Metropolises

A metropolis is a major urban centre where power and services are concentrated, and where issues abound. People in the surrounding region and even in the national territory as a whole are drawn to it. Today metropolises are increasingly powerful, which has repercussions for the entire planet.
Québec Education Program, Secondary School Education, Cycle One, p. 276

The following geography collection was originally produced by the Service national du RÉCIT du domaine de l'univers social.

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Territories considered in this collection:

Urban territory:
Metropolises

Study Territory:
Montréal

Study Territory:
Cairo

Designated focus

Ebenezer Howard believed that new cities should be built in the countryside, so their residents could breathe the fresh air !

All cities, whether large or small, are by definition centres where services are concentrated: administrative services, educational services, health services, cultural facilities, etc. The larger the city, the greater the concentration and diversity of its services and the larger the region it serves. When does such a large city become a metropolis? What criteria must it meet to do so?

What is a metropolis?

What differentiates a metropolis from other large cities is mostly the power that concentrates there, power that is conferred by the size of its population, which is significantly greater than that of other large cities in its regional sphere of influence. Not only are services concentrated in a metropolis but also the power attached to them, which is related to the economy, politics, social services and culture.

Thus, in the province of Québec, although political power is concentrated in Québec City, real power often resides in Montréal due to its demographic weight. What does this concentration of population, power and services imply for the inhabitants of a metropolis? Is it harder to find housing? Are services really more accessible, given congestion problems in crowded downtown cores? The issues are often highly complex.

Scales of influence

Are some metropolises of the world more important than others? A metropolis exists first in relation to its own regional territory upon which it exercises a direct influence. However, it also exists within national and international networks of metropolises, within which its influence is exercised to various degrees. Geographers use the analogy of the archipelago to evoke the network of major metropolises of the world. To what extent does a metropolis act as a magnet, attracting people from within its region, country or even the rest of the planet?

Click on the images to enlarge them

Source: NASA

Source: Service national du RÉCIT

*Graph created with a spreadsheet program (Excel, StarCalc, Apple Works)

Source: www.citypopulation.de Updated to January 2006 populations.

To find out more about major metropolises, visit:
Demographia
Major Cities and Agglomerations of the World
Metropolis

Concepts

These definitions are intended primarily for teachers.

Urban territory	Metropolises
Concentration Density Development Suburbs Urbanization Urban sprawl	Metropolis Growth Imbalance Multiethnicity Slums

A few concepts that could be addressed:

- Levels of development
- The socioeconomic profile of a territory (rich and poor)
- Demographics
- Sustainable development
- Immigration
- The concept of scales and their relation: local, regional, national and international spaces
- The environment

A few geographical techniques that could be used:

- City map
- Geographical sketch
- Simple map

Metropolises

Territories considered in this collection:
Urban territory: Metropolises	Study Territory: Montréal	Study Territory: Cairo

Integration of ICT and Social Sciences work methodology

This collection could be used within the context of a complex task that is meaningful to students, such as a problem situation or project. For an example of a methodological framework in Social Sciences that integrates technology tools, visit: http://www.recitus.qc.ca/methode/ (English version of this site coming soon)

Service national du RÉCIT du domaine de l’univers social

This collection of resources was originally created by Steve Quirion, Marianne Giguère and Sylvain Decelles, in collaboration with the Groupe de travail en géographie at the Commission scolaire Marguerite Bourgeoys (Sophie Turbide, Marc-André Lalande, Julie Larivière, Annie Coulombe and Caroline Gagnon).

Complementary documents and translations provided by LEARN.