resources, and ecologies—experience a blurring of the boundaries between the population centers, such that while some degree of separation may remain, their perception as a continuous urban area, e.g., "to coordinate policy at this expanded scale", is of value.<ref name = Hagler2009America2050/> Its direct antecedent, in the same organisation and scholarship, is in the term ''megalopolis'', which was repurposed from earlier different meanings by [[Jean Gottmann]] of the [[University of Paris]] and the [[Institute for Advanced Study]] at [[Princeton University|Princeton]]; in the late 1950s and early 1960s, Gottmann directed "A Study of Megalopolis" for [[The Twentieth Century Fund]], applying that term to an analysis of the urbanized northeastern seaboard of the U.S., in particular from Boston, Massachusetts to Washington, D.C. (the [[Northeast megalopolis]]),<ref name = GottmannEconGeog57>{{cite journal|author=Gottmann, Jean | title=Megalopolis, or the urbanization of the Northeastern Seaboard|journal=Economic Geography|year=1957|volume=33|issue=3|pages=189–200|doi=10.2307/142307|jstor=142307}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Gottmann, Jean | date = 1961 | title=Megalopolis: The Urbanized Northeastern Seaboard of the United States| location=New York, N.Y. | publisher=The Twentieth Century Fund| isbn = | url=https://archive.org/details/megalopolisurban00gott | url-access=registration |access-date= }} See also {{cite book| author=Gottmann, Jean | year=1954| title= L'Amerique | page = | location=Paris, France | publisher=Hachette | isbn = | quote = }}{{clarify|date = February 2022}}</ref> which became known as the "Northeast megaregion" in the work of America 2050 [and its sponsor, the [[Regional Plan Association]] (RPA)].<ref name = Hagler2009America2050/><ref name=RPA/> (The RPA is an independent, New York-based, non-profit planning organization.{{citation needed|date = February 2022}}) A reputable, broader American description from the same organisation defines a megaregion as a large network of metropolitan regions that share several or all of the following: * environmental systems and topography, * infrastructure systems, * economic linkagess * settlement and land use patterns, and * culture and history.<ref name=RPA/>{{page needed|date = February 2022}} According to the RPA, as of this date,{{when|date = February 2022}} more than 70 percent of the nation's population and employment opportunuties are located in the 11 U.S. megaregions they have identified.{{citation needed|date = February 2022}} Megaregions are spoken of as becoming the new competitive units in the global economy, characterized by the increasing movement of goods, people and capital among their metropolitan regions.<ref name=RPA/> "The New Megas," asserts [[Richard Florida]], "are the real economic organizing units of the world, producing the bulk of its wealth, attracting a large share of its talent and generating the lion's share of innovation."<ref name=Dewar/> Despite these scholarly perspectives, statutory and regulatory documents have not arrived at a single definition, which has led to "variations on what should be prioritized within megaregions across jurisdictions".<ref name="What are Megaregions"/>{{better source needed|date = February 2022}} The megaregion concept provides cities and metropolitan regions a context within which to cooperate across jurisdictional borders, including the coordination of policies, to address specific challenges experienced at the megaregion scale, such as planning for high-speed rail, protecting large watersheds, and coordinating regional economic development strategies. However, megaregions are not formally recognized in the hierarchy of governance structure like a city or metropolitan planning organization (MPO). In cont, megaregions that cross international borders (such as the Southern California, Gulf Coast, and Arizona Sun Corridor megaregions), while having a shared history and culture, are often limited in power. Overall, planning in cross-jurisdictional megaregions can be susceptible to varying levels of regulations. This makes creating plans for megaregions surprisingly complex.