The Piedmont Atlantic megaregion, or Southeast Megalopolis, is a neologism created by the Regional Plan Association for an area of the Southeastern United States that contains parts of the states of Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina, and North Carolina. The region includes the Atlanta, Birmingham, Charlotte, Nashville, Raleigh–Durham, Greenville–Spartanburg and Greensboro–Winston-Salem metropolitan areas. The megaregion generally follows the Interstate 85/20 corridor. According to Georgia Tech, the Piedmont Atlantic represents over 12 percent of the total United States population and covers over of land.
The Piedmont Atlantic megaregion is just one emergent megalopolis (also known as a megaregion) of eleven such regions in the continental United States. Half of the nation's population growth and two-thirds of its economic growth are expected to occur within those regions over the next four decades.
Region
Studies by Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech identify the 85/20 corridor in the Southeastern United States area as an "emergent" megalopolis including the primary cities of Atlanta, Birmingham, Greenville, Spartanburg, Charlotte, Winston-Salem, Greensboro, Durham, and Raleigh with Atlanta being the largest metropolitan area and Charlotte being the largest city. Both studies refer to the area as the Piedmont megalopolis.
The Georgia Tech survey defines the region narrowly, focusing on the urban and suburban counties between Birmingham and Raleigh, and the rural counties that explicitly link those urban and suburban counties.
The Virginia Tech study proposes a broader definition, which would also include Columbus, Macon, Huntsville, Augusta, Columbia, Knoxville, Chattanooga, the Tri-Cities, Asheville and a number of smaller cities. The western extent of this definition is deeply disconnected from the remainder of the region by the Appalachian Mountains range, and is economically not well-integrated into the greater region. Other locales mentioned in the Virginia Tech study remain disconnected from the region's core, separated by dozens of miles of deeply rural areas.
Both reports highlight the "emergent" nature of this possible megalopolis, noting comparatively low urban densities, but also noting a pattern in growth (in the individual, component urban areas) towards each other. , this region (as defined in the Virginia Tech study) has a population of 19 million.
The Piedmont Atlantic central Metropolitan Areas are located on the southern Piedmont region which gives the megaregion its name. The Piedmont is located between the Appalachian Mountains and the Atlantic coastal plain. The surface relief of the Piedmont is characterized by relatively low, rolling hills with heights above sea level between 200 feet (50 m) and 800 feet to (rarely) 1,000 feet (250 m to 300 m).
The region has a diverse economy ranging in many different industries. Henry W. Grady of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution coined the term New South to describe the American South, in whole or in part. The term "New South" is used in contrast to the Old South's plantation system of the antebellum period, to a new Industrial region. Since then Atlanta has grown from a small railway town into a major business, convention and transportation hub. Atlanta is now considered an "Alpha-World City" according to GaWC 2010 at Loughborough University by the Globalization and World Cities Study Group & Network. Charlotte in the Piedmont Crescent has grown to become a major U.S. financial center, and the nation's 2nd largest financial center. Birmingham boomed after the Civil War as a major industrial center in the Southern United States, the city's economy has diversified into banking, insurance, medicine, publishing, and biotechnology. The region of Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill is known as the Research Triangle, named for the Research Triangle Park, which is the largest research park in the United States and one of its most prominent high-tech research and development centers. Huntsville is known for its large NASA presence and for its large aerospace industry as well as the Cummings Research Park, which is the second largest research park in the United States. Huntsville also is home to several factories for foreign automakers such as Mazda and Toyota and the headquarters of several small tech companies such as Adtran. Upstate South Carolina, a region including Greenville, Spartanburg and Anderson has been given foreign investment and has become the fastest growing region in the U.S. state of South Carolina.
Population
Combined statistical areas (CSAs) within the Piedmont Atlantic megalopolisExcerpted from List of primary statistical areas of the United States Rank Combined statistical area Anchor city(s) State(s) Population (2024) 1 Atlanta–Athens-Clarke County–Sandy Springs Atlanta GA, AL 7,340,522 2 Charlotte–Concord–Gastonia Charlotte NC / SC 3,471,190 3 Raleigh–Durham–Chapel Hill Raleigh, Durham NC 2,439,501 4 Nashville-Davidson–Murfreesboro Nashville TN 2,402,290 5 Greensboro–Winston-Salem–High Point Greensboro and Winston-Salem NC 1,760,496 6 Greenville–Spartanburg–Anderson Greenville SC 1,627,507 7 Memphis–Forrest City Memphis TN / MS / AR 1,381,272 8 Birmingham–Hoover–Talladega Birmingham AL 1,376,853 9 Knoxville–Morristown–Sevierville Knoxville TN 1,222,320 10 Columbia–Orangeburg–Newberry Columbia SC 1,097,300 11 Chattanooga–Cleveland–Dalton Chattanooga TN / GA / AL 1,016,333 12 Huntsville–Decatur–Albertville Huntsville AL 913,977 13 Charleston-North Charleston Charleston SC 869,940 14 Fayetteville–Lumberton–Laurinburg Fayetteville NC 696,74115 Augusta-Richmond County-Martinez Augusta GA 636,670 16 Johnson City–Kingsport–Bristol Johnson City, Kingsport TN / VA 602,222 17 Columbus–Auburn–Opelika Columbus, Auburn GA / AL 571,048 18 Asheville–Brevard Asheville NC 519,48419Macon-Warner Robins-Fort ValleyMacon, Warner RobinsGA441,72720Rocky Mount-Wilson-Roanoke RapidsRocky Mount, WilsonNC290,66421Tuscaloosa-NorthportTuscaloosaAL281,96322FlorenceFlorenceSC200,47423Florence-Muscle Shoals-RussellvilleFlorenceAL188,16124Jackson metropolitan area, TennesseeJacksonTN183,68025Tupelo-CorinthTupeloMS132,69926Starkville-ColumbusStarkvilleMS129,039 Total 31,431,053
Transportation Interstate I-85, I-20 and I-40 are the main corridors, and the major Interstates which are intersected are the I-59, I-95, I-73, I-74, I-77, I-26, I-75 and I-65. The gateway cities of Savannah, Charleston, and Wilmington all serve as seaports for the Piedmont Atlantic Region. Within the Piedmont Atlantic megaregion there are six international airports, nine when including those located in the aforementioned gateway cities.
