世界都市圈,也称大城市连绵带或城市群,是城市群的最高发展形态。1961年,法国地理学家戈特曼首先用“世界都市圈”这个词来描绘美国东北部大西洋沿岸的高度城市化地带。以后,人们又把欧美及日本的一些城市带列入世界都市圈行列。当今世界有五大都市圈,它们分别是:①纽约都市圈包括波士顿、纽约、费城、巴尔的摩、华盛顿等共40个城市,面积 The world metropolitan area, also known as a metropolitan area with continuous belt or urban agglomeration, is the highest development pattern of an urban agglomeration. In 1961, the French geographer Gottmann first used the term “world metropolitan area” to depict highly urbanized areas along the Atlantic coast of the northeastern United States. Later, people again included some cities in Europe, the United States and Japan into the ranks of the world’s metropolitan area. There are five major metropolitan areas in the world today. They are: ①The New York metropolitan area includes 40 cities including Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington. The area