<ref name="What are Megaregions"/>{{verification needed|date = February 2022}} ===Identified U.S. megaregions=== [[File:MapofEmergingUSMegaregions.png|thumb|420px|left|{{center|Regional Plan Association map of the USA showing the 11 emerging megaregions}}]] The 11 emerging megaregions identified by the RPA are:<ref name = Hagler2009America2050/><ref>{{cite news |last=Kron |first=Josh |date=November 30, 2012 |title=Red State, Blue City: How the Urban-Rural Divide Is Splitting America |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/11/red-state-blue-city-how-the-urban-rural-divide-is-splitting-america/265686/ |newspaper=The Atlantic |access-date=April 10, 2015 }}</ref>{{verification needed|date = February 2022}} * [[Arizona Sun Corridor]] Megaregion (extends into Mexico).{{clarify|date = February 2022}} * [[Pacific Northwest|Cascadia Megaregion]] (Pacific Northwest; shared with Canada).<ref name="Abbott2015">{{cite book|author=Abbott, Carl |title=Imagined Frontiers: Contemporary America and Beyond|year= 2015|publisher=University of Oklahoma Press|isbn=978-0-8061-5240-0 |chapter=Cascadian Dreams: Imagining a Region Over Four Decades |pages=111–139 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AYWICgAAQBAJ }}</ref> The RPA definition of this region includes the [[Boise metropolitan area]] in Idaho,{{citation needed|date = February 2022}} though it is included in some definitions of the Pacific Northwest.{{citation needed|date = February 2022}} (The Boise area is removed by hundreds of miles from any other area included in the RPA's definition of "Cascadia".{{citation needed|date = February 2022}}) * [[Florida|Florida Megaregion]]. The megaregion does not cover the entire state, excluding the [[Florida Panhandle|Panhandle]] and several mostly rural counties to its east.{{citation needed|date = February 2022}} The [[Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent Metropolitan Statistical Area|Pensacola-Navarre]] and [[Fort Walton Beach, Florida|Fort Walton Beach]] areas in the far west of the Panhandle are instead included in the Gulf Coast Megaregion.{{citation needed|date = February 2022}} * [[Southern Rocky Mountain Front|Front Range Megaregion]]. The northern end of this megaregion starts in the Colorado–Wyoming area typically called the [[Front Range Urban Corridor]], then extends south following the [[Interstate 25]] corridor along the eastern face of the Rocky Mountains to the range's southernmost extent in New Mexico, incorporating the [[Santa Fe, New Mexico|Santa Fe]] and [[Albuquerque, New Mexico|Albuquerque]] metropolitan areas.{{citation needed|date = February 2022}} The RPA definition also includes the geographically detached [[Wasatch Front]] of Utah.{{citation needed|date = February 2022}} * [[Great Lakes Megalopolis|Great Lakes Megaregion]]. This megalopolis extends into Canada, whose geographers, by including [[Ottawa]], [[Montreal]] and [[Quebec City]], take a more inclusive approach than the American RPA when defining the Canadian section of the region.{{citation needed|date = February 2022}} The RPA definition of the American portion of the region includes the geographically detached metropolitan areas of [[Minneapolis-St. Paul]], [[St. Louis]], and [[Kansas City, Missouri|Kansas City]].{{citation needed|date = February 2022}} * [[Gulf Coast of the United States|Gulf Coast Megaregion]]. The RPA definition of this region includes the entirety of two metropolitan areas that straddle the [[Mexico–United States border]], specifically [[Matamoros–Brownsville Metropolitan Area|Matamoros–Brownsville]] and [[Reynosa–McAllen Metropolitan Area|Reynosa–McAllen]].{{citation needed|date = February 2022}} * [[Northeast Megalopolis|Northeast Megaregion]]. The RPA definition includes the [[Richmond metropolitan area]] and the Virginia portion of [[Hampton Roads]].{{citation needed|date = February 2022}} * [[Northern California Megaregion]]. The RPA definition includes the Nevada portion of [[Lake Tahoe]], as well as the entire [[Truckee Meadows]] including [[Reno, Nevada|Reno]].{{citation needed|date = February 2022}} * [[Piedmont Atlantic Megaregion]]. The Piedmont Atlantic Megaregion (PAM) is a [[neologism]] created by the [[Regional Plan Association]] for an area of the [[Southeastern United States]] that includes the [[Atlanta]], [[Birmingham, Alabama|Birmingham]], [[Charlotte, North Carolina|Charlotte]], [[Memphis, Tennessee|Memphis]], [[Nashville, Tennessee|Nashville]], [[Research Triangle]] ([[Raleigh, North Carolina|Raleigh]]-[[Durham, North Carolina|Durham]]), and [[Greensboro]]-[[Winston-Salem]]-[[High Point, North Carolina|High Point]]<nowiki/>metropolitan areas.