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Fig. 18.3 Population and urbanized area growth in Megalopolis, 1950-2000 [ Source : Morrill
(2006) ]
Hampshire to Northern Virginia and from the Appalachian foothills to the Atlantic
a Megalopolis, 3 'the Hinge and the Main street of the national economy'.
Figure 18.3 presents the urban evolution along the Megalopolis, differentiating
the urban growth over the 1950-2000 (Morrill 2006 ). There is in this half century a
modest growth of urban population (approximately 75 %), and a 300 % increase in
the urbanized area—the dropping urban density reflecting the growth of suburbs
and exurbs. In the three decades, 1972-2002, the five major metro areas in the
Megalopolis had a modest growth in population. But this period actually comprised
of two different sub periods. The first half (1972-1987) was a more or less a
stationary period for the four metro areas and one of even population loss for the
3
Jean Gottman's work was highly influential, promoting work on large city regions. At a time
when social commentators such as Patrick Geddes and Lewis Mumford weighed in against large
urban agglomerations, Gottman ( 1961 ) celebrated urban size and growth, expressed his faith in the
Boston-D.C. Region's robust entrepreneurialism. He believed that the dense metropolitan areas of
the Megalopolis provided opportunities for experimentation, exchanges of ideas and knowledge,
promoting cross-fertilization of new ideas and innovations, as this paper will show, Gottman's
view of the dynamism of the Megalopolis and its role as an incubator of new economic trends was
prescient.
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