"Stephen Osborn" wrote in message
...

De facto a continuous built up area is a single
_something_, the only question is what. The
phrase Metropolitan Area is used because these
somethings are relatively new and contain a
number of things already called cities.

Metropolis means *capital* city...

--
John Rowland - Spamtrapped
Transport Plans for the London Area, updated 2001
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acro...69/tpftla.html
A man's vehicle is a symbol of his manhood.
That's why my vehicle's the Piccadilly Line -
It's the size of a county and it comes every two and a half minutes

John Rowland wrote:

Metropolis means *capital* city...

At least that's one of the definitions of the word.
--
Michael Hoffman

In article , John Rowland
wrote:
"Stephen Osborn" wrote in message
...

De facto a continuous built up area is a single
_something_, the only question is what. The
phrase Metropolitan Area is used because these
somethings are relatively new and contain a
number of things already called cities.

Metropolis means *capital* city...

Does it?

In an act of great smallness Mrs Thatcher abolished the GLC, just to unseat
Ken Livingstone, and all the other "metropolitan" counties of England too,
to make it seem less obvious. The London metropolitan county was restored but
not the others. Tyne and Wear, Mersey, etc ... these are just strings of
villages in the eyes of London, they can't be given the status of
"metropolitan" and so the two meanings of "metropolitan" were used
to the advantage of London and the disadvantage of the rest of the
country. Not for the first time!


Michael Bell

--