Mega-City One is as much a character in Judge Dredd comics as the titular iron-jawed street judge. Unimaginably vast, the city covers the entire eastern seaboard of the United States, stretching from the northernmost part of America (including parts of Canada) to the southernmost tip of the Florida peninsula. The megalopolis is also densely populated, serving as home to hundreds of millions of people.
The sprawling supercity made its first appearance in the Judge Dredd universe in the late 1970s via comic stories by John Wagner and Carlos Ezquerra published in 2000 AD. Since its introduction, Mega-City One would see its massive population take hit after serious hit. Various wars and pestilence over the decades would significantly reduce the number of people living in the city.
Mega-City One’s Origins and Early Years
Judge Dredd’s city started as an extended urban area stretching from Washington, D.C. to the Big Apple in the late 2020s. It was intended as a metropolitan area that connects the nation’s capital to New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and other East Coast states, providing housing and work for those living in and around the region. Its population would balloon in the next few years, laying the foundation of what would become the first American mega-city. It would quickly expand in size to accommodate the unstoppable growth of its population, enveloping Massachusetts (and beyond) in the north, Florida in the south, and parts of Ohio in the west.
In 2070, the global Atomic War transforms the majority of the United States into radioactive wasteland. Mega-City One survives the nuclear war because of its experimental laser shield technology. But it soon finds itself attracting millions of refugees from less fortunate American cities. The situation forces the city to resort to building towering apartment blocks that can house more than 50,000 people. Block construction over the next 30 years causes Mega-City One’s population to reach 800 million by the start of the 22nd century. By the mid-2100s, however, that number would be reduced to half its size.
Mega-City One’s Population Plummets in the 22nd Century
Due to the high crime rate within Mega-City One, death is almost like a daily occurrence for its citizens. Going into the 22nd century, however, the already hardened population would be further traumatized. In 2104, several block wars would erupt across the megalopolis, resulting in major casualties. But that is actually just a diversion manufactured by the Soviet Judges of East-Meg One in Russia to launch a nuclear attack on the southern sectors of Dredd’s home turf, taking 150 million lives. The ensuing radioactive fallout, nuclear winter, and starvation of this event (dubbed the Apocalypse War) would further inflict a massive death count.
Judge Dredd would later put an end to the war by giving East-Meg One and its no-good Soviet Judges a taste of their own medicine. But the Apocalypse War causes Mega-City One’s population to drop from 800 million to 400 million. Barely just rebuilding after a nuke attack, the city would again face another adversity in the early 2110s thanks to evil witches who turn Mega-City One into a Necropolis ruled by undead judges favoring slaughter over street justice. With Dredd retired (and later becoming amnesiac), the corrupt Justice System would lead to 60 million deaths by 2112.
Mega-City One’s Population Falls Even Further Before Recuperating
In 2126, terrorists get their hands on a dozen nuclear weapons and set them off around Mega-City One, instantly killing 4 million. Still reeling after yet another nuclear bombing, the city would be beset just a year later by the Half-Life epidemic, a psychic disease that turns people into murderers, taking another million lives. But these events pale in comparison to 2134’s Day of Chaos, wherein a biological WMD wipes out nearly 90 percent of Mega-City One’s population. From 400 million inhabitants three decades before, that number drops to about 40 million by the mid-2130s.
Still, those major events don’t keep the megalopolis down for long. By the start of the 2140s, Mega-City One would see its population recover relatively quickly to breach the 100 million mark, taking into account the constant influx of immigrants after the events of the Day of Chaos. By the year 2145, the population estimate is around 130 million. But if Mega-City One’s history in Judge Dredd teaches anything, that number will likely take another major hit soon.
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