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]

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.^[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	Windsor	ON		330,900	426,861	95,961
	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

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  Saint Paul

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  Fox Cities

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  Quad Cities

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  Duluth

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  Rochester (MN)

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  Cedar Rapids

See also

• Great Lakes
• Metropolitan Statistical Area
• Conurbation
• Megalopolis (city type)
• Megaregions of the United States
• Quebec City – Windsor Corridor

References

Coordinates: 41°N 85°W / 41°N 85°W