Transcript Metropolises

What is a metropolis?
It is a very large city or urban area.
 People living close by are drawn to it.
 It provides lots of activities and
services.
 Home to head offices* are located in
metropolises

*The main office of a company.
It has greater economic and decisionmaking power than other cities in the
region.
 It is a densely populated urban area.

1. Downtown core
2. Residential neighbourhoods
3. Public parks
4. Public squares
5. Industrial parks
6. Interchanges
7. Suburbs (Residential areas around a major city)
8. Lots of tall office buildings and apartment towers
Metropolises have recognizable features:
Metropolises have:
 Historical and modern landmarks
 These landmarks can either be natural or manmade.
 The Sunlife Building and Schwartz’s Deli are
examples of man-made landmarks.

Mount-Royal, the island of Montreal and the St.
Lawrence River are physical features.
Champlain Bridge
is a structrure
Mont-Royal is a
physical feature
Metropolises all around the world:

8 out of 10 metropolises with the highest
population (most populous) are in developing
nations (poor countries).
Developing Nation:

A country with:
 a low standard of living
 severe poverty
 low income and education levels
 high birth rate
 poorly developed social, economic, and technological
infrastructure.
 Developing nations: most countries in Africa, Asia
(except Japan), Latin America, and Oceania (except
Australia and New Zealand)
Developed or Industrialized Nation:


A country with
 a relatively high standard of
living
 high income and education
levels
 lower birth rate
 well-developed social,
economic, and technological
infrastructure.
Developed nations: Canada,
U.S.A, France, England, Japan,
Australia, and New Zealand etc.
Northern Hemisphere vs. Southern
Hemisphere:

Most countries in the Northern
Hemisphere are developed wealthy!
Most countries in the Southern
Hemisphere are developing
countries – really poor!
 (see page 9)

Unequal power among metropolises:

Economically powerful metropolises are found in
the United States, Western Europe and Asia.
Megalopolis:

A region made up of several large cities and
their surrounding areas.

They form the heart of economic and global
power – they run the world!

3 examples of megalopolises located in the US:
Boston-New York- Washington D.C.
2. Chicago-Detroit-Pittsburgh
3. San Francisco-Los Angeles-San Diego
1.
BosWash contains a
reported population of 44
million, or 16% of the
population of the United
States, probably two or
more world cities, and four
of the world's fifty largest
metropolitan areas —
Boston, New York,
Philadelphia, and
Washington — as well as
the New York Stock
Exchange, the White House
and US Capitol, the UN
Headquarters, the
headquarters of ABC, NBC,
CBS, the New York Times
and the Washington Post,
as well as six of top ten US
universities
Comparing and Contrasting
Two Metropolises
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
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The previous image is the City of the Dead, located
in Cairo, Egypt.
The City of the Dead is a massive cemetery, which
extends about 6km.
Due to overcrowding in Cairo people have had to
move into the cemetery.
In Cairo, it is considered an honour to live among
one’s deceased relatives.
Montreal at a Glance


Official language is French
Population is approximately 3.8 million in the
Montreal Metropolitan Area (2011)


Montreal is located along the St. Lawrence River.
Montreal lies in the center of a large fertile plain
left by the Champlain sea (13,000-10,000 years
ago).

Montreal is surrounded by a river system known as
the St. Lawrence Seaway.

Some of Montreal’s cultural features are: Mount.
Royal, Olympic Stadium, Underground city
Montreal: Growth


Every year the population of Montreal
increases, mostly due to immigration.
Today, immigrants make up more than 30% of
the population, making Montreal a very
multiethnic city.

This forces many people to live off-island.

This expands the borders of the Montreal
Metropolitan Area (MMA).
Cairo at a Glance
 Official
language is Arabic
 Population
is approximately 15 million
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The city of Cairo is located on
both sides of the Nile River.
Cairo also has fertile land along
the banks of the Nile.
Due to its desert climate Cairo
gets very little precipitation.
Some cultural features are:
Pyramids of Giza and the great
Sphinx.
Cairo: Growth



Cairo’s population is increasing due to migration
from rural (farming) areas.
Cairo has very little immigration. Therefore, Cairo
does not have a multiethnic population.
Due to the rapid population growth Cairo’s city
limits continue to grow.
 Along
with its port Montreal has two major
airports. P.E.T. International (flights) and
Mirabel (cargo).
Due to the size of Montreal’s Metropolitan Area,
people use public transportation and personal
vehicles to get around.
 Montreal has an extensive metro, bus and
commuter train system.
 However, the large majority, use their own cars
to get around.

