How Portugal Is Slowly Building A Megalopolis

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▶ In this video, I delve into the peculiar population density distribution in the Iberian Peninsula, particularly focusing on Portugal's coast and interior regions. I highlight the stark contrast between the heavily populated coastal areas, especially around Lisbon and Porto - which begin to be considered as a Megalopolis - and the sparsely inhabited interior. Through population density maps and historical context, I explain how natural factors like topography and climate, alongside social and political dynamics such as historical neglect, economic disparities, and immigration patterns, have contributed to this phenomenon. Discussing the emergence of what could potentially become a full megalopolis along the coast, fueled by urbanization and economic opportunities, while also acknowledging efforts to incentivize development in the interior.
TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 Intro
00:42 Portugal's Population Density
01:54 What's a Megalopolis?
02:10 Examples of Megalopolis
03:14 The Atlantic Axis
03:41 Portugal's Megalopolis
04:14 Other Relevant Cities in Portugal
05:41 Portugal & Spain's Border Regions
06:03 Portugal's Historical Population Distribution Problem
06:43 Topography / Terrain
06:50 Topography's Effect on Infrastructure
07:47 The Issue of Land Usage
08:18 The Interior's Climate Issues
08:48 Portugal's Old Sea-Focused Economy
09:14 20th Century Policies & Dictatorship
09:56 Economic Disaster & Emmigration
10:27 21st Century Issues & Lack of Investment
10:56 Immigration Concentration
11:10 Recent Government Efforts & Incentives
11:26 Expansion of the Megalopolis
12:02 Summary
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[@drumshero03]

As a 27 year-old who lives where “nobody lives”, I can confirm no one lives here

[@stevekane4922]

Cu de judas?

[@diogotabreu]

@@stevekane4922um bocadinho mais longe. É mesmo no caralho mais velho 😂 (ps: sou a mesma pessoa que fez o primeiro comentário, mas numa conta diferente)

[@stevekane4922]

@@diogotabreu BTW you have such an "interior" name 🤣. Would fit into my former village in the mountains of arcos de Valdevez just fine. Teixeiras and Abreus made up all my neighbours but Diogo is pretty left field. Should be Antonio, Zé or Zé Manel. Diogo is kinda "Rapaz da Família" for those parts.

[@drumshero03]

@@stevekane4922 that’s a very funny observation! I was raised and lived my whole life in the middle of Lisbon, but I moved to “nowhere” about 1 year ago. However, my surname (Teixeira de Abreu) is from a small village in the Beira region, where my paternal grandfather was from

[@stevekane4922]

@@drumshero03 I lived 600m up in the mountains for 31 yrs but recently had to sell up and move to vila nova de Gaia because mountain life was too tough at our age.

[@javiervll8077]

As a Spaniard 🇪🇸, I must say that Portugal 🇵🇹 is one of my favorite countries in the world because of its people, culture, cuisine and history. It is necessary that there be greater interaction between Portugal and Spain, both culturally (such as promoting the learning of Portuguese in Spain and Spanish in Portugal), economically or transport (promoting high-speed rail connections between Barcelona, Madrid and Lisbon , but also between Porto and Galicia). Um abraço a todos os vizinhos portugueses! 🇪🇸❤️🇵🇹

[@bazookaman1353]

Ola 👋

[@shellminator]

love u guys

[@jorgemsc]

In Portugal 🇵🇹 we already promote the learning of Spanish 🇪🇸 in schools, however English 🇬🇧 and French 🇫🇷 are predominant.

[@GuilhermeBarreto1143]

The iberian supremacy lives hermano 🇵🇹🇪🇸

[@Wawa-mv7ho]

Im portuguese and uhm like we all already speak spanish it's widely taught in schools and in some you're forced to learn it and it's not optional, regardless my point is, everyone here understands Spanish, most people here can speak it too; it's a shame that this is not the case in spain.

[@JaceVibe]

I see the confirmation in the comments that you are Portuguese. I listened and thought to myself - hm, his pronunciation is really spot on. He is either native or showing off 😁

[@marcelovitorino2837]

From my personal observation - living in and traveling to different countries over 30 years, I believe the Portuguese, in general, are the the best non-native English speakers amongst all Latin Europeans and Latin Americans. He is probably Portuguese but I don't think he was showing off. His English is awesome!

[@rubensilva8936]

@@marcelovitorino2837 he is Portuguese!

[@marcomonsanto]

As soon as he said the city names I was like, he is either Portuguese or extremely good. But then he said Viana do castelo and Ourense, no more doubts after that 😂

[@pedroramalho121]

​@@marcomonsantoyes Viana do Castelo is hard for a non Portuguese.

[@palkys.]

Yeah, our language allows us to adapt easily to almost any accent. When studying abroad I remember having difficulty pronouncing turkish only. Words in french, english, greek, german, etc etc are all easy to pronounce to us if we care enough. Still, not all of us are good speakers, some of us have strong regional accents, which will affect other languages. Brazilians struggle more in general, for example

[@bababababababa6124]

I like how you can instantly spot Porto and Lisbon with just the density map and no names 😂

[@carlossaraiva8213]

Well, he is portuguese...

[@bababababababa6124]

@@carlossaraiva8213I know the guy on this channel is Portuguese, I wasn’t talking about him specifically. I was talking about non Portuguese people like me. Should have worded that better

[@Scarlazer]

@@carlossaraiva8213Ok

[@olivernordin]

The same can be done for every country where you know a couple of cities

[@p4p4p4p48]

In regards to this sad reality of the depopulation of the interior of the country, which goes back centuries, there's actually a pretty funny story: around the second half of the 15th century, a priest - Father Costa - preached at Trancoso. Trancoso was a village (nowadays, a decently populated city) located near Northeastern Portugal (Beira Alta, as it is called here), one of the regions which now, and even more at the time, most suffered from a lack of people. Father Costa, however, changed that, fathering, in all the years he spent there, 299 children with dozens upon dozens of local women - including his aunt and his own mom. Upon discovery of his crimes, he was sentenced to be executed in a very nasty manner. However, this was commuted after he received a personal pardon from the king, Dom João II, on account of the great help he had provided in regards to populating the region. To this day, a statue of him, narrating his deeds, stands outside a restaurant in Trancoso.

