# How megacities are changing the map of the world

By [Brandon Donnelly](https://brandondonnelly.com) · 2016-04-09

canadian-cities, connectivity, connectography, infrastructure, megacities, megalopolis, parag-khanna, ted-talk, transportation, uncategorized, urbanism, urbanity

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In advance of his new book, titled [Connectography](http://www.paragkhanna.com/connectography), Parag Khanna recently delivered an interesting TED Talk called, [How megacities are changing the map of the world](http://www.ted.com/talks/parag_khanna_how_megacities_are_changing_the_map_of_the_world). It’s about 20 minutes long.

A lot of what is covered won’t be new to this audience, but I like how he talks about the importance of urban connectivity, the shift from political to functional geography, and the idea that, in a megacity world, countries can actually be the suburbs of some cities.

One thing you might notice about the talk is how he glosses over both Canada and Europe. This is a reminder to me that if Canadian cities are going to continue to compete against the emerging megacities of the world, we are going to need to think at [the scale of the megalopolis](http://brandondonnelly.com/post/122453200428/toronto-is-at-the-center-of-an-emerging). And a big part of that means a focus on extra-urban connectivity.

[Click here](http://www.ted.com/talks/parag_khanna_how_megacities_are_changing_the_map_of_the_world) if you can’t see the embedded talk below.

[https://embed-ssl.ted.com/talks/parag\_khanna\_how\_megacities\_are\_changing\_the\_map\_of\_the\_world.html](https://embed-ssl.ted.com/talks/parag_khanna_how_megacities_are_changing_the_map_of_the_world.html)

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*Originally published on [Brandon Donnelly](https://brandondonnelly.com/how-megacities-are-changing-the-map-of-the-world)*