{{clarify|date = February 2022}}<ref>{{cite book |journal=Southeastern Geographer |issn=1549-6929 |date= 2014 |volume=54 |number=3 |title=Employment Changes in the Spine of the Carolina Megapolitan Area: Implications for Megaregion Planning |author= Weitz, Jerry |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=KznKBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA215 |pages=215–232 |doi=10.1353/sgo.2014.0026 |isbn=9781469616032 |s2cid=129370807 }}</ref> * [[Southern California|Southern California Megaregion]]. The RPA definition includes the [[Las Vegas Valley]], as well as the [[Tijuana]] area in Mexico.{{citation needed|date = February 2022}} * [[Texas Triangle Megaregion]]. The RPA definition includes the geographically detached [[Oklahoma City]]–[[Tulsa, Oklahoma|Tulsa]] Metropolitan Corridor in Oklahoma.{{citation needed|date = February 2022}} ==Identification== The Regional Plan Association methodology for identifying the emerging megaregions included assigning each county a point for each of the following: * It was part of a core-based statistical area; * Its population density exceeded 200 people per square mile as of the 2000 census; * The projected population growth rate was expected to be greater than 15 percent and total increased population was expected to exceed 1,000 people by 2025{{Citation needed|date=August 2018}}; * The population density was expected to increase by 50 or more people per square mile between 2000 and 2025 {{Citation needed|date=August 2018}}; and * The projected employment growth rate was expected to be greater than 15 percent and total growth in jobs was expected to exceed 20,000 by 2025.<ref name = Hagler2009America2050/> ===Shortcomings of the RPA method=== This methodology was much more successful at identifying fast-growing regions with existing metropolitan centers than more sparsely populated, slower growing regions. Nor does it include a distinct marker for connectedness between cities.<ref name = Hagler2009America2050/> The RPA method omits the eastern part of the [[Quebec City–Windsor Corridor|Windsor-Quebec City]] urban corridor in Canada. ==Statistics (RPA reckoning)== {| class="wikitable sortable" !Megalopolis Name !Population<br>in millions<br>2010 !Percent of U.S. Population (2010) !Population<br>in millions<br>2025 ''(projected)'' !Population<br> percent growth 2010 - 2025 ''(projected)'' !Major cities and metro areas |- |'''[[Arizona Sun Corridor]]'''<ref>{{cite web |title=Megapolitan: Arizona's Sun Corridor |url=http://www.asu.edu/copp/morrison/megapolitan.htm |publisher=[[Morrison Institute|Morrison Institute for Public Policy]] |date=May 2008 |access-date=June 3, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080615013443/http://www.asu.edu/copp/morrison/megapolitan.htm |archive-date=June 15, 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=When Phoenix, Tucson Merge |url=http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/0409merge0409.html |publisher=[[The Arizona Republic]] |date=April 9, 2006 |access-date=June 3, 2008}}</ref> || 5.6 || 2% || 7.8 || 39.3% || [[Chandler, Arizona|Chandler]], [[Mesa, Arizona|Mesa]], [[Phoenix, Arizona|Phoenix]], [[Tucson, Arizona|Tucson]], [[Nogales, Sonora|Nogales]] |- |'''[[Cascadia (region)|Cascadia]]''' || 12.4 || 3% || 13.5 || 8.2% || [[Abbotsford, British Columbia|Abbotsford]], [[Boise, Idaho|Boise]]**, [[Eugene, Oregon|Eugene]], [[Portland, Oregon|Portland (OR)]], [[Salem, Oregon|Salem]], [[Seattle]], [[Tacoma, Washington|Tacoma]], [[Spokane, Washington|Spokane]]**, [[Tri-Cities, Washington|Tri-Cities]]**, [[Vancouver|Vancouver (BC)]], [[Vancouver, Washington|Vancouver (WA)]], [[Victoria, British Columbia|Victoria]] |- |'''[[Florida]]'''|| 17.3 || 6% || 21.5 || 24.3% || [[Fort Lauderdale, Florida|Fort Lauderdale]], [[Jacksonville, Florida|Jacksonville]], [[Miami]], [[Orlando, Florida|Orlando]], [[Port St. Lucie, Florida|Port St. Lucie]], [[Tampa Bay Area]] ([[Tampa, Florida|Tampa]]–[[St. Petersburg, Florida|St. Petersburg]]–[[Clearwater, Florida|Clearwater]]) |- |'''[[Southern Rocky Mountain Front|Front Range]]'''|| 5.5 || 2% || 6.9 || 26% || [[Albuquerque metropolitan area|Albuquerque]], [[Cheyenne metropolitan area|Cheyenne]], [[Colorado Springs, Colorado|Colorado Springs]], [[Denver]], [[Pueblo, Colorado|Pueblo]], [[Salt Lake City]]** |- |'''[[Great Lakes Megalopolis|Great Lakes]]''' || 55.5 || 18% || 