The real powerhouses that drive the world’s economy

According to this article below, "It’s not nation states or even cities, but mega-regions—combinations of multiple metro areas—that are the real forces powering the global economy." Most often we discuss national economies or big continental or regional overviews (like Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America or EMEA,). What this article proposes is that we should be looking at the "mega-regions" as we consider what the future holds.

Our up-to-now obsession with nation states doesn't really fit with today’s highly-clustered knowledge economy, which is centered in and around global cities. "And, it’s not just individual cities and metropolitan areas that power the world economy. Increasingly, the real driving force is larger combinations of cities and metro areas called mega-regions." These "mega-regions have at least two existing metro areas, minimally have five million inhabitants, and generate economic output of more than $300 billion."

CityLab has determined that there are 29 mega-regions that are the real regional powerhouses of the global economy. Eleven are in Asia, ten are in North America, six are in Europe, one is in Latin America, one is in Africa and one more straddles Asia and Africa.  Which one is the world's largest mega-region? Bos-Was is the largest mega-region in the world. It includes Boston, New York, Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia with 50 million people and generating almost $4 trillion in economic output. The second largest was Par-Am-Mun: this region includes Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels, and Munich, is home to 44 million inhabitants, and generates $2.5 trillion in economic output. 

Any idea what the next eight are that would be in the top 10? It's worth the read as I was surprised by looking at the global economy this way. It would be fun to re-sort our mobility volumes using these "mega-regions." Which mega-region does your mobility have the most volume in and out of?

For some additional interesting insight, watch this video presentation on: Future Cities: Megaregions delivered by Sander van Amelsvoort. He explains why creating an East Coast "mega-region" is key to Australia being able to compete with the economic power and innovation with the rest of the world. What he is advising for Australia may be good advice for many bi-city and tri-city areas around the world that should look at great investment jointly.

And, for those of you who want to take this further, consider what this means politically in how we govern ourselves. This article, What To Do About the Rise of Mega-Regions suggests that "the key challenge of our time is to create a new governance system for the 21st century's knowledge-driven, place-based economy." This idea of moving away from nation-based governance to city/locality/neighborhood-based is an interesting idea. "Study after study shows that such localized government is more economically efficient and democratic than the centralized alternative. And survey after survey demonstrates that citizens have more confidence in local government than national government." 

At the same time, as we consider where migration will lead us, there is reason to believe that the future is urban and that that growth does not lie exclusively in the mega-regions. Many people are getting out of the mega-cities and moving to more affordable options on the outskirts of some of these mega-regions. Want to complicate things further, start to consider how many of these regions are coastal and at risk for being impacted by changing global weather patterns.