Megacities -
London Full
Documentary
Megacities uncovers the rapid growth, new forms of spatial density of population, formal and informal economics as well as poverty, crime, and high levels of social fragmentation.
Megacities takes a revolutionary look at the places where most of us live: the modern
Metropolis. Megacities focuses on the single aspect of a city's infrastructure which best informs the life and functions of that place. Each city is examined as an organism: living, breathing, and growing. In order to survive, these infrastructures must each
function independently, and yet blend into a harmony of man, machine, strategy and system, which defines it as a mega city. Megacities examines the infrastructure of eight iconic locations around the world:
Las Vegas,
Mexico City,
Hong Kong,
London, Paris,
Sao Paulo,
Mumbai and
New York. Through dramatic storytelling, unparalleled access and sophisticated computer graphics blended seamlessly with live action, Megacities takes viewers beyond the monuments - and into the machinery - that is the true, living marvel of each mega city.
London is the capital and most populous city of
England and the
United Kingdom. Standing on the
River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its founding by the
Romans, who named it
Londinium.
London's ancient core, the
City of London, largely retains its 1.12-square-mile (2.9 km2) medieval boundaries and in
2011 had a resident population of 7,375, making it the smallest city in England. Since at least the
19th century, the term London has also referred to the metropolis developed around this core. The bulk of this conurbation forms
Greater London, a region of England governed by the
Mayor of London and the
London Assembly. The conurbation also covers two
English counties: the City of London and the county of Greater London.
London is a leading global city, with strengths in the arts, commerce, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, professional services, research and development, tourism, and transport all contributing to its prominence. It is one of the world's leading financial centres and has the fifth-or sixth-largest metropolitan area
GDP in the world depending on measurement. London is a world cultural capital. It is the world's most-visited city as measured by international arrivals and has the world's largest city airport system measured by passenger traffic. London's 43 universities form the largest concentration of higher education institutes in
Europe. In
2012, London became the first city to host the modern
Summer Olympic Games three times.
London has a diverse range of peoples and cultures, and more than
300 languages are spoken within Greater London. The
Greater London Authority estimated its population to be 8.63 million in
2015, the largest of any municipality in the
European Union, and accounting for 12.
5 percent of the
UK population.
London's urban area is the second most populous in the EU, after
Paris, with 9,787,426 inhabitants according to the
2011 census. The city's metropolitan area is one of the most populous in Europe with 13,879,
757 inhabitants, while the Greater London Authority states the population of the city-region (covering a large part of south east England) as 22.7 million. London was the world's most populous city from around 1831 to 1925.
London contains four
World Heritage Sites: the
Tower of London;
Kew Gardens; the site comprising the
Palace of Westminster,
Westminster Abbey, and
St Margaret's Church; and the historic settlement of
Greenwich (in which the
Royal Observatory, Greenwich marks the
Prime Meridian,
0° longitude, and
GMT). Other famous landmarks include
Buckingham Palace, the
London Eye,
Piccadilly Circus,
St Paul's Cathedral,
Tower Bridge,
Trafalgar Square, and
The Shard. London is home to numerous museums, galleries, libraries, sporting events and other cultural institutions, including the
British Museum,
National Gallery,
Tate Modern,
British Library and 40
West End theatres.
The London Underground is the oldest underground railway network in the world.
- published: 30 Jul 2015
- views: 21539