[@mohamedjear8917]

"His deeds" 💀💀💀💀

[@naphackDT]

What an absolute gigachad.

[@DiogoF.]

I wasn't expecting that 😂

[@ZombiemanOhhellnaw]

This was in the 15th century, that must mean he now has 10s of thousands of descendants... And they might not know of each other 😬

[@ZombiemanOhhellnaw]

If you told me his last name was Ferreira, this would make a lot of sense! 😂

[@abxorb]

I'm currently taking Portuguese lessons (still very much a beginner lmao), and I just love watching and hearing you talk about your native country and using Portuguese. Muito obrigado e saudações dos Paises-Baixos, espero poder visitar o seu lindo país novamente em breve! 🇳🇱 ❤🇵🇹

[@Bludthinkshesnapoleon]

Boa sorte mano. Great job on that portuguese phrase btw

[@LennyCash777]

It seems like I've been coming across more people recently who are interested in European Portuguese (and Portugal), which is kind of strange to me because European Portuguese has not really been cared about all that much from what I've seen. I think usually people opt for Brazilian Portuguese and/or Spanish. The other day I came across a channel of a Swedish guy that considers European Portuguese to be his favorite language and learned to speak it fluently by studying it on his own. His channel is *MadChirpy,* but he hasn't uploaded anything new in a while. Anyway, good luck with your own study of the language and hopefully you'll get the chance to visit Portugal one day like you say you'd like to do.

[@frapiment6239]

@@LennyCash777 Don't matter what variant of Portuguese (european/brazilian) you choose beside the accent and some expressions there is no differences. So the best its really to use content from all countries that speak portuguese to get used to different accents and improve your vocabulary.

[@z0rO999]

My eu4 hours let me spot any city, especially in iberia lol

[@abxorb]

@@BludthinkshesnapoleonHahaha, obrigado, thank you! 😁

[@henner777]

I live in Norfolk in U.K (east UK). and we have a high population of Portuguese, I’m actually really good friends with a few. They’ve also introduced me to visiting Portugal, and I have had Portuguese lessons and toured the country vastly. One friend lives in Lisbon and the other in Castelo de vide near the border. Both places vastly different but from what I can tell that makes the country a beautiful thing, the diversity of cities and rural communities, I think a lot of Portuguese will return back after economics improve as its in my eyes a wonderful country and the people are warm and welcoming.

[@philippelensen9894]

I used to live in castelo de vide, it is the most stunning place !

[@rrs_13]

Remote working, shortage of housing in the big urban areas and its consequential price climb are making people return to a lot of their "ancestor's" villages, towns and small cities. The village where my godson lives only had about 5 elderly couples living there in 2018 (plus my godson's parents). Today, every upright house has been bought or rented, and essentially every house in ruins is being rebuilt, even the local primary school is touted to be reopened. For the good of the country and the people who live in it, I feel the rural exodus is being replaced by an urban exodus.

[@ivoalbino7179]

As a portuguese who lived in Norwich for 5 years, Norwich is prob one of the best cities in the UK imo.

[@GoncaloFerreira]

I hope they recommended you Sintra, which is, as Lord Byron told before, "A glorious Eden".

[@henner777]

@@ivoalbino7179 yes I’m from there 😎

[@adelinod.5568]

The important part for me, as a Galician, is that our portuguese brothers don't forget us. I always say we should look South, not East

[@GoncaloFerreira]

I have a home in Oporto also (I sometimes live there some years in a row), and I know lots of you brothers from Galicia visit us specially now in the Easter time, some of us visit you also, but more the Northern ones as they live nearby. Galego is very close to ours, one of my friends from there talk always in Galego and it's easy to know that "çom" is our "ção", like "comunicaçom" but the Google Translator only has the "Internacional Galego" which is Castellano. I think that more people over there should require Google to have the real Galego available.

[@danielimmortuos666]

Finally a video on my favourite country in Europe

[@nostro1940]

The video uploader is portuguese

[@BOO-ii3ni]

Everyone loves Portugal except the people that used to live there since it is the country with most emmigrants in europe.

[@thailux6494]

@@BOO-ii3niit’s not that Portuguese people that moved abroad don’t like Portugal. They don’t like its wages. I’m one. Why would I work for 1300 eur per month in Portugal if I can go to Luxembourg and earn 7000?

[@lost_porkchop]

​@@BOO-ii3niNot true. I left as a child and although I would love to come back, I just have no one left there. Some parts of the culture have also just become foreign to me. I would be a stranger in my own country. It breaks my heart, but it's just reality.

[@Ed_Lotovich]

​@@lost_porkchop I understand you so much!!! I feel the same! This is very strange when you are a foreigner between your compatriots and at the same time you are compatriot of the foreigners

[@FrutoseDeMorango]

Waiting for the continuation of these Megalopolis series

[@amritkarmacharya2093]

ganges region

[@yvltc]

One thing that wasn't addressed and which in my opinion is the key to the Portuguese megalopolis is the National Railway Plan, specifically the high speed rail linking Porto and Lisbon. It promises to connect the two largest urban areas in the country in 1h15, effectively creating one single urban area from Braga all the way down to Setúbal despite not being physically connected. With the connection to Vigo this megalopolis can stretch into Galicia as well.

