"Mega cities have large populations and significant influence on developments in the region. They include Cairo, Istanbul, Riyadh, Baghdad and Tehran. While the level of regulatory development varies among these cities, their scale increases their influence in the region. Some have a competitive advantage in their well-developed infrastructure, others in their culture, environment or status as capital city, and therefore political centre of a large country. These cities are major urban population centres, accounting for 14% of the Middle East population." -- from The 3 TYpes of City Shaping the Middle East (World Economic Forum, 2015)
