China to create largest mega city in the world with 42 million people by 2017

UK Telegraph – China is planning to create the world’s biggest mega city by merging nine cities to create a metropolis twice the size of Wales with a population of 42 million.

The “Turn The Pearl River Delta Into One” scheme will create a 16,000 sq mile urban area that is 26 times larger geographically than Greater London, or twice the size of Wales. The new mega-city will cover a large part of China’s manufacturing heartland, stretching from Guangzhou to Shenzhen and including Foshan, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Zhuhai, Jiangmen, Huizhou and Zhaoqing. Together, they account for nearly a tenth of the Chinese economy.

Over the next six years, around 150 major infrastructure projects will mesh the transport, energy, water and telecommunications networks of the nine cities together, at a cost of some 2 trillion yuan (US$310 billion). A high speed rail line will also connect the hub with nearby Hong Kong.

Megacities at wikipedia Greater Tokyo has about 35 million people.

1 Tokyo Japan           34,200,000  incl. Yokohama, Kawasaki, Saitama
2 Guangzhou China       24,900,000  Northern Pearl River Delta incl. Dongguan, Foshan, Jiangmen, Zhongshan (4% annual growth)
3 Seoul Korea (South)   24,500,000  incl. Bucheon, Goyang, Incheon, Seongnam, Suweon
4 Delhi India           23,900,000  incl. Faridabad, Ghaziabad (4.6% annual growth)
5 Mumbai India          23,300,000  incl. Bhiwandi, Kalyan, Thane, Ulhasnagar (2.90% annual growth)
6 Mexico City           22,800,000  incl. Nezahualcóyotl, Ecatepec, Naucalpan (2.00% annual growth)
7 New York USA          22,200,000  incl. Newark, Paterson
8 São Paulo Brazil      20,800,000  incl. Guarulhos
9 Manila Philippines    20,100,000  incl. Kalookan, Quezon City
10 Shanghai China       18,800,000 

Residents would be able to use universal rail cards and buy annual tickets to allow them to commute around the mega-city.

Twenty-nine rail lines, totaling 3,100 miles, will be added, cutting rail journeys around the urban area to a maximum of one hour between different city centres. According to planners, phone bills could also fall by 85 per cent and hospitals and schools will be improved.

By the end of the decade, China plans to move ever greater numbers into its cities, creating some city zones with 50 million to 100 million people and “small” city clusters of 10 million to 25 million.

In the north, the area around Beijing and Tianjin, two of China’s most important cities, is being ringed with a network of high-speed railways that will create a super-urban area known as the Bohai Economic Rim. Its population could be as high as 260 million.

The process of merging the Bohai region has already begun with the connection of Beijing to Tianjing by a high speed railway that completes the 75 mile journey in less than half an hour, providing an axis around which to create a network of feeder cities.

As the process gathers pace, total investment in urban infrastructure over the next five years is expected to hit £685 billion, according to an estimate by the British Chamber of Commerce, with an additional £300 billion spend on high speed rail and £70 billion on urban transport.

There is no name for the city. Mega-City One (from Judge Dredd) seems appropriate

Several more supermegacities seem likely to be formed.

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