60.7 || 9.4% || [[Barrie]], [[Buffalo, New York|Buffalo]], [[Chicago]], [[Cincinnati]], [[Cleveland]], [[Columbus, Ohio|Columbus]], [[Detroit]], [[Erie, Pennsylvania|Erie]], [[Fox Cities]]**, [[Grand Rapids, Michigan|Grand Rapids]], [[Guelph]], [[Hamilton, Ontario|Hamilton]], [[Indianapolis]], [[Kansas City, Missouri|Kansas City]]**, [[Kingston, Ontario|Kingston]], [[Tri-Cities (Ontario)|Kitchener-Waterloo]], [[London, Ontario|London]], [[Louisville, Kentucky|Louisville]], [[Madison, Wisconsin|Madison]], [[Milwaukee]], [[Minneapolis–Saint Paul]]**, [[Montreal]]**, [[Ottawa]]**, [[Pittsburgh]], [[Quebec City]]**, [[Rochester, Minnesota|Rochester]]**, [[Sarnia]], [[Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan|Sault Ste. Marie]]**, [[Sherbrooke]], [[Regional Municipality of Niagara|St. Catharines-Niagara Falls]], [[St. Louis]], [[Greater Sudbury|Sudbury]], [[Syracuse, New York|Syracuse]], [[Thunder Bay]], [[Toledo, Ohio|Toledo]], [[Toronto]], [[Trois-Rivières]], [[Twin Ports]]**, [[Wheeling, West Virginia|Wheeling]], [[Windsor, Ontario|Windsor]] |- |'''[[Gulf Coast (U.S.)|Gulf Coast]]''' || 13.4 || 4% || 16.3 || 21.6% ||[[Baton Rouge, Louisiana|Baton Rouge]], [[Beaumont–Port Arthur metropolitan area|Beaumont–Port Arthur]], [[Corpus Christi, Texas|Corpus Christi]], [[Gulfport–Biloxi metropolitan area|Gulfport–Biloxi]], [[Houston]], [[Lafayette metropolitan area, Louisiana|Lafayette]], [[Lake Charles metropolitan area|Lake Charles]], [[Mobile, Alabama|Mobile]], [[New Orleans]], [[Pensacola, Florida|Pensacola]], [[Navarre, Florida|Navarre]] |- |'''[[Northeast megalopolis|Northeast]]''' || 52.3 || 17% || 58.4 || 11.7% || [[Atlantic City, New Jersey|Atlantic City]], [[Baltimore]], [[Boston]], [[Hampton Roads]] ([[Virginia Beach, Virginia|Virginia Beach]], [[Norfolk, Virginia|Norfolk]]), [[Harrisburg, Pennsylvania|Harrisburg]], [[Jersey City, New Jersey|Jersey City]], [[Lehigh Valley]] ([[Allentown, Pennsylvania|Allentown]]-[[Bethlehem, Pennsylvania|Bethlehem]]-[[Easton, Pennsylvania|Easton]]), [[Newark, New Jersey|Newark]], [[New York City|New York]], [[Philadelphia]], [[Portland, Maine|Portland (ME)]], [[Providence, Rhode Island|Providence]], [[Richmond, Virginia|Richmond]], [[Knowledge Corridor]] ([[Springfield, Massachusetts|Springfield]] and [[Hartford, Connecticut|Hartford]]), [[Trenton, New Jersey|Trenton]], [[Washington, D.C.|Washington]], [[Wilmington, Delaware|Wilmington]], [[Worcester, Massachusetts|Worcester]] |- |'''[[Northern California Megaregion|Northern California]]''' || 14 || 5% || 16.4 || 17.1% || [[Fresno, California|Fresno]], [[Modesto, California|Modesto]], [[Oakland, California|Oakland]], [[Reno, Nevada|Reno]], [[Sacramento, California|Sacramento]], [[San Francisco]], [[San Jose, California|San Jose]], [[Stockton, California|Stockton]] |- |'''[[Piedmont Atlantic MegaRegion|Piedmont Atlantic]]''' || 17.6 || 6% || 21.7 || 23.3% ||[[Atlanta]], [[Birmingham, Alabama|Birmingham]], [[Charlotte, North Carolina|Charlotte]], [[Greenville, South Carolina|Greenville]], [[Huntsville, Alabama|Huntsville]], [[Knoxville, Tennessee|Knoxville]]**, [[Memphis, Tennessee|Memphis]]**, [[Nashville, Tennessee|Nashville]]**, [[Piedmont Triad]] ([[Greensboro, North Carolina|Greensboro]]–[[Winston-Salem, North Carolina|Winston-Salem]]), [[Research Triangle]] ([[Raleigh, North Carolina|Raleigh]]–[[Durham, North Carolina|Durham]]) |- |'''{{nowrap|[[Southern California]]}}''' || 24.4 || 8% || 29 || 18.9% || [[Anaheim, California|Anaheim]], [[Bakersfield, California|Bakersfield]], [[Inland Empire]] ([[San Bernardino, California|San Bernardino]]–[[Riverside, California|Riverside]]), [[Las Vegas]], [[Long Beach, California|Long Beach]], [[Los Angeles]], [[San Diego]], [[Tijuana]] |- |'''[[Texas Triangle]]''' || 19.7 || 6% || 24.8 || 25.9% || [[Austin, Texas|Austin]], [[Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex|Dallas–Fort Worth]], [[Houston]], [[Oklahoma City]]**, [[San Antonio]], [[Tulsa, Oklahoma|Tulsa]]** |} Notes: * [[Houston]] appears twice (as part of [[Gulf Coast (U.S.)