Dictionary

gigacity en · NOUN

Etymology

Etymology tree Ancient Greek Γίγας (Gígas) Ancient Greek γίγας (gígas)der. English giga- Proto-Indo-European *ḱey-der. Proto-Italic *keiwis Latin ceivis Proto-Indo-European *-teh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-ts Proto-Indo-European *-teh₂ts Proto-Italic *-tāts Latin -tās Latin ceivitās Late Latin cīvitātem (city) Old French citetbor. Middle English cite English city English gigacity From giga- + city, after megacity.

Meanings

1. A city even larger in scale than a megacity.
   • He argues that we have been entering, over the last two or three decades, a new phase of urban history with the emergence of the gigacity, a new, distinctive form of networked city differing from its nineteenth-century ancestor by its unprecedented size (population), its vertical extension above and below ground, its network density and its blurring of city boundaries made possible by new fast transportation and broadband telecommunications systems. 2005, “Network Systems Revisited: The Confounding Nature of Universal Systems”, in Olivier Coutard, Richard Eugene Hanley, Rae Zimmerman, editors, Sustaining Urban Networks: The Social Diffusion of Large Technical Systems, Psychology Press, →ISBN, Introduction, page 3:
   • To me it is clear that these gigacities are not prospering partly because of governance issues and partly because of disparities created in the host country by accommodating one megacity within its infrastructure. 2001, Kenichi Ohmae, “How to Invite Prosperity from the Global Economy Into a Region”, in Allen J. Scott, editor, Global City-Regions : Trends, Theory, Policy, Oxford: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 33:
   • Inhabitants of modern megalopolises and gigacities take for granted the built environment with its complex mix of buildings, public equipment, technical networks, and mechanical devices. 2001, Dominique Lorrain, “Gig@city: The Rise of Technological Networks in Daily Life”, in Journal of Urban Technology, volume 8, number 3, →DOI, →ISSN, pages 1–20:
   • Sinnerman tracked that brumby truck from the dump and we roaded west, follerin it on the scanner, rollin thru forest an trees then out past the dyin farms an the old grain silos which now the food come from unnerneath the gigacities. 2006, Andrew Macrae, “Truckdreamin”, in Cat Sparks, editor, Agog! Ripping Reads, Wollongong: Agog Press, →ISBN, page 58:

Forms