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Patrick Geddes, Lewis Mumford and Jean Gottmann: divisions over ‘megalopol is’

School of Geography, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3TB, UK

The term ‘megalopolis’, meaning a large city, was in use in the general press by the 1820s: its occurrence in the scholarly press largely reflects use in the twentieth century by Patrick Geddes and Lewis Mumford to denote an overlarge city doomed to destruction, and by Jean Gottmann to denote a large and highly connected urban region, notably that in the northeastern USA. Gottmann's definition dominates dictionaries of geography, but is ignored outside the discipline. The Oxford English dictionary is urged to recognize Gottmann's (and hence geographers') usage: compilers of geographical dictionaries are urged to revise their definitions.

Key Words: UK and USA • megalopolis • Patrick Geddes • Lewis Mumford • Jean Gottmann • lexicography

Progress in Human Geography, Vol. 28, No. 6, 687-700 (2004)
DOI: 10.1191/0309132504ph514oa


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This article has been cited by other articles:

				E. Pawson Gottmann, J. 1961: Megalopolis. The urbanized northeastern seaboard of the United States. New York: The Twentieth Century Fund Progress in Human Geography, June 1, 2008; 32(3): 441 - 444. [PDF]