Researcher Sees 21 'Megacities' Dominating Future World

The rise of so-called megacities is rapidly changing the face of the global economy and challenging the notion of developing nations as primarily rural places, says Murray Weidenbaum, chairman of Washington University's Center for the Study of American Business (CSAB), St. Louis. Of the 21 "megacities," those with a population of 10 million or more, that he sees dominating the global economy in the year 2000, only five -- New York, Los Angeles, London, Tokyo, and Osaka -- will be "modern" Weidenbaum says in just-released CSAB study. The 16 developing-world cities he identifies are: Rio de Janeiro, Mexico City, So Paulo, Buenos Aires, Cairo, Lagos, Seoul, Bombay, Shanghai, Calcutta, Beijing, Manila, Delhi, Karachi, Dhaka, and Tianjin.