Great Lakes Megalopolis

Great Lakes Megaregion
—  Megaregion of the U.S. and Canada  —
Chicago
Toronto
Detroit
Country  United States ,
Canada
Population 54 million

The Great Lakes Megalopolis consists of the group of North American metropolitan areas which surround the Great Lakes region mainly within the Midwestern United States, the Southern Ontario area of Canada, along with large parts of Pennsylvania, New York, and Quebec. The region extends from the Milwaukee–Chicago corridor to the Detroit–Toronto corridor, and includes Buffalo, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, Grand Rapids, Indianapolis, Louisville, Ottawa, Rochester, and Toledo, reaching as far as Pittsburgh, St. Louis, and Kansas City. The region had an estimated population of 54 million for the 2000 Census and is projected to reach about 65 million by 2025.[1][2]

Contents

History of the concept

The region was partially outlined as an emergent megalopolis in the 1961 book Megalopolis: The Urbanized Northeastern Seaboard of the United States by French geographer Jean Gottmann. Gottmann envisaged the development of megalopolises in the U.S.: BosWash, from Boston to Washington, D.C., Chipitts from Chicago to Pittsburgh, and SanSan, from San Francisco to San Diego. In 1965, Herman Kahn speculated about the future of the three megalopolises in the year 2000,[3] referring to their names as "half-frivolous" and not mentioning Gottman. In the 1960s and 1970s, urban planner and architect Constantinos Doxiadis authored books, studies, and reports including those regarding the growth potential of the Great Lakes Megalopolis.[4] Doxiadis envisioned Detroit as the central urban area in the Great Lakes Megalopolis.[4]

The Virginia Tech Metropolitan Institute's Beyond Megalopolis, an attempt to update Gottmann's work, outlined a similar "Midwest" megapolitan area as one of ten such areas in the United States.[5] Over 200 million tons of cargo are shipped annually through the Great Lakes.[6][7][8] Half the nation's population growth and two-thirds of its economic growth is expected to occur within the megaregions over the next four decades. America 2050 project has identified eleven Megaregions of the United States, including the Great Lakes Megalopolis.[1][A]

Economy

As a separate economy, the Great Lakes region, which includes most of the area urban planners have called the Great Lakes Megalopolis, is one of the world's largest economies. The Great Lakes contain one-fifth of the world's surface fresh water and have a combined shoreline of 10,210 miles (17,017 km). About 200 million tons of cargo are shipped by way of the Great Lakes each year. The region is home to two major world-renowned Global cities; Chicago and Toronto.[9][10][11]

Tourism is an important economic factor in and around the Great Lakes. The Great Lakes Cruising Coalition supports passenger ship cruises through a joint U.S-Canadian venture to Great Lakes Ports and the Saint Lawrence Seaway.[12]

Population centers

Rank Area State/
Province		 Image CSA/CMA
2009 population		 Projected[13][14][15]
2025 population		 Projected increase
2009-2025
1 Chicago IL-IN-WI 9,804,845 10,935,100 1,130,255
2 Toronto ON 5,741,400 7,408,000 1,666,600
3 Detroit MI 5,327,764 6,191,000 863,236
4 Montreal QC 3,859,300 4,246,931 387,631
5 Minneapolis – Saint Paul MN-WI 3,604,460 4,031,000 426,540
6 St. Louis MO-IL 2,892,874 3,049,000 156,126
7 Cleveland OH 2,891,988 3,172,000 280,012
8 Pittsburgh PA 2,445,117 2,168,818 -267,299
9 Cincinnati OH-KY-IN 2,214,954 2,448,000 233,046
10 Kansas City MO-KS 2,067,585 2,374,900 307,315
11 Indianapolis IN 2,064,870 2,406,000 341,130
12 Columbus OH 2,031,229 2,446,450 415,221
13 Milwaukee WI 1,760,268 1,913,000 157,732
14 Ottawa – Gatineau ON-QC 1,451,415 1,596,556 145,141
15 Louisville KY-IN 1,395,634 1,602,456 206,822
16 Grand Rapids MI 1,327,366 1,530,000 202,634
17 Buffalo NY 1,203,493 1,040,400 -163,093
18 Rochester NY 1,149,653 1,078,600 -71,053
19 Dayton OH 1,066,261 1,066,261 0
20 Hamilton ON 740,200 954,858 214,658
21 Toledo OH-MI 672,220 672,220 0
22 Madison WI 628,947 820,483 191,563
23 Lansing MI 523,609 547,325 23,716
24 Kitchener – Waterloo ON 492,400 635,196 142,796
25 London ON 492,200 634,938 142,738
26 Fort Wayne IN 414,315 414,315 0
27 St. Catharines – Niagara ON 404,400 521,676 117,276
28 Davenport-Rock Island-Moline IA-IL 379,690 398,240 18,550
Total CSA/CMA of major metro areas US-Canada 58,764,771 64,918,029 6,153,258

Notes

A. ^ a Various sources include Montreal and Ottawa in the megalopolis, while excluding Minneapolis–Saint Paul, St. Louis, Kansas City, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Louisville, and Columbus.[16]

Gallery

See also

References

  1. ^ a b America 2050: Megaregions: Great Lakes. Regional Plan Association.
  2. ^ Regional Plan Association (2008). America 2050: An Infrastructure Vision for 21st Century America. New York, NY: Regional Plan Association.
  3. ^ Bell, Daniel; Stephen Richards Graubard (1997). Toward the year 2000: work in progress. MIT Press. p. 87. ISBN 0262522373. 
  4. ^ a b Cities: Capital for the New Megalopolis.Time magazine, November 4, 1966. Retrieved on July 16, 2010.
  5. ^ MegaCensusReport.indd
  6. ^ http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/pr/ourlakes/facts.html
  7. ^ http://www.great-lakes.net/econ/
  8. ^ U.S Army Corps of Engineers (January 2009).Great Lakes Navigation System: Economic Strength to the Nation. Retrieved on April 11, 2011.
  9. ^ Our lakes facts. NOAA. Retrieved July 25, 2011.
  10. ^ http://www.great-lakes.net/econ/
  11. ^ U.S Army Corps of Engineers (January 2009).Great Lakes Navigation System: Economic Strength to the Nation. Retrieved on July 25, 2011.
  12. ^ Great Lakes Cruising Coalition Retrieved on July 25, 2011.
  13. ^ Federation for American Immigration Reform
  14. ^ Ontario Population Projections Update
  15. ^ Institut de la statistique Quebec
  16. ^ Example: The Center for Urban and Regional Studies, Youngstown State University (2005). Great Lakes Megalopolis (Map). http://cfweb.cc.ysu.edu/psi/bralich_map/great_lakes_region/great_lakes_megalopolis.pdf. 
Main lakes
Secondary lakes
Waterways
Lists of islands
Historic geology
Lakeshores
Related topics