[@waltermessines5181]

When will it be completed? Setúbal to Faro any time soon?

[@tomsmithdeal8286]

The problem with the rail line is that it runs too far inland with no access to Torres Vedras, Caldas da Rainha, Leiria, Figueria da Foz and Coimbra. They desperately need a rail line that follows the population centers.

[@waltermessines5181]

@@tomsmithdeal8286Could not agree more; it took me by surprise that the "Fátima" train station is still a good 22 km from the actual place. But it doesn't look like it is going to happen any time soon. Would be a major investment also.

[@spectralspectra2282]

The way he said Porto was uncanny, is he Portuguese? Because he said it just like a Portuguese would

[@mulsenhfk]

Yes he is

[@nasty.nelson]

Once i heard it his whole accent made sense, had me guessing for a bit.

[@spectralspectra2282]

@@mulsenhfk I realised he was once he started listing cities lmao

[@Bajolzas]

He pronounced every city perfectly because he is tuga. He even has a video in portuguese, speaking of the European union or something, can't remember.

[@diogorodrigues747]

@@Bajolzas It was about the European elections, in 2019 if I'm not mistaking.

[@Bertie_Ahern]

I would love to visit Portugal. It looks like such a beautiful country. Love from the UK ❤

[@BeYourselfMan]

The UK are our oldest ally, you would be more than welcomed here. We love our British friends.

[@tramagacity]

You have so cheap flights from UK. Avoid holiday as especially Porto and Lisbon get very crowded in Summer time. A big British community living in the Algarve, many been living there for decades. You would love it it is a beautiful country, one of the best gastronomies in the world, great people.

[@luigibenni3449]

Very interesting video. Can we expect more videos on other European megalopolis? The three "bananas"?😂

[@TiagoDvl]

Grande vídeo, meu mano! Parabéns

[@jackstone112]

i did a round trip around Portugal last year! was amazing driving everywhere! the north eastern part was my favorite! ooo and PODENCE!

[@edgarneto1154]

Cool👍 :), those are the regions that escape tourist's eyes the most, and yet they're so nice.

[@Luzitanium]

how was the driving?? ahahha and the fuel prices??

[@diogorodrigues747]

@@Luzitanium The guy is from Sweden, a place where fuel prices aren't that cheap either. Of course, compared to the average wage, it's way cheaper for an individual than in Portugal, but the guy doesn't have a Portuguese wage.

[@Luzitanium]

@@diogorodrigues747 exactly now you understand why portuguese cant travel in their own country as much as a foreigner, thats why I asked him

[@diogorodrigues747]

@@Luzitanium "Now you can understand" ??? Eu sou português amigo.

[@andrewjgrimm]

This situation is reminiscent of Australia. Sydney isn’t going to join up with Melbourne, but we have more and more population in costal capitals and less inside the hinterland.

[@MMartec]

Wow, fantastic maps you found, like the geological one, the one with the population pikes, and the trees one, in adition to the density one going all the way into Galicia! Well done! And yes, all that Atlantic Axis, really is turning into a major Megalopolis! 😉 But that being the case, it's also good to keep the rest for nature, animal life, forests, water reserves, agriculture and mineral resources...

[@tom_70_ads]

Yes! I want a video on all megalopolis! Vai ser ganda video!

[@BeYourselfMan]

As a Portuguese, there are two nations I love the most, first my neighbours Spain & second is the UK, our oldest ally. VIVA, Portugal, Spain, UK.

[@DiogoF.]

🇵🇹🇪🇺

[@lycaonwolfhook]

menudo trio historico...😅

[@BeYourselfMan]

@@lycaonwolfhook 100% Our three nations basically put Europe on the map. 👍

[@andrecorreia3808]

and our Brazilian brothers where do you put them? ahah

[@BeYourselfMan]

@@andrecorreia3808 Oh man, forgive me. 😆 How can I forget O Brazil !!!!!!!

[@danielolickij1652]

I understand that youtubers need to be sponsored and earn a living but still seeing people accept betterhelp sponsorships makes me mad a lil

[@hisham_hm]

maybe they're not aware of how bad it is, they should watch that video about it

[@FuchsHund]

Why?

[@dustmighte]

The screening questionnaire isn't covered by doctor/patient confidentiality and by signing up for Betterhelp they sell your answers to advertisers

[@polishball_]

@@FuchsHundthere was a leak that showed that the sessions were RECORDED AND USED TO MAKE PERSONALIZED ADS FOR YOUR ISSUES

[@dutchuncle2716]

@@FuchsHundBecause Betterhelp doesn't respect your privacy. Neither do Facebook of Google, but people expect better from health service providers.

[@stevens1041]

I hope I can visit Portugal this year. Been wanting to go for a long while.

[@riyaanabrahams4061]

The Gauteng province in South Africa can also be classified as Megalopols, mainly the region from Soweto-Johanennesburg-Sandton-Midrand-Centerion-Pretoria

[@portugalgamermanel3404]

As portuguese, I agree with everything, nice research and i'm very pround the General of Knowledge is portuguese :p i think the last goverment invested in Leiria, tried to move people from Lisbon to more North, the climate is the same, so just need better roads and attractions for people move there. Also, invested in Maia, close to Porto in state houses to help people who needed house for a period of time, again to move people a little outside of big cities. This also helped the real state problem of high prices in Porto and Lisbon. Also, i saw investment in solar panels in Alentejo, because of the dry area, taking advantage of the sun in the area, making the energy in that area cheaper. Let's see what the new goverment will do to move people outside of the big cities. But i still don't think a Megalopolis will merge, it's a lot of area to join the two cities. Maybe in the year 2200 :p

[@nox5555]

Portugal doesnt have the population to merge Porto with Lisbon

[@lpereira300]

how the fuck is investing in Maia moving people outside the big cities? Maia is part of Greater Porto

[@portugalgamermanel3404]

@@lpereira300 Maia has half of population than Porto. Amadora is almost half population of Lisbon. if this cities around the big cities, have the same or more 25% population . that will help a lot in real state and also develop other cities. it still a big difference.

