Conurbation:
a city area containing a large number of people, formed by various towns growing and joining together:
the conurbations of Tokyo and Osaka
[Cambridge Dictionary]
Noted in the NewScientist Feedback column (1 June 2019):
Cases of measles continue to soar in the US, following a record dip in the number of vaccinated children that has left millions unprotected against the potentially deadly disease. If Stickland’s opinions are at all representative of his constituents, subscribers to the post-Enlightenment order may wish to steer clear of this part of the Dallas-Fort Worth conurbation. Ignorant paranoia looks to be contagious, and as the Houston Chronicle put it in a recent cartoon, there’s no vaccine for that.