|Gulf Coast]] and [[Texas Triangle]]). * The populations given for megalopolises that extend into Canada and Mexico (Arizona Sun Corridor, Cascadia, Great Lakes, and Southern California) include their non-U.S. residents. * Disconnected metropolitan areas (as defined by the RPA) are flagged with double asterisks (**). Disconnected areas in the upper Great Lakes region and southern Quebec are not included in RPA statistics. ==Major cities and areas not included by the RPA== Thirteen of the top 100 American [[Table of United States primary census statistical areas|primary census statistical areas]] are not included in any of the 11 emerging mega-regions. However, the Lexington-based CSA in Kentucky is identified by the RPA as being part of an "area of influence" of the Great Lakes megalopolis, while the Albany and Syracuse-based CSAs in Upstate New York are shown as being within the influence of the Northeastern mega-region. Similarly, the Augusta, GA and Columbia, SC-based CMA are considered influenced by the Piedmont-Atlantic megalopolis, Jackson, MS CMA by the Gulf Coast megaregion, Little Rock, AR CMA by the Texas Triangle, and the Des Moines and Omaha-based CMAs by the Great Lakes megalopolis. The El Paso, TX CMA is roughly equidistant from two megaregions, being near the southeastern edge of the Arizona Sun Corridor area of influence and the southern tip of the Front Range area of influence. This leaves Honolulu, HI, Wichita, KS, Springfield, MO and Charleston, SC as the only top 100 American CMAs that have no mega-region affiliation of any kind as defined by the RPA.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.america2050.org/maps/|title=Our Maps |publisher=Regional Plan Association |location=USA |work=America2050 |access-date=October 1, 2014}}</ref> {| class="wikitable" |[[Southwestern United States|Southwest]] || [[El Paso, Texas|El Paso, TX MSA]] (see also [[El Paso-Juárez]]) |- |[[Hawaii]] || [[Honolulu County, Hawaii|Honolulu, HI MSA]] |- |[[Kansas]] || [[Wichita, Kansas|Wichita, KS MSA]] |- |[[Missouri]] || [[Springfield, Missouri|Springfield, MO MSA]] |- |[[Mississippi Valley]] || [[Des Moines metropolitan area|Des Moines-Newton-Pella, IA CSA]], [[Omaha-Council Bluffs-Fremont, NE-IA CSA]], [[Little Rock-North Little Rock-Pine Bluff, AR CSA|Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR CSA]], [[Jackson-Yazoo City, MS CSA]], [[Wichita-Winfield, KS CSA]] |- |[[Kentucky]] || [[Lexington-Fayette-Frankfort-Richmond, KY CSA]] |- |[[South Atlantic States|South Atlantic]] Coast || [[Charleston, South Carolina metropolitan area|Charleston-North Charleston-Summerville, SC MSA]], [[Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC MSA]], [[Savannah, Georgia metropolitan area|Savannah, GA]], [[Columbia, South Carolina metropolitan area|Columbia, SC]] |- |[[Upstate New York]] || [[Syracuse-Auburn, NY CSA]], [[Capital District, New York|Albany-Schenectady-Amsterdam, NY CSA]] |} ==Planning== Though identification of the megaregions has gone through several iterations, the above identified are based on a set of criteria developed by Regional Plan Association, through its America 2050 initiative - a joint venture with the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy. Two historic publications helped lay the foundation for this new set of criteria, the book'' Megalopolis'' by [[Jean Gottmann ]](1961)<ref name=Gottman>Gottman, Jean (1961). ''Megalopolis: The Urbanized Northeastern Seaboard of the United States.'' New York: Twentieth Century Fund.</ref> and The Regions’ Growth, part of Regional Plan Association's second regional plan{{Citation needed|date=January 2014}}. The relationships underpinning megaregions have become more pronounced over the second half of the 20th century as a result of decentralized land development, longer daily commutes, increased business travel, and a more footloose, flexible, knowledge workforce. The identification of new geographic scales—historically based on increased population movement from the city center to lower density areas as a megaregion presents immense opportunities from a regional planning perspective, to improve the environmental, infrastructure and other issues shared among the regions within it. The most recent and only previous attempt to plan at this scale happened more than 70 years ago, with the Tennessee Valley Authority. Political issues stymied further efforts at river basin planning and development.<ref name=Dewar>Dewar, Margaret and David Epstein (2006). "Planning for 'Megaregions' in the United States." Ann Arbor, MI: Urban and Regional Planning Program, University of Michigan.