[@lpereira300]

@@portugalgamermanel3404 Maia and Amadora are not really different cities from Porto and Lisbon, that's my whole point.

[@portugalgamermanel3404]

@@lpereira300 why Porto and Lisbon have the double of people of those cities? if you rent a room or an apartment, like i did in those areas. people still prefer houses close to the downtown center "Baixa". it needs to be some education to explain cities around Porto and Lisbon have better quality of life and also cheaper. status matter a lot, and people prefer paying higher and have worst quality of life. spread people and companies to those areas already would be a great victory

[@billturner6564]

The space between Lisboon and the Algarve coast is one of the most under populated places in the world it is almost empty And so beautiful

[@Aprill264]

What an interesting video! Portugal is a lovely country and I would love to visit again soon!

[@hugo-fr2rs]

Btw, in Alentejo, "agriculture" mean olive tree plantations, almond tree plantations and vinneards

[@Luzitanium]

and cork plantations too.

[@XofHope]

It used to be wheat and barley too, there's a reason Alentejo was called the granary of Portugal.

[@diogorodrigues747]

@@XofHope Well, productivity of wheat and barley was always really low due to very poor soils. The thing about the granary of Portugal was mostly Estado Novo propaganda and it's impressive how people still buy it very well.

[@XofHope]

@@diogorodrigues747Tell that to the thousands of beirões who would go to Alentejo during harvest season. Of course it will never be as fertile as Central Europe's flatlands and, given the present economy, it's probably a good idea to bet on what they can't produce, like olive oil and good wine. However, when the country tried to be as self sufficient as possible, it was indeed the country's main granary.

[@hugo-fr2rs]

@@XofHope enphasis on "used to", it's all cash crops now (exept where there's forest, livestock or heavy restrictions)

[@thescreengeek8915]

I lived in Spain for 2 yeas and just visited Lisbon a week ago. I was super surprised by the density of population in comparison to the size and the difference between the core city and the metropolis

[@melinda5777]

Thank You for this Video!! I love Portugal, mainly, Terceira Island. ❤❤

[@Dripfish]

Azoressss!

[@Ferreira0504]

Tenho primos e os tios na Praia da Vitória e os meus avós no lado de mãe são naturais de Angra do Heroísmo (Santa Luzia). Amo Terceira! ❤️ Saudações da Califórnia

[@probablynotusefulforyou]

Always great to learn about the pais irmao 🇵🇹

[@neleig]

This is exceptional information! I’m glad I discovered you. I’m an American expat living in The Algarve.

[@jackflanagle6079]

Hey there, I'm also American about to move to the Algarve, found a place near Alcutim. Left the US 13 years ago, no regrets!

[@kyletus]

This is California...overlay SF/LA/San Diego at a ratio of 0.72 and you have a perfect match to Porto/Lisbon/Algarve, history aside there are likely very similar economic forces at play, I have lived in both (currently Lisbon), and if you are just looking at economic features they feel like living in the same place

[@richardsantosgarcia8972]

Honestly, as a spaniard I feel like we Iberians are just gonna end up being atlanteans by the end of it all, we just don't live in the interior, it's fascinating.

[@paulocorreia7942]

We almost have gills and fingers with membranes !!😄

[@richardsantosgarcia8972]

Ya te digo XD

[@Mrcarvalher]

As a Portuguese, I agree 😂

[@anonUK]

The Spanish all live on the Mediterranean coast, don't they? Apart from Madrid, most of the interior and the other coasts, of the North and North West, are depopulating.

[@MW_Asura]

Round two it is. But this time let's colonise the ocean so we can live there 😂

[@bordergore1395]

Good video with detailed explanation

[@user-eg7jz2tg8p]

HE HAS A NEW INTRO?? IT'S SO COOL!

[@Ynhockey]

First time on the channel. Great video, though the title is a bit misleading - Portugal isn't building a megalopolis, it's being formed by a lot of processes that are mostly not state-induced. Plus, I've been to Portugal recently, and the area between Lisbon and Porto felt pretty deserted to me. Maybe I'm just comparing it to an area like Haifa-Tel Aviv-Jerusalem, which is much more densely packed (and that's a video suggestion ;) ). There are about 7 million people there living on 4,000 km2. The same population in Portugal lives on more than 20,000 km2.

[@billify23455]

I'm a US expat living in Vila do Conde, a northern suburb of Porto. The area from Vila do Conde , north to Povoa de Varzim and Viana do Castelo is one big metro center. It's hard to tell when you leave one city and enter the next.

[@Apo110-11]

What was the immigration process like? Portugal always seems like a nice place to live.

[@balengdeh4812]

immigrant*

[@antoniocastelo8195]

This is so very true. Mind you though, at least here, you still see quite a bit of farmland just some kilometers away from the city, though it's mostly small-scale, family things.

[@octatonicgardenubirajarapi4978]

I'm from Brazil living in Póvoa de Varzim and I think the metro should really be extended to Viana do Castelo, which is beautiful and the last big city on the north of the country.

[@GoncaloFerreira]

Portuguese accent when I heard "VIana do Castelo" on the "Castelo". Cool videos, I subscribed. By the way, a megalopolis can be a good thing because this way we can leave more space for Nature, but we should occupy some interior cities a bit more, but concentrated always, to leave more space for Nature. PS: The "Lisbon Metropolitan Area" already includes Sesimbra, although it is from the Setúbal district.

