How Megacities are

Changing the

Map of the World

By Parag Khanna

The Global Connectivity Revolution

The Infrastructural Matrix:

Exoskeleton on the

Planetary Body

● Skeleton System /

Transportation: Highways,

railways, bridges, tunnels,

airports, seaports

● Vascular System / Energy:

Oil & gas pipelines and

refineries, electricity grids

and power plants

● Nervous System /

Communications:

Internet cables, satellites,

data centers

Cartographic Evolution

“What we build today will last centuries.” - Santiago Calatrava

Natural Geography Political Geography Functional Geography

The Connectivity Atlas (https://atlas.developmentseed.org/)

)

Topographical Engineering and Mega-Infrastructures

X-Ray to MRI: GPS and Geofusion, OSM and IoE, ArcGis and Google Earth Pro

Connectivity is Destiny: Reimagine How Life is Organized on Earth

“Geography is destiny”: Ancient adage obsolete?

Arc of History: Connectivity as Meta-Pattern

Bridges to Everywhere

- Industrial revolution to World War I

- Keynes to Wirtschaftswunder

- Asian Tigers to China & AIIB

Paradigm Shift: Connectivity > Division

Political geography (nations & borders) Functional geography (infrastructure & supply chains)

Systems change: 19thC vertical empires 20thC horizontal states 21stC global network civilization

Connectivity - not sovereignty - is the organizing principle

of the human species

Planetary Urbanization:

Urban Archipelagos Define Humanity

China: Empire of Mega-Cities

Pearl River Delta (PRD)

From Political to Functional Geography

Singapore-Malaysia-Indonesia Growth

Triangle (SIJORI)

Evolution and Coexistence of Urban Archetypes

Medieval stratification Industrial mass production Financial capitalism

Services hub Peri-urban slums Mega-city archipelago

All Great Global Cities are Melting Pots

Racial Mingling: Ch-Indians (Singapore), Indi-Pinos (Dubai)

From Nationalism to Civicism: Cumulative not exclusive identities

Pax Urbanica: Cities Drive the Global Network Civilization