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport is the busiest airport in the region and in the world. Charlotte/Douglas International Airport is the second busiest airport in the region and the 17th busiest airport in the world. In addition to Charlotte and Atlanta, other airports in the region with direct, non-stop airline service outside North America include: Raleigh-Durham International Airport, Charleston International Airport, and Nashville International Airport. Other major airports in the region include: Piedmont Triad International Airport, Asheville Regional Airport, Wilmington International Airport, Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport, Huntsville International Airport, Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport, Myrtle Beach International Airport, Columbia Metropolitan Airport, Hilton Head Airport, McGhee Tyson Airport, and Memphis International Airport, which is the world's busiest airport by most cargo traffic by weight annually.
Megaregion as a unit The Piedmont Atlantic is the fastest growing megaregion in the United States. The megaregion is facing challenges with its growing population, increased traffic congestion, and inadequate infrastructure. Mayors, businesses, and academic professionals have organized the Piedmont Alliance for Quality Growth to help address these problems with sustainable solutions. With the goal of focusing on the growth of the megaregion, they have called for less competition between cities and metropolitan areas in the same region, and a stronger and more cohesive ability to work together to compete on the global scale. The major issues facing the Piedmont Atlantic megaregion include conflicts over shared natural resources such as water and problems of transportation infrastructure such as upkeep of roads and railways linking cities. Many of the issues cities or metropolitan areas face cannot be solved by action on a local scale. A megaregion as a unit working together is an advantage in economics and quality of life within the region.
Culture The culture of the Piedmont Atlantic megaregion is a subset of the culture of the greater Southern United States. It is mainly a combination of the cultures of Georgia and North Carolina, as these two states have the greatest populations by far of the five states that make up the region, and contain most of the region's major cities.
Sports
Professional sports teams in the region include: Atlanta Braves (Major League Baseball) Atlanta Dream (Women's National Basketball Association) Atlanta Falcons (National Football League) Atlanta Hawks (National Basketball Association) Atlanta United FC (Major League Soccer) Birmingham Barons (Minor League Baseball) Charlotte FC (Major League Soccer) Carolina Hurricanes (National Hockey League) Carolina Panthers (National Football League) Charlotte Hornets (National Basketball Association) Charlotte Knights (Minor League Baseball) Durham Bulls (Minor League Baseball) Gwinnett Stripers (Minor League Baseball) Memphis Grizzlies (National Basketball Association) Nashville Predators (National Hockey League) Nashville Sounds (Minor League Baseball) North Carolina Courage (National Women's Soccer League) Rocket City Trash Pandas (Minor League Baseball) Tennessee Titans (National Football League)
College athletics teams in the so-called Power Four conferences include: Alabama Crimson Tide (Southeastern Conference) Auburn Tigers (Southeastern Conference) Clemson Tigers (Atlantic Coast Conference) Duke Blue Devils (Atlantic Coast Conference) Georgia Bulldogs (Southeastern Conference) Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (Atlantic Coast Conference) NC State Wolfpack (Atlantic Coast Conference) North Carolina Tar Heels (Atlantic Coast Conference) South Carolina Gamecocks (Southeastern Conference) Tennessee Volunteers (Southeastern Conference) Vanderbilt Commodores (Southeastern Conference) Wake Forest Demon Deacons (Atlantic Coast Conference)
Notable sports competitions include: 1996 Summer Olympics 2022 World Games Barbasol Championship Masters Tournament St. Jude Classic The Tradition Wells Fargo Championship Wyndham Championship U.S. National Indoor Tennis Championships
Notable motorsport racetracks include: Atlanta Motor Speedway Barber Motorsports Park Bristol Motor Speedway Charlotte Motor Speedway Darlington Raceway Nashville Superspeedway North Wilkesboro Speedway Road Atlanta Talladega Superspeedway
Attractions Charlotte hosts the NASCAR Hall of Fame, Charlotte Motor Speedway, Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden, Discovery Place, Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, Uptown Mint Museum, Carowinds Amusement Park, Bank of America Headquarters, U.S. National Whitewater Center, and the Billy Graham Library. The nearby North Carolina Zoological Park is located in Asheboro in Randolph County, North Carolina in the Uwharrie Mountains and Uwharrie National Forest. At over 500 acres (200 ha), it is the largest walk-through zoo in the world. Crowders Mountain State Park in Gastonia provides hiking and rock climbing opportunities.