[@bernardoramos4431]

This 'Megalopolis' has overgrown so much in population that people that already lived in the cities want to move out to some parts of the interior

[@prosandcons-fl2cc]

would love to learn more about Portugal

[@LiiMuRi]

This is a development that I think is actually advantageous. Cities (when managed well) are more efficient living spaces for people, and leaving larger areas of land empty and available for nature would be a great benefit.

[@rui518]

the problem is that those cities are not growing as expected, the Metro and other services does not reach far enough, the housing being built is not enough and prices are rising a lot, even in the belt between Lisbon and Porto. Also the public transportation is expensive, for example I live 100km from Lisbon and 10km from the Main Highway and railroad that connects Lisbon to Porto, I have easy access to both and the rail station near to me has most of the trains to connect, I use it once a week to go to the office in Lisbon, the expense is around 28€, I need to drive to the station, pay for daily park and then the ticket itself. If I used a cheap Diesel Car it would be 34€, Diesel, Tools and Park in Lisbon, an Eletric Car would be less than 20€ and is usually a bit faster, and I work close to one of the major stations that removes the need to take other transports as I just walk the last km to the office. I just did a cost analises and if I had to go daily it would cost 350€ by train and 440€ in an EV or 700€ in a Diesel, the EV would be cheaper being only 310€ if I decided to ignore the first Toll sector, but will add 15 minutes, still in line with the Train however... This just to prove how hard is to live outside the main cities as access to them is always more expensive even using the "cheap" public transport... Disclaimer the 260€ pass is the level two one, the basic is 210€ but does not allow to use faster trains and would make every travel be 1:30h instead of 1:00h.

[@no_more_spamplease5121]

A MUCH better model for quality of life is the Dutch one: lots of small towns very close to each other, without merging.

[@Minu-lv1rk]

The natives of those regions will be sad, seeing their culture and land disappearing. This exodus also causes real estate chaos, housing prices in Portugal are extravagant for the population's salaries.

[@stephanweiskorn6760]

Excellent video 😊!

[@ManuelTavares]

Bom conteúdo, com qualidade e revelando investigação e cuidado. Abraço!

[@wabakoen5548]

Visiting this “megalopolis”, including its second and third largest cities, I can say it’s mostly trees. Trees, decaying empty houses. In Porto, I saw people on the streets but I’m the villages around Porto, I saw empty, decaying houses, trees, empty roads, mountains and did I say trees? Much of this “megalopolis” is less densely populated than the Dutch countryside where I live. Also, did I say already I saw a lot of trees? Yes, trees as far as the eye could see.

[@MassiveChetBakerFan]

You Dutch could use a lot more trees.

[@afonsomartins6311]

tree = bad

[@diogorodrigues747]

Did you leave the highway though? Because, if you leave the highway, it's mostly a contiguous urban area. The highways are made in the middle of the trees because it's where there is space to build them.

[@ncuco]

Aveiro never felt so Metropolitan to me 😁 luckily porto and coimbra are a train ride away

[@ionescuflorin7307]

Who said it needs to be Metropolitan? It is actually a good thing the Praia da Barra/Costa Nova do Prado area has not been gentrified yet

[@flacidunicorn1665]

New viewer here. It's incredible to see this subject being picked up and brought to a wider audience! Also, I'd like to ask if this video was voiced by a Portuguese person?

[@aryanalfa2444]

He's portuguesese for sure, the accent when he speakes the name of the cities it can come only from a native

[@menotme8085]

I'd definitely be interested in more videos on megalopoli

[@ChrisFan890]

Idea: Make a comparison video about Portugal and Brazil.

[@Lukita-yh4kz]

That would be a great video, maybe starting a series of comparing countries to their colonizers

[@weirdquirkyanddifferent]

Thank you for the Portugal video! My family is from inland Portugal and I never relized how lucky I am that they are literate and had they been illiterate I might not be here.

[@0hidetzugu]

You'd be fine, people seem to be able to learn the birds and the bees without reading about it

[@XofHope]

@@0hidetzuguAnd usually, the less learned the more they reproduce!

[@alexandrecortezsiralex5437]

I'M SO HAPPY THAT YOU PRONOUNCED ALL NAMES CORRECTLY. 🤩🤩

[@rwentfordable]

He's Portuguese.

[@shryggur]

Megalopolises are one of the coolest concepts out there. We DEMAND a vid about them!

[@Duck-wc9de]

Me trying to guess where from Portugal he is by listening several times to the words he says in portuguese:

[@Miagrellum]

Did you narrow it down to one district?

[@edgarneto1154]

Pretty neutral accent.

[@OnyHipHopMusic]

@@edgarneto1154 that usually means Lisbon district , altho a lot of northern speakers can emulate lisbon's more neutral tone with ease so its hard to guess

[@jeanjacqueslundi3502]

@@OnyHipHopMusic Lisbon doesn't have a neutral accent. Closest to one would be Coimbra.

[@MVSSENJU]

​@@Miagrellum a bit tough, he doesnt seem to have a very strong regional accent. But Id guess he's from around Lisbon - Santarem 🤔

[@fbrlajes]

Do a video about the Azores

[@murtuzarahman8954]

Hi. Yes please can do a video on the world"s Megalopolies that includes all the Megalopolies and the cities involved in the Megalopolies. Especially in the USA such as Los Angeles/Southern California, the growing Megalopolies in South West Florida around Miami and also all the cities involved in the Megalopolies in Europe showing all of this with maps like you did here. Thank you

[@mariajoaoferrazdeabreu150]

Great video. Congrats.

[@davidsilva5788]

As a Portuguese myself, this is a great and accurate representation of our country. Great job! Although, I am a little bit more skeptical towards the idea that Portugal's costal cities will become anything close to other developed cities in Europe, in the near future. Before that, Portugal has to solve a lot of its social, political and other structural issues, before ever thinking about attaining that status.

