This paper is an assignment which is belong to the master course of Urban development and planning of Vietnamese German university. This paper analysis the collected information of Shanghai - a global city, especially emphases these economic and transportation factors. By doing this, the role of Shanghai in the national economy and world economy will be clearly shown out. It helps to understand why shanghai is a global city. Its could be the lesson learned for Hochiminh city in the progress to become a global city.

1. Vietnamese German University
Urban Development and Planning
----***----
Shanghai global city.
Focus in Transportation and Economic factors.
Advisor: Prof. K.Kluegel
Student: Nguyen Dinh Khoa
Tag: Urbanization, global city, world city, Transportation, Regional planning, shanghai city, Asian
city, megacity.
Hochiminh city, Dec 25th 2011

2. Shanghai – A global city |
Contents
Abstracts ............................................................................................................................................... 3
I. Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 3
II. Shanghai’s Characteristics. ....................................................................................................... 3
a. Demographic .............................................................................................................................. 3
b. Economic Characteristics .......................................................................................................... 4
c. Transportation. .......................................................................................................................... 6
III. Shanghai’s planning. ................................................................................................................. 7
IV. Shanghai Global city. ................................................................................................................ 8
V. Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................... 9
References........................................................................................................................................... 11
Tables and figures .............................................................................................................................. 13
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3. Shanghai – A global city |
Abstracts
This paper analysis the collected information of Shanghai - a global city, especially emphases these
economic and transportation factors. By doing this, the role of Shanghai in the national economy and
world economy will be clearly shown out. It helps to understand why shanghai is a global city. Its could
be the lesson learned for Hochiminh city in the progress to become a global city.
This paper is an assignment which is belong to the master course of Urban development and planning
of Vietnamese German university.
I. Introduction
Shanghai is one of the world's great cities. It is located on the East China coast just to the south of the
mouth of the Yangtze River, at the junction of the east coastal economic belt and the Yangtze River
Basin economic belt. It has jurisdiction over 18 districts and one Island County, with a total area of
6,340.5 sq.km, including 523 sq.km for Pudong New Area.
Today, Shanghai is the largest economic and transportation center in China. Now, the city is striving to
turn itself into one of the economic, financial, trade and transportation centers in the world. It also aims
to lead the country in building a well-off society and in achieving the initial modernization. Now
tremendous achievements have been made in economic construction.
Shanghai is a city that not only successful in economic development. But also has accomplished the
goal of satisfying the basic living needs for its residents and is leading the way to improve their living
standards.
II. Shanghai’s Characteristics.
a. Demographic
The 2010 census put Shanghai's total population at 23,019,148, a growth of 37.53% from 16,737,734
in 2000. 20.6 million Of the total population, or 89.3%, are urban, and 2.5 million (10.7％) are rural.1
1
Shanghai, the sixth national census in 2010 Communiqué on Major Data. At 05:53 on May 3rd, 2011.Source: Liberation Daily
Magazine.
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4. Shanghai – A global city |
Based on population of total administrative area, Shanghai is the second largest of the four direct-
controlled municipalities of China, behind Chongqing, but is generally considered the largest city in
China because Chongqing's urban population is much smaller.
A leader in fashion, business and commerce, as the city with the densest population in the world's
most populous country, with an overall population density of more than 2,800 people per square
kilometer, compared with 900 in Beijing and fewer than 400 in Chongqing, Shanghai's central Huangpu
district has a whopping 126,500 people per square kilometer; giving each person less than 8 square
meters. 2
b. Economic Characteristics
Today, Shanghai’s GDP is twenty times that of 20 years ago. Across the Huangpu River from old
Shanghai, Pudong is a developmental miracle. The rebuilt Pudong has become a world center of finance
and trade, a massive economic bridge linking China with all nations where some of the most modern
skyscrapers in the world dwarf older, smaller building.3
In the last two decades Shanghai has been one of the fastest developing cities in the world. Since 1992
Shanghai has recorded double-digit growth almost every year except during the global recession of 2008
and 2009. 4 In 2010, Shanghai's total GDP grew to 1.687 trillion RMB (US$256.3 billion) with GDP per
capita of 76,000 RMB ($11,540).5
Insert: Table 1: Shanghai GDP's Growth rate (2001 - 2010) at page 15
Shanghai is ranked top in terms of comprehensive economic competitiveness among all China's
provinces and municipalities, according to a survey released by the Chinese Academy of Social
Sciences.6
2
Urbanites head for new life in suburbs - By Mark South (China Daily). http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2006-
07/03/content_631193.htm. Retrieved December 24, 2011.
