The Age of Megacities

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The world is a crowded place, with more than 7 billion people on the planet as of 2014. About half of this population lives in urban areas, and ongoing migration into city centers has given rise to the megacity—a metropolitan area with 10 million people or more. Today the world has 28 megacities, according to the United Nations, and that figure is projected to increase.

The Age of Megacities project is a Story Map from Esri where you can explore the historic growth of ten of today’s largest cities during the past 100 years. It allows to follow the urban extend in 4 or 5 time ranges depending on the available data. Additionally they have included The Future of Cities by the 2050 story map according to United Nations projections. It includes the cities expected to swell past 10 million residents within 10 years. These cities are Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Shenzhen, China, Chonquing, China, Guanzhou, China, Lahore, Pakistan.

Read more: Make Cities Explode in Size With These Interactive Maps By Esri , Natasha Geiling, September 30, 2014.