Okay, so I found myself in London traffic last month, complaining as usual about how busy it is, when my mate Tom hit me with the old cliché that “London’s not even close to being the largest city in the world. Proper wound me up, that did. Before that moment, I had always believed that London was enormous.
And it now appears that I was almost 100 percent wrong about everything. London isn’t even in the top ten.
Tokyo’s Still the Big Daddy
So let us tell you first about working out which is the largest city in the world. It’s not quite as simple as you might expect. That depends on how you count, actually.
If we are referring to metropolitan areas, Tokyo remains the king. Some 37 million people live in greater Tokyo. That’s mental when you come to think about it. Thirty-seven million! That’s over half of the population of the UK as a whole squeezed into one city area.
I had been to Tokyo for work about five years before, and oh God, the city now was just overwhelming. The train stations were like small cities themselves. You could walk for hours, and you would still be in built-up areas. The size of the place is simply bonkers.
What’s really mad is that this greater Tokyo area is 25% of all of Japan! Now imagine that 16 million Brits all made their home in and around London. No, really, do not imagine that; it’s horrifying.
But Delhi’s Catching Up Fast
Here’s where it gets interesting. Delhi is growing like crazy and will pass Tokyo very, very soon. Delhi already has more than 32 million residents, and by the end of the decade, it is expected to overtake Tokyo in total population.
By 2030, the Indian capital is expected to add another 10 million inhabitants, potentially making it the largest city in the world. Ten million more people in five years! That’s the equivalent of the entire population of London being added to Delhi.
The growth is mental. There is a high fertility rate, and people are moving from the countryside to get jobs, among other factors. I can’t even begin to imagine what the infrastructure must experience while trying to manage all those additional bodies.
The Numbers Are Properly Confusing
Now, here’s the tricky part. Guangzhou, China, is by far the world’s largest city, with more than 72 million residents, some sources say. But that’s also counting a huge urban area with loads of connected municipalities.
The United Nations uses three different definitions for what constitutes a city: cities proper, urban areas, and metropolitan areas. So you’ve got totally different answers depending on which definition you use.
It’s sort of like asking the length of a piece of string. Are we counting just the city centre? The whole metropolitan area? How about all the ‘burbs and satellite towns? Makes a massive difference to the final numbers.
Other Massive Cities That’ll Blow Your Mind
Mexico City has 22.8 million people, and Osaka in Japan has 18.9 million. Even Osaka, which most people have barely heard of, has more people than the entire Netherlands.
I recall reading about São Paulo in Brazil, which has something like 22 million people as well. That’s larger than most European nations. Lagos, Nigeria, is expanding so rapidly that it can’t even keep track of how many people are actually living there.
The thing that gets me is how these cities just keep expanding. They swallow up everything around them, turning farmland into housing estates and small towns into suburbs.
What It’s Actually Like Living There
I’ve only been to a few really massive cities, but the experience is mad. In Tokyo, the morning rush hour is like nothing I’ve ever seen. People literally push you onto trains that are already packed solid. There are blokes whose job it is to shove commuters into carriages.
But somehow it all works. The transport systems are incredible, even if they’re completely mental during peak times. You can get anywhere in the city, usually faster than you could drive.
The downside is that everything’s expensive, the air quality can be terrible, and finding anywhere quiet place is basically impossible. My cousin lived in Mumbai for a few years and said the noise never stops. Ever.
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The Largest City in the World Is Changing
Cities like Delhi are on track to surpass Tokyo in population due to high birth rates and urban migration. The whole ranking is shifting, and it’s happening fast.
What’s mad is that most of the growth is happening in Asia and Africa. European and American cities are staying roughly the same size, while places like Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo are exploding.
The U.N. projects that Kinshasa will join the top 10 biggest cities in the coming years. I couldn’t even find it on a map five years ago, and now it’s going to be one of the world’s megacities.
Why This All Matters
These massive cities aren’t just interesting statistics. They’re where most of the world’s people are going to live in the next few decades. The decisions made in Tokyo, Delhi, and these other giants affect everyone.
Climate change, economic growth, and technological innovation are happening in these megacities. When Delhi’s air quality goes mental, it affects the whole region. When Tokyo’s economy sneezes, markets around the world catch a cold.
Plus, figuring out how to house, feed, and transport tens of millions of people in one place is one of the biggest challenges humanity faces. If they can’t make it work, we’re all in trouble.
My Take on the Whole Thing
Honestly, I find these numbers both fascinating and terrifying. Part of me thinks it’s amazing that humans can organise themselves into cities of 30-40 million people and somehow make it work. The logistics alone must be incredible.
But another part of me wonders if this is sustainable. Can you really have that many people living in one area without everything falling apart? The environmental impact must be massive, never mind the social problems.
I suppose the largest city in the world will keep changing as populations shift and grow. Tokyo might be the biggest now, but Delhi’s breathing down its neck, and who knows what other cities will join the party?
One thing’s certain: London traffic doesn’t seem quite so bad anymore when you think about what rush hour must be like in a city with 37 million people. Small mercies, eh?
