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megalopolis

megalopolis

1 8.1
A very large area where several cities and towns meet and many people live
  • noun
  • /ˌmɛɡəˈlɑpəlɪs/
translation icon : megalópolis
  • Macon may even become part of the new regional Atlanta megalopolis after the 2010 Census is analyzed.

Examples

  • Southern California, a dense and transient megalopolis, grew as a self-storage hotbed.

  • Mexico City developed into a megalopolis in the mid-1980s by associating regionally with Toluca and Cuernavaca.

    Academic text (1997)
  • As the garage door lifts, the Megalopolis that is New York City in the 23rd century comes into view.

    Fiction book (1997)
  • We climb, head north, and suddenly see the city I love, that grand and glorious mercurial megalopolis that always made my heart beat faster.

    Fiction book (2001)
  • A tiny private wilderness in the megalopolis that consumed the Eastern Seaboard.

    Fiction book (2000)
  • In addition, a swath of affluent counties extends from Virginia to Massachusetts in Megalopolis.

    Academic text (1997)
  • The Northern Piedmont is an integral part of Megalopolis, the corridor of U.S. coastal cities and land use that Jean Gottmann identified in 1961 as a new type of human settlement.

    Academic text (2012)
  • Air pollution, water shortages, the urban area's unbridled growth, and the ever-increasing economic and natural resource costs of maintaining the megalopolis suggest that a similar process of population limitation or even decline may occur in the future.

    Academic text (1997)
  • Mexico City developed into a megalopolis in the mid-1980s by associating regionally with Toluca and Cuernavaca.

Synonyms

urban area
vsmegalopolis
41 2.7

A place with many people and buildings like a city

means a very large, heavily populated cluster of connected cities and towns
metroplex
vsmegalopolis
  • US
2 7.4

A large area made of several nearby cities and their suburbs

focuses on several linked cities and towns rather than suburban spread
supercity
vsmegalopolis
1 6.8

A very large city formed when several towns join, often imagined as very modern

views the area neutrally as very large connected cities rather than as futuristic

How Big

megalopolis
1 8.1
megacity
  • Specialized
3 3.9
metropolis
175 5.2
city
1.0
town
1.0
village
1.0

Surface Forms

megalopolis singular
megalopolises plural

Morphology

megalopolis = polis (semi-transparent) = mega + polis

The word clearly combines mega- 'large' with polis, but the modern meaning is a specialized urban-geography term rather than a fully predictable literal combination.

Etymology

Megalopolis comes from Greek parts mega- meaning 'large' and polis meaning 'city', so picture several cities joining together into one giant city. That's why a megalopolis is a very large area where many people live and several cities and towns are joined together.