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In 1950 New York was the only such area; there are currently (2004) nineteen, an increase from only nine in 1985. This has happened as the world's population moves towards the high (75-85%) urbanization levels of North America and Western Europe. It is not clear that any city exclusive of its suburbs exceeds 10 million.
United Nations projections indicate a slowing-down of the emergence of new megacities after 2005. However the expansion of the kind of highly-urbanised zone described as a megalopolis may remain an important trend, as seen in Boston- Washington, Tokyo- Osaka, Johannesburg- Pretoria or Rio de Janeiro- São Paulo.
Many megacities have such a high population density that the cost of living is too high for those of average means to have a decent living space. Also, in such areas people are potentially more vulnerable to natural disasterA natural disaster is a natural event with catastrophic consequences for living things in the vicinity. Phase one. Favorable conditions. At this level a collection of natural events which are normally too diparate for the non-specialist to notice begins ts and terrorismTerrorism refers to the use of violence against noncombatants for the purpose of achieving a political, religious or socio-economic goal. Terrorist acts can be carried out by individuals or groups, and are sometimes sponsored by governments as an alternat. Some consider this to be a problem of overpopulationOverpopulation may indicate any case in which the population of any species of animal may exceed the carrying capacity of its ecological niche. In common parlance, the term specifically refers to the relationship of human population to the planet Earth., others merely as one of overconcentration.
In CanadaCanada historically the Dominion of Canada is the second-largest, and northernmost, country in the world. It is a decentralized federation of 10 provinces and 3 territories, governed as a constitutional monarchy, and formed in 1867 through an act of Confe, megacity refers informally to the results of having merged the suburbs of an urban region into one large municipality. Cities so merged include WinnipegWinnipeg (49° 53′ N, 97° 09′ W, CST) is a Canadian city, and the provincial capital of Manitoba. The city is located at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, and is protected from flooding by the Red River Floodway. It is the provi (this merger antedates the term, and was called "Unicity" at the time), HalifaxHalifax is a Canadian city, the provincial capital and largest population centre in Nova Scotia, and the economic centre of the Atlantic Provinces. In 1995, the city of Halifax was amalgamated with a number of neighbouring authorities to create the Halifa, TorontoFor alternate meanings of Toronto, see Toronto (disambiguation). City of Toronto, Ontario, Canada (in detail) (in detail) Motto: Diversity Our Strength Area: 641 sq. Distance East to West: 43 km. Distance East to West: 21 km. Population Total (2001) Cdn., Ottawa, Hamilton, Sudbury, Montreal, Gatineau, Longueuil, Quebec, Saguenay, and Lévis. A Canadian "megacity", however, is not necessarily an entirely urban area, as many cities so named have both rural and urban portions, and do not necessarily constitute a large metropolis. Their definition is thus close to the metropolitan area concept.