3
http://chiefexecutive.net/shanghai-world-city. Retrieved December 24, 2011.
4
Shanghai statistic. http://www.stats-sh.gov.cn/tjnj/nje11.htm?d1=2011tjnje/E0109.htm. Retrieved December 24, 2011.
5
"Shanghai GDP rises 9.9% last year, beating target". Shanghai Daily. 2011-1-25 .
http://www.shanghaidaily.com/sp/article/2011/201101/20110125/article_462395.htm. Retrieved December 24, 2011.
6
“Shanghai ranks first in economic competitiveness”. 16:23, March 01, 2011.
http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90778/90862/7304666.html. Retrieved December 24, 2011.
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5. Shanghai – A global city |
In addition, Shanghai's economic growth rate lagged the pace of the national average, which stood at
10.3 percent in 2010, for the third consecutive year.
The development of Shanghai city benefits from its unique position at the mouth of the Yangtze,
making it a major platform for global commerce. The origin of the wealth of the city, in the 20s and 30s
the economic capital of Asia, the Shanghai port remains a major asset: In 2010, Shanghai port overtook
Singapore port to become the world's busiest container port. Shanghai's port handled 29.05 million
TEUs, whereas Singapore port was a half million TEU's behind. 7 In 2009, the Port of Shanghai became
the world's busiest seaports by cargo tonnage with 505,715 thousand tons of cargo. 8
Shanghai Pudong International Airport is a fast-growing hub for both passenger and cargo traffic.
With 3,227,914 metric tonnes handled in 2010, the airport is the world's third busiest airport by cargo
traffic. Pudong Airport also served a total of 40,578,621 passengers in 2010, making it the third busiest
airport in mainland China and the 20th busiest in the world. Both passenger and cargo traffic grew by
more than 27% in 2010.9 As China's busiest international airport, about half of Pudong's passenger
traffic is international. 10
Insert Table 5: Air Traffic statistics for Shanghai in 2010 from page Table 518
In addition, there is a second airport in Shanghai - Hongqiao International Airport. It is the main
domestic airport serving Shanghai, China. In 2010, Hongqiao Airport handled 31,298,812 passengers, a
growth of 24.8% over 2009, making it the 4th busiest airport in China and the 41st busiest in the world.
The airport was also China's 5th busiest airport in terms of cargo traffic and the 7th busiest by traffic
movements.11
Regarding foreign trade, Shanghai has a trade surplus with the rest of the world. In the first 4 months
of 2011, Shanghai port's import & export value totaled USD 245.89 billion, up 22.8% year-on-year.
7
"Shanghai overtakes S'pore as world's busiest port". Straits Times. January 8, 2011. Retrieved December 24, 2011.
8
AAPA World Port Rankings 2009. http://aapa.files.cms-plus.com/PDFs/WORLD%20PORT%20RANKINGS%202009.pdf
9
"Cargo Traffic 2010 FINAL from Airports Council International". Airports Council International. 2010-08-01.
http://www.airports.org/cda/aci_common/display/main/aci_content07_c.jsp?zn=aci&cp=1-5-54-4819_666_2 Retrieved
December 24, 2011.
10
"From obscurity, Guangzhou and Shanghai Pudong airports move up rankings". CAPA. June 3, 2011. "From obscurity,
Guangzhou and Shanghai Pudong airports move up rankings" Retrieved December 24, 2011.
11
“ACI releases World Airport Traffic Report 2010” at
http://www.aci.aero/aci/aci/file/Press%20Releases/2011/PR_01082011_2010_WATR.pdf Retrieved December 24, 2011.
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6. Shanghai – A global city |
Therein, the export value totaled USD 148.07 billion, up 23% year-on-year; and the import value totaled
USD 97.82 billion, up 22.6% year-on-year, import growth is lower than export growth for the first time
since 2010, trade surplus was USD 50.24 billion, up 23.8% year-on-year. 12 Illustration of the importance
of its role in transport and logistics, one quarter of China's foreign trade passes through the port of
Shanghai.
Today, Shanghai is indisputably the national financial centre of mainland China. The city has the
country’s biggest stock market in terms of market capitalization, turnover and capital raised. It also has
the biggest bond market (in terms of trading value) and the only gold market on the Mainland, and the
highest concentration of domestically-incorporated foreign banks (in terms of numbers and assets).
