Human in megalopolis

Review of the book «Human in megalopolis: a cross-disciplinary study»

Abstract

The book, co-written by numerous authors and edited by B.A. Revich and O.V. Kuznetsova, helps to take a fresh look at the largest cities of the world and Russia by viewing them in a common context of modern problems.  The authors argue that it is necessary to identify the “features of a  megalopolis” and apply them to the so-called million-plus cities of Russia, which under the current urban settlement system have a clear advantage over other cities in their region in terms of population size, multifunctionality and multisectoral activity, and so play a special role in the cultural and educational space.

The book examines a wide range of issues: demographic problems, the transformation of labor markets, sectoral and territorial structure, migrant settlement patterns and adaptation, quality of life, changes in public health and the development of the microclimatic features of urbanized areas. The research is poly-scale, with the world’s major cities being studied on a large scale and special attention paid to Moscow.