Quick questions on Megacities of the developing world: WACE Year 12 Geography

Megacities are not only problems. They generate the bulk of national economic output, offer migrants real gains over rural poverty, and concentrate the talent and density that drive innovation. Informal settlements often contain vibrant economies and strong communities. A balanced answer recognises megacities as engines of opportunity that nonetheless face severe and urgent planning challenges.

A defining feature of developing-world megacities is the scale of the informal sector, in both housing and work. Large shares of residents live in self-built settlements without secure tenure, and many earn a living through informal trade, recycling, transport and services that never appear in official statistics. This informality is not simply a problem to be cleared away: it houses and employs people the formal economy cannot, and informal settlements often contain dense networks of small businesses and strong community organisation. Recognising the informal city explains why modern responses favour upgrading, providing secure tenure, water, sanitation and access to existing settlements, over demolition.

Because formal housing cannot keep pace, large shares of residents live in informal settlements, sometimes called slums, often lacking secure tenure, clean water and sanitation.

Water, electricity, waste and transport systems are overwhelmed, producing congestion, pollution and disease risk.

Many work in the informal economy, in insecure, low-paid jobs without protection.

Rapid, unplanned growth often pushes settlement onto floodplains and unstable slopes, raising disaster risk, which climate change intensifies.