PIEDMONT ATLANTIC MEGAREGION |
The Piedmont Atlantic MegaRegion (PAM) is composed of core metropolitan areas, including Birmingham, Atlanta, Charlotte, and Raleigh-Durham. The core is characterized by the greatest density of people and highest intensity of travel and economic interaction. PAM also contains numerous major cities; many of them are important government, academic, and business centers. There are also several gateway cities, including the sea port cities of Charleston, Savannah, Jacksonville, and Mobile; and major rail and airport cities, like Nashville and Atlanta. These gateway cities provide important domestic and international links that facilitate the flow of goods, people, information, and culture. All of the cities are connected not only to each other, but also to the numerous small cities and large swaths of rural and undeveloped land that surround them.
As of 2000, almost 34 million people lived in the Piedmont Atlantic MegaRegion.
Of these 34 million, approximately 40 percent, or 13.3
million people, lived in the urban core, and 60 percent, or 20.6 million,
lived in the remainder of the MegaRegion. Combined, PAM represents
over 12 percent of the total United States population and covers over
243,000 square miles of land, which is almost seven percent of the
total land area of the United States.
PAM hosts more than 15 million jobs. Employment in PAM is driven by
seven primary industries, including construction, manufacturing,
retail trade, real estate and rental and leasing, administrative and
waste services, other services, and government and government
enterprise. PAM’s gross regional product is approximately $1.1 trillion.
This figure represents just over 10 percent of the nation’s GDP.
PAM SUMMARY [PDF]
PAM PRESENTATION [PDF]
