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MEGALOPOLIS
(Chapter 4)
Ellis Island
Physical Geography
• Physiography
– Atlantic-Gulf Coastal Plain for the most
part but goes to the “Fall Line” of the
eastern Appalachian Upland
• Climate
– Humid continental with warm summers
– Importance of maritime influences and
natural hazards, e.g., hurricanes
Physical Geography
• Vegetation
– Originally Mixed Broadleaf Deciduous
and Needleleaf Evergreen
– Introduced Species and Reforestation
• Soils
– North: Spodosols
– Central: Inceptisols
– South: Ultisols
Historical Cultural Geography
• Indigenous Population
– Historic role of the various Algonquian tribes
• Colonial to 1825: Emergence of Regional Foci
– New England: Boston
– Middle Atlantic: Key Competitors
• New York City
• Philadelphia
– Chesapeake: Baltimore
Megalopolis
• Term initially coined by
French geographer,
Jean Gottmann (1961)
for the large population
agglomeration from
Boston to Washington,
D.C.
• Now, any
agglomeration of large,
coalescing super cities
A region called Megalopolis
(Text, Ch. 7)
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Origin of the term (Jean Gottmann)
Examples: Boston to Washington (“Boswash”)
Chicago to Pittsburgh (“Chippits”)
San Francisco to Santa Barbara (“SanSan”)
Seattle to Portland to Eugene (?)
Other examples?
Spread and Merging of Cities in
Megalopolis
Megalopolis Region
• Consists of 5 major cities, their suburbs,
nearby smaller cities, and surrounding rural
areas:
– Boston, MA
– New York, NY
– Philadelphia, PA
– Baltimore, MD
– Washington, DC
• Expanded so much to become a single metropolitan
area.
Megalopolis
A small region
Comparatively, 50,000
Sq. mi.
Greatest concentration
Of wealth and power
In the history of the
World.
(page 65)
Megalopolis Today
• Urbanness the dominant theme, but rural areas
persist
• 10 major metropolitan areas of over 1 million
people, plus numerous smaller cities
• 17% of the total U.S. population
• 1.5% of the total land area
• 17% of all U.S. export trade through its six major
ports
• Higher than average proportion of white-collar
employment
• A region of international significance
Megalopolis
• Area of concentrated population between rest
of U.S. and western Europe
• High population density
– Interesting fact re: population density of
Megalopolis
• New Jersey = 1000 people per sq. mile
• Oregon = about 30 people per sq. mile.
Potential new megalopolis – on the
East Coast and elsewhere…
Urban Environment
• Characteristics of urbanism
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Tall buildings
Crowding
Busy streets
Industrial plants
Cultural institutions
• Metropolitan coalescence
– Merging of urbanized areas of separate metropolitan
centers, occurring early in history
– A process of canalized growth (along transportation
corridors)
Albany-Schnectady-Troy Conurbation
(“Mohawk Corridor”)
Figure 8-9
Levittown: Suburbs
Site Characteristics
The features of the immediate environment or
setting
• Coastal location
• Numerous estuaries (drowned river
mouths), forming good harbors
• Moderate but not exceptionally mild
climate
• Variable soils
• Relatively flat or gently rolling terrain
Fall Line Cities
• Cities along the border
between the Piedmont
and the Atlantic coastal
plain physiographic
regions
• Rapids and falls as
rivers flow from hard
rocks of the higher
Piedmont onto the
softer rocks of the
coastal plain
Sub-regions of Megalopolis…
• Merrimack Valley (NH
and MA)
• Boston
• Narragansett Basin
(Providence, RI)
• Lower Connecticut
Valley (western MA)
• Albany/SchenectadyTroy (upstate NY)
• NY City
• Philadelphia
• Baltimore
• Washington
Galactic Cities:
Southeastern
New England
Merrimack Valley
Metropolitan Boston
Narragansett Basin
Lower Connecticut
Valley
Figure 8-5
Situation
Aspects of the region’s location
relative to other places
• A good location relative to Europe for
trade and immigration
• Fortuitous location along the Europe–
Caribbean and South American trade
route
• Good accessibility
– Good harbors
– Routes to the interior (natural and
man-made)
– A great stop-off/service point for
others conducting trade
Megalopolis at the Continental Hinge
Accessibility resources:
Naturally occurring
features that facilitate
movement in and out
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Harbors for trade
Immigration
Rich hinterland
Agglomeration
(clustering)
(page 70)
(page 69)
Urban Environment
• Characteristics of urbanism
–
–
–
–
–
Tall buildings
Crowding
Busy streets
Industrial plants
Cultural institutions
• Metropolitan coalescence
– Merging of urbanized areas of separate metropolitan
centers, occurring early in history
– A process of canalized growth (along transportation
corridors)
Components of Urban Landscape
• Spatial interaction: movement between places
– People
– Information
– Utilities
• Spatial complementarity
– Places import what they lack from places that have a
surplus
– Closer places have the advantage for filling needs
• Functional complexity: land use variations and
conflict
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Residential
Industrial
Commercial
Recreational
Components of Urban Landscape
• Public services
– Water, sewage, garbage pickup
– Public safety
– Welfare
• Accessibility
– Demanded by high level of interaction
– Shaped by spatial arrangement of land uses
– Early cities less concerned with accessibility
– Post–World War II construction of bypasses,
beltways, parkways, and limited access
expressways