[@ZEROZERO-xx3qm]

Portuguese people talking about their country as it was a developing nation and not one of the most developed countries in the world always gets me... Is this some kind of miserabilist fetiish of the portuguese people?

[@alexandrefernandes6084]

@@ZEROZERO-xx3qm Well it really isn't one of the most developed countries in the world... Places 47 in the world in terms of HDI so not quite there yet unfortunately. It is one of the most beautiful countries in the world though! Thats for sure

[@frapiment6239]

@@alexandrefernandes6084 40 in terms o HDI, 27 in term of prosperity, etc.. Yes Portugal is one of the top countries in the World but some Portuguese's have really a miserabilistic fetish that is so stupid.

[@FilipeMiaoumiam]

​@@frapiment6239the matter is still about future development and he's right. For us to grow, we need to be more organized and efficient, and lower the corruption. Although I agree Portuguese tend to see themselves as "coitadinhos", they also don't take any step to change things but rather hope that the people in charge will, while they keep watching football and going to the beach

[@Dragonfury3000]

​@@ZEROZERO-xx3qmif you lived here you would understand.

[@cartier2312]

Portugal 🇵🇹 💕💕💕💕💕💕💕

[@eduardoc6393]

ótimo vídeo!

[@babel_UV]

This was a pretty good video

[@josueveguilla9069]

How Egypt is slowly building a new capital city.

[@mikidias]

Ya! Building a whole new future city based on DEBT 🤑 💲 📈 Lol 😂 🤣 🤭

[@tiagogomes3807]

Buildings a 50's City in the 2020s...

[@NeutralDice]

why not? if the architecture is fine @@tiagogomes3807

[@titus_philemon]

Portugal is literally Brazil lite bc Porto x Lisboa is literally Rio x São Paulo in Brazil lol Even the reason for the sparsely populated interior is the same

[@claudiopereira9900]

Na verdade Brazil é Mega Portugal

[@jorgemtds]

Spot on!

[@manellourenco3323]

Maravilhoso trabalho! És especial :)

[@josueveguilla9069]

Portugal es Amor, Portugal es Vida. Translation Portugal is Love, Portugal is Life.

[@josecipriano3048]

Para el turista, sí. Para el que se tiene que ganar la vida aquí es más una tortura que otra cosa.

[@vi6ddarkking]

I predict that this trend will invert in a decade or so. With the rise of humanoid robots will make the expansion of infrastructure in the interior will become cheaper. And with the increase of remote work the cheaper living expenses in the interior will become more attractive. And that will only accelerate in the 2040s once we begin to transition into a post labors society and single family homes with a nice garden start to become the norm.

[@ionescuflorin7307]

Unfortunately, remote work has been declining since the peak of COVID due to entrepreneurial culture being opposed to letting people work in their homes

[@vi6ddarkking]

@@ionescuflorin7307 Well the proponents of that culture at dying of old age so. It's only a matter of time.

[@Heibe]

In Finland, we have had a similar progression with the Helsinki Metropolitan area having 1,6 million people out of our 5,5 million and connecting three major cities of Helsinki, Espoo and Vantaa. We also have the Tampere urban area having another 350 000 people and growing fast. Most small counties and towns are suffering from deindustrialization as our big industrial companies are no longer investing Finland but outside of Finland, resulting in a growing service sector and blue collar jobs in the big cities. I think this megatrend of urbanization will continue in every developed nation.

[@no_more_spamplease5121]

Which of these 3 cities have a sizable native-Swedish-speaking population?

[@paulozhan]

acho que és o tuga com o canal mais interessante no yt. parabéns pelo excelente trabalho!

[@TheAllMightyGodofCod]

And I hate it. You can't drive anywhere and if you are in the North, it is absolutely boring to drive anywhere because you are always in a residential area.

[@Roosmarijn035]

Not entirely true. If you drive up North from Lanheses, to and through the Serra de Arga, there are quite some parts where hardly anyone lives.

[@TheAllMightyGodofCod]

@@Roosmarijn035 are you seriously saying that my opinion (not a fact... An opinion) is not true? Seriously?

[@afonsomartins6311]

god forbid you need to get somewhere quick. foda se odeio tanto conduzir aqui

[@TheAllMightyGodofCod]

@@afonsomartins6311 I will allow you to drive anywhere you want quickly but I will ask you politely to not use such vulgar language when you reply to my comments. Thanks.

[@Roosmarijn035]

@@TheAllMightyGodofCod not entirely true, I said. You are entitled to your opinion of course. I am just stating my opinion that there are areas where it's not one residential clump of houses.

[@XofHope]

It has always been like this. Our first kings gave the villages in the interior, especially near the border, all sorts and privileges so that people would move there, but even so it was a constant struggle. Given the terrain and climate they simply aren't as able to sustain as much agriculture and therefore as much people as the coast and Alentejo. Even if nowadays that's not as important, with highways making it easy to move goods around, it's unlikely the interior will ever become densely populated. Some policies could lead to a decent growth of cities like Viseu and Guarda, but that's the most of it. And that's not even a problem. There was only 1 million of us in the XVI/XVII centuries when we forged a large empire, now there are over 10 million. We have enough population already.

[@nox5555]

yeah, there was always movement to the coast, but the big difference was that the population was growing everywhere and only those without land would migrate to the cities, leaving a healthy population in the interior...

[@diogorodrigues747]

​@@nox5555 The big difference was that the population was living on abject poverty until very recently and didn't have the money or the skills to move out. Sometimes they didn't even have any possibility to leave, the villages were isolated from the rest of the country and it was complicated to travel. Once people became literated and had the way and the skills to move, they mostly did so because there were no prospects of life getting better in villages that had almost the same stagnant lifestyle for centuries. Piódão, as an example, didn't have any roads connecting it to the rest of the country until the 1960s, but once the village had an easier way for people to leave the parish lost 30% of its population in a few years, as the youth went abroad or to other regions. Right now there are only 16 inhabitants below the age of 25 in a population of 120 people (which is, by the way, 89% less than five decades ago).

