Blue Banana - European Economic Range

Blue Banana is not an exotic plant, but the name of one of the most industrially developed territories in the center of Europe. The emergence of such an area was not the result of the focused work of any body or organization. The formation took place in vivo, due to the laws of a market economy.

What is a megalopolis?

A very large city with a population of more than 1 million people is defined as a metropolis. Blue Banana refers to megalopolises. Literally translated from Greek is a very large, huge city. To date, the largest form of settlement. It is formed on the basis of the merger of several urban agglomerations, compact clusters, mainly urban settlements. They can in places pass one into another, forming a complex dynamic multicomponent system, united by cultural, transport links and intensive production.

For the first time this term was used by the Frenchman Jean Gottman. So he called the union of almost forty neighboring agglomerations. They spontaneously formed a settlement along the transport routes in the north Atlantic coast of America with a total area of ​​several thousand square kilometers with a population of tens of millions of people.

Specific traits:

• close interaction of city centers located at a relatively short distance from each other;
• polycentric structure in which there is no obvious dominant center;
• development runs along railways, highways, large rivers or the sea coast and has a pronounced linear form;
• the emergence of environmental problems associated with a very dense population of the territories.

European

Geographically, the Blue Banana is located from north to south along the lines of large industrial centers and cities in Europe. Conditionally, it began in the North-West of England in Lancashire. Here are the ancient centers of the coal and steel industry. The southernmost point is the northwest of Italy - Turin, Genoa, Milan.

The Blue Banana passes through Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland, the most densely populated areas of Europe. In total, up to 110 million people live in the designated area. For an exceptional position, this area is also called the "European economic ridge."

The metropolitan area “Blue Banana” includes the following metropolitan areas:

• Belgium:

- Flemish diamond: Brussels, Antwerp, Ghent, Leuven.

• Great Britain:

- Birmingham - Wolverhampton;

- Liverpool;

- Linds-Brandford

- London;

- Manchester-Salford;

- Midlands;

- Nottingham - Derby;

- Sheffield.

• Germany:

- Mannheim;

- The Rhine-Ruhr region;

- Frankfurt am Main;

- Stuttgart region.

• Italy:

- Genoa;

- Milan;

- Turin.

• France:

- Nice.

• Netherlands:

- Arnhem - Nijmegen;

- Brabant;

- Randstad.

• Switzerland:

- Zurich.

• interstate:

- Basel agglomeration (Germany, France, Switzerland);

- Strasbourg, Ortenau (Germany, France).

- Lille, Kortrijk, Tournai (Belgium, Netherlands, France);

- Masko-Rhine region (Netherlands, Belgium, Germany);

- Saarbrücken, Forbach (Germany, France).

World giants

There are several megalopolises in the world:

• USA: Bosvash from Boston to Washington. It is a chain of cities on the Atlantic coast, with a length of 750 km. About 15% of the US population lives on the territory, up to 25% of American industrial enterprises are located.
• Europe: megalopolis “Blue Banana” (bears its name since 1989). It features a well-developed transport infrastructure. It includes the largest European ports and airports. The offices of many international organizations are located in this region: the European Parliament, NATO, and the International Court of Justice.
• China: Yangtze Delta, aka the Yangtze Golden Triangle. It covers an area of ​​99,600 km². 80 million people live here, 50 million - urban residents. The megalopolis includes the largest city in the world in terms of population - Shanghai. The region’s contribution to the country's GDP is 21%.
  
• Great Britain: London-Liverpool. The length reaches 400 km, the population density is high, up to 500 people per km ² . It consists of about 30 agglomerations, a population of 35 million people. The largest London - 12 million inhabitants.
• USA: Sansan from San Francisco to San Diego. Here 10% of the country's population lives, this is one of the largest coastal agglomerations in the world, its length is 790 km. The youngest megalopolis in the USA.
• Japan: Tokaido from Tokyo to Osaka and Kobe. It stretches for 700 km, 56% of the country's population (70 million people) live.
• USA and Canada: Chipits, Great Lakes Region. The area is 160 km ² , the population is about 35 million.

Perspective

"Blue Banana" has good prospects for further development, suggest its extension to Rome. Attractive areas for large investments contribute to the expansion of the "banana" zone. Currently, the Golden Banana is relevant, with a population of up to 45 million inhabitants. Its beginning in the Italian cities of Genoa and Turin. Then it runs along the coastline of the Mediterranean Sea. Passes through France (Lyon, Marseille, Monaco, Nice, Toulon, Toulouse) and ends in Spain (Barcelona, ​​Valencia, Cartagena).

In the eastern direction, the interstate megalopolis Green Banana is interesting. It starts in Poland, passes through the Czech Republic, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia and ends in Italian Trieste. 40 million people live in this territory.