Why megacities?
Letter to the Editor of the Montreal Gazette.
The various arguments that have been made in favour of merging smaller municipalities into megacities have been demolished, one by one, as these undemocratically created monstrosities (monstrocities?) have failed to produce promised reductions in costs. It seems that the only remaining rationale for megacities is the increase in opportunities for graft, corruption, and labour featherbedding, as additional layers of bureaucracy effectively hide the actions of both elected and appointed officials from scrutiny by taxpayers.
The only conclusion I can come to, therefore, is that those individuals who continue to promote megacities (and it seems to be largely megacity mayors, business leaders, and unions) are either hoping to benefit from potential graft and corruption, or are incredibly naive. In either case, they are unlikely to serve taxpayers well.