[@ricardo1e93]

This is cool because, as a portuguese citizen who travels quite a bit, I don't need to drive that far to be in nature or a secluded village to go camp for example. Let me tell you, there's a lot of places where you can relax and leave the screen for a few days.

[@TheRiot46]

Mais um Grande video. Parabéns

[@jorgeandrade482]

Megalopolis in a country that has 10 million inhabitants? It just can´t happen. Maps can lie. There aren´t many people on these darker areas of the maps, but the area size of the parishes and the country in general is so small that the density increases. The cities are not big, and there are a lot of rural areas between those cities. Besides Lisboa and Porto, there aren´t large metropolitan areas in Portugal... and those are not big either in area or population size. Portugal is not building any megalopolis, in fact, the population of Portugal would be decreasing if it was not by the foreigners.

[@victormpmac]

Que importa se são estranjeiros ou não , isso será o futuro , e e o que vai acontecer , as pessoas cada vez mais fogem para o litoral daqui a 100 anos o interior vai ficar deserto, por exemplo a freguesia onde nasci, á 50 anos tinha 1000 habitantes 200 ou pouco mais.

[@RoamingHeathen]

Megalopolis may be a little excessive lol. A few cities which combined still have fewer people than cities like Luanda, Riyadh or Santiago

[@joaoalves6472]

Thank you for correctly pronnouncing Porto

[@lmwlmw4468]

Excelente video.

[@tomeekun]

TIL we have a green and golden banana megaregion here in Europe lol

[@JosephSolisAlcaydeAlberici]

During the Age of Exploration, Portugal proportionally exported its excess population more than European competitors like Spain or the UK, thus it explains why inland Portugal is so deserted because many of their residents had migrated to Brazil, Angola, and Mozambique.

[@kendricklamote]

The mega city is clearly being created. It will probably take a few years but you can clearly see it. For example, I live in what used to be a small village halfway between Lisbon and Setúbal. 20 years ago it was just some houses and forrest and now it clearly is expanding into a "land bridge" connecting these two cities, just like every other town along the way making them physically connected by residential areas, trains, and highways. This probably happens in the other coastal regions, so I'd say that in like 50 to 80 years that will probably happen.

[@Barthijzz]

Perfect timing! I'm just checking out whether to move to Portugal. Like everyone it seems.

[@oneidea1121]

Why are choosing to emigrate? And if you do make sure to respect the culture and the people

[@Barthijzz]

@@oneidea1121 Oh definitely! I am Dutch and I live in Romania now. I love to explore cultures and to learn by talking to people. The reason to emigrate is embedded in my characater I guess. When I was three I already asked my mom to make some sandwiches for me so I could go and explore the world haha.

[@oneidea1121]

@@Barthijzz that’s a good mindset, best of luck to you💪🏻

[@Barthijzz]

@@oneidea1121 obrigado!

[@OFFROADOVERDRIVE]

No "Portugal Caralho" comment , seems odd

[@TopDrawer_Art]

It's old hat at this point, c'mon.

[@pedromenchik1961]

Surprised you didn’t mention the Rio-São Paulo megalopolis in your examples. It has over 40million inhabitants

[@wuiss__._]

Porque este video tem foco na europa

[@pedromenchik1961]

Mas ele mencionou exemplos no Japão e China

[@eclips_total2215]

deve ser por as do japão e china serem mais famosas globalmente@@pedromenchik1961

[@Rockadela_]

@@pedromenchik1961preferiu não falar de macacos

[@bigtuga4ever]

Finally somebody bringing this up! I'm pretty sure that if this trend continues then we will surely see the rise of this yet hypothetical megalopolis, from coruña to lisbon. Some high speed rail system would definitely improve connectivity and lessen the hardships of living in suburbia

[@joaomonteiro7063]

Railways by 2060 🤘

[@BrunoRibeiro-po2bv]

Setúbal mentioned!

[@BrunoRibeiro-po2bv]

@@guilhermevenancio1585 tas aqui cá do quê miga!

[@jpomsa]

Muito amor ao teu projeto!!! ❤❤ Espero que consigas um patrocínio melhor que “Betterhelp”. Keep it up! 🎉

[@Wawa-mv7ho]

Are you portuguese you sound like a native!

[@module79l28]

Yes he is.

[@BleakBeek]

Nice video, good content and very well edited. Im sorry i just found out bow about your channel, subbing and liked for a fellow country man.

[@Oleksa-Derevianchenko]

That's interesting. Once again, geography and urbanisation trends explain a lot. P.S. I didn't know about the Green Banana of Europe. Time to update my knowledge, I guess.

[@diogorodrigues747]

01:16 Here you made a mistake. The southern coast of Algarve is very densely populated, and you as a Portuguese (like me) clearly know why it is like that. 04:12 No, it doesn't. There is literally a continuous half urban area from Porto into Galicia because of the river Minho valley. Cities like Valença are literally in the area of influence of the Vigo Metropolitan Area, from which the town of Salvaterra de Miño, next to Monção, is a part of it. It's not very different from what it happens between Lisbon and Porto, where there is also an half urban continuous area. 04:30 Faro is literally on the coast, dude. It even has a small commercial port. 07:07 Those maps are highly outdated. Couldn't you literally get newer maps? 07:19 No, there aren't smaller railway circuits. Those ARE technically all the railways existing in the country for the time when the map was made (very likely from 2021, as it still shows the Beira Baixa line unfinished for example, and no international railway connections). I'm quite amazed that you're Portuguese and you don't even know that CP is still in practice a state monopoly of railways in 99% of Portugal. 09:54 I don't think the biggest problem was the illiteracy rate, Salazar actually managed to get down pretty well the illiteracy rate over time. It was still high but it was way lower than in the 1st Portuguese Republic. The problem was that Salazar didn't really invest in higher education, he didn't have any interest in doing so. This level of uneducated people but with the capacity to read was great for the regime and it was the thing that managed to keep it afloat for so long. The policy of education to the minimum is still something that affects Portuguese people until today. 11:05 Brazil isn't an African nation, it's an American one. 11:23 None of this has solved the problem? You're literally showing images related to futurology, taken directly from the National Railway Plan of Portugal. Of course they haven't solved the problem, they aren't even built. LOL

