Еxpert Parag Khanna: "Megacities will shape the global economy"
Humanity is experiencing another phase of globalisation, which is affecting migration and the growing population density of cities. This was stated by global strategist, bestselling author and cosmopolitan, founder and Chief Executive Officer of AlphaGeo, Dr Parag Khanna, speaking at the January Expert Dialogues at the National Centre RUSSIA.
"Today, the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office of Russia, Maxim Oreshkin, spoke about how we are entering a new era. He shared interesting data related to developing countries, particularly the Global South, which is now gaining increasing weight in the global system compared to the traditional players that previously dominated the globalisation process," Parag Khanna noted.
Scientific and technological breakthroughs are among the drivers of globalisation, the expert believes. It cannot be stopped or fully controlled, as history itself demonstrates. The emergence and development of the Great Silk Road, maritime travel and colonial expansion, the Industrial Revolution, the advent of space satellites, the internet, and other milestones all represent successive phases of globalisation. Today, more than eight billion people live on the planet, and, as the speaker noted, around 70% of them live in major cities in Asia. Rapid urbanisation is linked to the search for good jobs and the desire to improve quality of life.
"We will see the formation of clusters of large cities. We may be talking about around 40 megacities that together will shape the global economy. We live in a world of 200 sovereign states. But no empire can survive without strong urban anchors. Cairo and Istanbul have been inhabited for thousands of years. It is therefore no surprise that today we have reached a point where almost everyone lives in a city," said Dr Parag Khanna.
Major cities interact with one another, forming trade and transport links. The key question now is which of them will determine the future and which factors will influence this process, Parag Khanna added.
The lead speaker at the January Expert Dialogues of the Open Dialogue "The Future of the World. A New Platform for Global Growth" was the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office of Russia, Maxim Oreshkin. He presented five megatrends that define the trajectory of global development in the coming decade: sovereignty as a factor of economic development, platforms and a new level of automation, digital currencies as the core of the transformation of the financial architecture, global demographic imbalance, and the transformation of the human being in a new technological era.
The January Expert Dialogues were initiated by the National Centre RUSSIA in partnership with the Centre for Cross-Industry Expertise "Third Rome", with the support of the Presidential Executive Office of Russia.
The Open Dialogue "The Future of the World. A New Platform for Global Growth" was held for the first time in April 2025 at the National Centre RUSSIA and brought together more than 3,000 experts from dozens of countries around the world. By decision of the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, the Open Dialogue will be held annually.
Event photobank
More than 1,500 essays from 100 countries have been submitted as part of the preparations for the second Open Dialogue.
The 200th birth anniversary of the classic of Russian literature, Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin, is an excellent occasion to rediscover his work.
The world is entering a completely new and uncharted demographic era.