What do you notice about Montreal and
Cairo?

Both cities have a busy shipping port.

Both cities have airports that accommodate
travellers and cargo.

Both cities have a subway and bus system.
Cairo̕s is NOT as well-developed.

The majority of people in both cities use
their cars to get around.
Major challenges for metropolises:
1. Housing
 2. Waste Management
 3. Transportation

1. Housing:
 Finding housing is a challenge for the poor.
 Apartments are too often expensive, in disrepair
or poorly situated.
 Government-subsidized housing* is available to
low-income families.
*Apartments paid for in part by the government
1. Finding housing in Metropolises:

a.
b.
c.
There are many factors that play a role in
finding a suitable place to live:
Your income
Number of children
Proximity to public transit (How close it is to a
bus stop or metro station)
d.
Neighborhood (Westmount vs. St, Henri)
e.
Environment (Living near a park is more
expensive; living next to a highway/overpass would
bring the value down)
2. Waste Management:
 Ever wonder what happens to all the waste from
businesses and residents?

Garbage trucks collect the trash and either
deposit it in landfills, incinerate it, recycle it or
convert it into compost.
Waste Management and Developing
countries:
Garbage is piled up in open lots near residential
areas.
 Poor people spend hours salvaging usable goods and
materials they can sell.

Where does garbage go?

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HOUSEHOLD GARBAGE is brought by truck to 1
of 5 landfills.
Montreal Metropolitan area uses the Lachenaie
landfill.
RECYCLABLE MATERIALS is brought to a
recycling plant.
Where does the snow go?
300,000 tonnes of snow is dumped into quarries,
sewers and disposal sites.
 The melted snow is pumped into the sewer system
which then makes its way to a wastewater
treatment center.

Where does wastewater go?


A system of sewers transports the wastewater
to the St. Lawrence River a few km east of
Montreal
The wastewater is first pumped through a
treatment plant, otherwise the river would get
polluted
3. TRANSPORTATION:
The vast majority of commuters living in
Metropolises such as Montreal and Cairo use their
own cars to get around the city.
What issues does this cause?
Pollution
2. Loss of green space
3. Deterioration of infrastructure
4. Traffic
1.
1. Pollution
 Acid Rain, which contaminates water and harms
fish that we eat.

Leads to many health problems (breathing).

Air pollution is often referred to as smog.
2. Loss of Green Space

Cities are growing in size and they are taking over
(encroaching) farms (green space).
3. Deterioration of Infrastructure (falling
apart)
Hundreds of thousands of commuters (people that
travel) use our roads, bridges and public transit on
a daily basis.
 This causes our roads, highways & bridges to wear
and need repair.
 The city increases our taxes to help pay for these
repairs.

Beltway:
 It is a highway that encircles an urban area
so that traffic does not have to pass through
the center of the city.


Heavy trucks damage concrete and asphalt,
slow-down traffic, and cause serious
accidents.
Montreal Metropolitan Area does not have
beltway* for large-sized trucks.
4. Traffic

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Montreal’s Roadways, overpasses, bridges and
highways are getting old and need lots of repairs.
Dangerous potholes and huge cracks damage cars
and slow down traffic.
Traffic jams become more problematic as the
population in the Metropolitan Area increases.
More vehicles on our roads and ongoing road
construction, due to aging infrastructure, cause
traffic too.

Although it's cheaper and faster to take public
transit, most people living in MMA still use cars.
Why?
Means of
Transportation
Population going to
work
CAR
PUBLIC TRANSIT
WALKED
BICYCLE
TAXI
MOTORCYCLE
OTHER
70.4%
21.4%
5.7%
1.6%
0.2%
0.1%
0.5%

Lane closures due to road repairs and accidents
cause traffic too.
 Some of the major highways, expressways and
service roads in the M.M.A. need more lanes.
Who is affected by these issues?

We are all affected by these issues:

Our environment


Plants and animals living in and around major
metropolises
People and environments in other parts of the
world