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Megaregions of North America

In Richard Florida’s new book, “Who’s Your City,” he declares that the day of the city or country as fundamental economic unit is over. Instead, he focuses on megaregions, broad swaths of cities and connecting suburbs found throughout the world. Using satellite data showing lighted areas of the globe at night and finely tuned economic stats, Florida and other researches have named over 40 different megaregions, with 13 in North America alone. A simple test for a megaregion? “A person can walk all the way across from one side to the other carrying nothing but a credit card and never get hungry or thirsty.”

For more of Florida’s insights from “Who’s Your City,” return to “The Next Boomtowns.”