[@amarco.m]

@diogorodrigues747 chaval get a life! A sério que te deste ao trabalho de estar a fazer minuciosos reparos? Que tal fazer algum serviço público que realmente importe como o bacano do vídeo faz?

[@mickimicki]

Have a drink every time you wrote "literally". 😂

[@diogorodrigues747]

@@mickimicki It's the effect of being native in Portuguese, thinking in Portuguese and being tired... LOL

[@basstrumbo]

Why are you shilling for Better help?

[@Bres0n]

Bro you have such a good pronunciation of the names :0

[@module79l28]

He's portuguese, that's why. 😉

[@quaziz]

Is it possible to get ones hands on those maps somehow? 😊 Great video btw!

[@General.Knowledge]

I think so! I found all of them online on free access

[@peko3050]

For the people outside of Portugal 03:48, Leiria is NOT a city nor a place at all. It literally does not exist and it is a very well known portuguese inside joke, but it's gotten to a point where foreign people actually believe that "Leiria" is an actualy place or city in Portugal. It's always funny to me, but I think it can confuse people who are outside of the joke lmao. Other than that, great video!

[@dickielarue1451]

Is there a University there? A Castle? UNESCO-listed monastery? A football club...União de Leiria?...A stadium...Estádio Dr. Magalhães Pessoa ? 🤡😉👌

[@peko3050]

@@dickielarue1451 Ahahaha yes! and there's also a mall called "LeiriaShopping" 🤭😉 ehehe

[@dickielarue1451]

@@peko3050 Greetings from Estoril...I remember my first visit to the Imgaginary city of Leiria...There was a festival called, Extramuralhas...People dressed in black walked along the Rio Lis...🇵🇹🤘🎸🥁🎤🤣

[@timbraz_]

No one talking about the fact that he pronounces the names of portuguese cities in a perfect portuguese accent

[@ohdude6643]

He's Portuguese

[@adriii_021]

I mean it would be weird if he didn’t

[@bluebottlecoffeeaddict6529]

Only native speakers would know anyway

[@mrreziik]

Ele é português, chefe

[@TopDrawer_Art]

I'll probably sound like a total dumdum, but here's some moves the government could do to mediate this situation in the future: -Connect Aveiro to Salamanca/Madrid with the high speed railway line, turning Guarda and the Beira Interior regions into a major exports and transportation hub between Portugal and Spain, taking advantage of its old industrial past (old infrastructures could be repurposed) and opening more oportunities for the cities around that region with the help of local companies, universities (UBI, IPCB), the works. -Instead of wasting time and resources with a brand new Lisbon airport, take advantage of the recently built Beja airport and connect it to Lisbon via high speed railway line, making it more purposeful and accesible for travellers. This way, it could take over most of the heavy duty flights, while the old Lisbon airport could be repurposed for smaller-scale flights. This way, Beja and Évora could thrive and have more opportunities in the future as well. Again, just my two cents. Great vid as always!

[@lokelosk]

One additional info about the push of the population from Porto/Lisbon into the suburbs or neighboring cities: a lot of real state was turned (or is being turned) into short term rentals for vacations, like Airbnb. In some neighborhoods on both cities, more than 20% of the available real state is only available for short term stays. This makes it a lot harder to find affordable housing and puts pressure on the market, making people move away from the urbanized areas because they are not able to pay rent, but still have to be close enough due to their jobs.

[@solgerWhyIsThereAnAtItLooksBad]

Betterhelp…

[@rexx9496]

Blows my mind that there are only 10 million people in all of Portugal. In the US there are 330 million.

[@anotherthez7598]

WTF was that?? LOL

[@frapiment6239]

All European countries have low population compared to US. But stranger than Portugal or Ireland with 8Million its Australia with only 25!

[@FilipeMiaoumiam]

Dude, you can compare one country with one state only. Otherwise it doesn't make any sense

[@santostv.]

Man! If you want to do those shit “math” do usa population vs eu or Europe population, Usa population:331 million Eu population 448 million Europe population 746 million Imagine eu country been us states is better for your usa brain.

[@santostv.]

Out of 27 only 8 eu countries have more than 11 million people.

[@Gioinsel]

Your pronunciation is great! 🫡

[@black0ut02]

Your pronounciation is amazing!

[@bababababababa6124]

Mozambique, Angola, Brazil and Cape Verde will help populate this new metropolis don’t worry guys 🇲🇿🇦🇴🇧🇷🇨🇻

[@puraLusa]

And all are welcomed.

[@lxportugal9343]

No. It will be São Tomé e Príncipe

[@bababababababa6124]

@@lxportugal9343 my country is basically right next to them and I still have yet to meet one of them lol

[@FilipeMiaoumiam]

​@@puraLusanot all. Good people who come to live in peace only. We don't need criminals, and believe me many of those are coming in as they want

[@puraLusa]

@@FilipeMiaoumiam there are criminals everywhere. Most migrants from the portuguese speaking countries are cool people and adapt fast anywhere in the world.