</ref> In 1961's Megalopolis, Gottman describes the Northeastern seaboard of the United States - or Megapologis - as "... difficult to single out ... from surrounding areas, for its limits cut across established historical divisions, such as New England and the Middle Atlantic states, and across political entities, since it includes some states entirely and others only partially." On the complex nature of this regional scale, he writes: <blockquote>Some of the major characteristics of Megalopolis, which set it apart as a special region within the United States, are the high degree of concentration of people, things and functions crowded here, and also their variety. This kind of crowding and its significance cannot be described by simple measurements. Its various aspects will be shown on a number of maps, and if these could all be superimposed on one base map there would be demarcated an area in which so many kinds of crowding coincide in general (though not always in all the details of their geographical distribution) that the region is quite different from all neighboring regions and in fact from any other part of North America. The essential reason for its difference is the greater concentration here of a greater variety of kinds of crowding. Crowding of population, which may first be expressed in terms of densities per square mile, will, of course, be a major characteristic to survey. As this study aims at understanding the meaning of population density, we shall have to know the foundation that supports such crowding over such a very fast area. What do these people do? What is their average income and their standard of living? What is the distribution pattern of wealth and of certain more highly paid occupations? For example, the outstanding concentration of population in the City of New York and its immediate suburbs (a mass of more than ten million people by any count) cannot be separated from the enormous concentration in the same city of banking, insurance, wholesale, entertainment, and transportation activities. These various kinds of concentration have attracted a whole series of other activities, such as management of large corporations, retail business, travel agencies, advertising, legal and technical counseling offices, colleges, research organizations, and so on. Coexistence of all these facilities on an unequaled scale within the relatively small territory of New York City, and especially of its business district...has made the place even more attractive to additional banking, insurance, and mass media organizations.<ref name=Gottman/></blockquote>in the US, megaregions have been garnering more attention at the federal level. In 2016, the [[United States Department of Transportation|United States Department of Transportation (USDOT)]] awarded [[University of Texas at Austin|The University of Texas at Austin]] a five-year grant to lead a consortium under the University Transportation Centers (UTC) program, called [http://sites.utexas.edu/cm2/about/mission-objectives/ Cooperative Mobility for Competitive Megaregions (CM²)]. The center aims to advance research, education, and technology transfer initiatives to improve the mobility of people and goods in urban and rural communities of megaregions.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://sites.utexas.edu/cm2/about/mission-objectives/|title=Mission & Objectives|website=sites.utexas.edu|access-date=January 28, 2019}}</ref> In addition, the [[Transportation Research Board]] (a division of the [[National Research Council (United States)|National Research Council]] of the United States), listed "megaregions" in two of its "Critical Issues in Transportation 2019" Policy Snapshot reports.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nap.edu/resource/25314/criticalissues/|title=Critical Issues in Transportation 2019: Policy Snapshot {{!}} The National Academies Press|website=www.nap.edu|access-date=January 28, 2019}}</ref> ==Outside of the United States== The RPA report identifies megaregions that are shared between the US and Canada, and is presumably at least tangentially concerned with pan-North American issues. However, being based on largely American research, it does not clearly define the geographic extent of megaregions where they extend into Canada, a responsibility that has largely been left to Canadian geographers defining the megalopolis within their own country. The American report excludes Canadian population centres that are not deemed to be closely adjacent to US megaregions. It includes most of [[Southern Ontario]] in the Great Lakes Megaregion but excludes the [[St. Lawrence Valley]], despite the fact that Canadian geographers usually include them as part of one larger [[Quebec City-Windsor Corridor]]. The close relationship between large linked metropolitan regions and a nation's ability to compete in the global economy is recognized in Europe and Asia. Each has aggressively pursued strategies to manage projected population growth and strengthen economic prosperity in its large regions. The [[European Spatial Development Perspective]], a set of policies and strategies adopted by the [[European Union]] in 1999, is working to integrate the economies of the member regions, reduce economic disparities, and increase economic competitiveness (Faludi 2002; Deas and Lord 2006). In [[East Asia]], comprehensive strategic planning for large regions, centered on metropolitan areas, has become increasingly common and has progressed further than in the United States or Europe. Planning for the Hong Kong-[[Pearl River Delta]] region, for instance, aims to enhance the region's economic strength and competitiveness by overcoming local fragmentation, building on global economic cooperation, taking advantage of mutually beneficial economic factors, increasing connectivity among development nodes, and pursuing other strategic directions.<ref name=Dewar/> ==See also== {{Div col|colwidth=30em}} * [[Amalgamation (politics)]] * [[Combined Statistical Area]] * [[Conurbation]] * [[Consolidated city-county]] * [[Ecumenopolis]] * [[Megacity]] * [[Megalopolis (city type)]] * [[Metropolis]] * [[Metropolitan Statistical Area]] * [[Micropolitan Statistical Area]] {{div col end}} ==References== {{Reflist|30em}} ==Further reading== * {{cite web|title=Megaregions|url=http://www.america2050.org/megaregions.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090430072211/http://www.america2050.org/megaregions.html|archive-date=April 30, 2009|access-date=December 7, 2014|work=America2050|publisher=Regional Plan Association|location=USA}} Home page of the historic America 2050 program of the RPA. * {{citation |newspaper=[[The Economist]] |date=April 14, 2008 |url=https://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2008/04/are_megaregions_relevant |title= Are Mega-regions Relevant? }} * {{citation |author=Richard Florida |author-link=Richard Florida |work=[[The Atlantic]] |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2009/05/mega-regions-and-high-speed-rail/17006/ |date=May 4, 2009 |title=Mega-Regions and High-Speed Rail }} * {{cite book|editor =Catherine L. Ross|editor-link =Catherine L. Ross|title=Megaregions: Planning for Global Competitiveness|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=whPOKnkOn_4C|year=2009 |publisher= [[Island Press]] |isbn=978-1-61091-136-8}} (Includes info on the USA) * {{cite book|editor1= Jiang Xu |editor2= Anthony G.O. Yeh |title=Governance and Planning of Mega-City Regions: An International Comparative Perspective|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qz-PAgAAQBAJ|year= 2011 |publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-135-22913-9}} (Includes info on the USA) *{{cite book|editor1=John Harrison|editor2=Michael Hoyler|title=Megaregions: Globalization's New Urban Form? |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jIEZBgAAQBAJ|year= 2015|publisher=[[Edward Elgar Publishing]] |isbn=978-1-78254-790-7}} (Includes info on the USA) * {{citation |author=Parag Khanna |author-link=Parag Khanna |work=New York Times |date= April 15, 2016 |title=A New Map for America |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/17/opinion/sunday/a-new-map-for-america.html }} *"[https://sites.utexas.edu/cm2/about/what-are-megaregions/ What are Megaregions?]", [https://sites.utexas.edu/cm2/ Cooperative Mobility for Competitive Megaregions (CM2)] ==External links== * {{cite web|access-date=December 7, 2021|publisher=Regional Plan Association|location=USA|title=America2050.org|url=http://www.america2050.org/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090430072211/http://www.america2050.org/megaregions.html|archive-date=April 30, 2009}} {{Great Lakes Megalopolis}} {{Northeast Megalopolis}} {{Southern California megaregion}} [[Category:Geographical neologisms]] [[Category:Urban studies and planning terminology]] [[Category:Megapolitan areas of the United States|*]] [[Category:Population geography]]'