Population and Social Characteristics
This is the Largest City in the World by Area: The Top 50, Ranked
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INRIX released its latest Global Traffic Scorecard on June 25th, naming New York City as the world’s most congested urban area. According to the report, commuters in New York City lost 101 hours due to traffic and congestion in 2023. In other words, New Yorkers spent much more time in traffic than anyone else in the United States! Even Mexico City, Paris, and London weren’t nearly as congested as the streets of New York City.
Congestion and traffic are part of living in the city, but New York isn’t just a busy city — it’s also a big city filled with tons of people. In fact, New York City is surprisingly large when it comes to land mass — it just doesn’t feel like it due to the number of people packed within its borders.
So, how does New York City compare to the world’s largest cities in terms of area? To find out, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed data from Demographia, an urban development research group. Specifically, we looked at the August 2023 edition of the World Urban Areas report, which analyzed 986 urban areas with at least 500,000 residents.
Demographia defines “urban areas” differently than official boundaries or city jurisdictions. Instead, the group ranks these areas according to their built-up land areas. Demographia explains that these urban areas are connected “as an integrated economic unit, linked together by commuting flows, social and economic interactions.”
According to this definition, the New York City urban area includes not only the New York City metropolitan area, but also Bridgeport, New Haven, Danbury, and Waterbury in Connecticut, in addition to East Hampton, Riverhead, and Trenton in New Jersey. (These are the Cities With the Highest Influx of New Residents Last Year.)
Although there are many downsides to living in big cities (i.e. pollution, traffic, etc.), there are also many opportunities. The world’s largest cities by area are interconnected by necessity, often showcasing good (or poor) transportation, communication, and resource allocation. In addition, large urban centers have their own unique culture and economic systems, which can provide insights into improving our own communities.
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