Insert Table 3: Shanghai’s dominance in mainland China’s financial market at page 17
Although, Shanghai’s dominance in the Mainland’s financial arena, the city is still some way behind
the world’s major financial centers such as London or New York in terms of market size and the
availability and sophistication of financial products and services.
Insert Table 4: Shanghai position in world financial market at page 17
c. Transportation.
Public transport
For adapt the rapid development of Shanghai economy with very highly demand of mobility. Shanghai
has established various kinds of transportation. Many very hi-end kinds of transportation were also
applied.
Up to the end of 2005, Shanghai has 560 km expressways, carrying 327 million tons of cargo and
24.68 million passengers. The network of roads has linked Shanghai with 392 counties under 104
prefectures in the other provinces and municipalities.
Shanghai’s train node is one of the most important rail networks of China. The trains dispatched by
Shanghai railway authorities covered 269.1 kilometers, transporting 12.783 million tons of cargo, and
43.131 million passengers. Shanghai Railway Station has a daily capacity of transporting 110,000
departing passengers on average. 13
12
Shanghai Customs statistics,
13
Shanghai’s report by Ministry of commerce of china. http://english.mofcom.gov.cn/aroundchina/Shanghai.shtml.
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7. Shanghai – A global city |
The Shanghai Metro is the urban rapid transit system which incorporates both subway and light rail
lines. It opened in 1995, making Shanghai the third city in Mainland China, after Beijing and Tianjin, to
have a rapid transit system. Since then, the Shanghai Metro has become one of the fastest-growing rapid
transit systems in the world.14 According to the latest report, by the end of 2020 the network will
comprise 22 lines spanning 877 kilometers (545 mi). 15
Insert Figure 5: Shanghai metro is the longest metro system in the world at page 18
The Shanghai Maglev Train is the first commercial Maglev railway in the world. The train line was
designed to connect Shanghai Pudong International Airport and the outskirts of central Pudong where
passengers could interchange to the Shanghai Metro to continue their trip to the city center. Commercial
operation started in 2003. The 30 km trip takes 7 minutes and 21 seconds and reaches a maximum speed
of 431 km/h (267.8 mph). Normal operating speeds usually reach 431km/h, but during a test run, the
Maglev has been shown to reach a top speed of 501km/h.16
Private vehicles
In Shanghai, car ownership was historically suppressed through high fees and limited permits. In
recent years, however, this has been reduced (partly as a result of the presence of vehicle
manufacturing), and incomes are rising. The city currently devotes little land to roads and has only
650,000 cars and trucks, very few of which are privately owned, placing vehicle ownership levels well
below those of virtually all cities of similar income. Shanghai alone is expected to see a quadrupling of
cars and trucks by 2020. 17
The very dense urban area and lack of parking and road space for vehicles has pushed growth outside
the city, thus setting in motion a spatial development pattern that will be increasingly difficult to serve
by more sustainable modes of trans-port. In Shanghai and other Transitional cities where car ownership
is set to soar, there are no easy answers to the issues posed by congestion.
III. Shanghai’s planning.
14
http://www.rfsworld.com/Commercial-cellular-needs-of-Shanghai-Metro-swiftly-serviced-ahead-of-World-
Expo,62,1,pressreleases,517.html. Retrieved December 24, 2011.
15
Shanghai Metro. January 1, 2010. http://www.visitshanghaicity.com/2010/01/shanghai-metro.html. Retrieved December 24,
2011.
16
The Shanghai Maglev Train. http://shanghaichina.ca/video/maglevtrain.html. Retrieved December 24, 2011.
17
Chinese academy of engineering, national research council of the national academies and the national academies press. 2003.
“Personal Cars and China”. Page 243.
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8. Shanghai – A global city |
To cope with future growth in Shanghai, planning authorities have adopted a strategy of
suburbanization for moving people out of ageing low-rise buildings in the dense urban core and
relocating them to newly built suburbs farther out of town.
The ideas of “One City nine town” ,“1966 plan” , four-level city system (the eleventh five-year plan),
are the symbol for Shanghai to realize urbanization of suburb. They will play an important part in
Shanghai’s future layout. In “1966” plan, the most important part is the nine new towns.
"The plan defines the 600-square-kilometre area within Shanghai's outer ring road as central Shanghai.
Outside the ring road, according to the plan, nine new towns with a combined population of 5.4 million
and 60 new small towns with populations of around 50,000 each will be built." 18
Insert Figure 1: Shanghai urban planning (1900 – 2020) at page 13.
In May 2001 the state council approved the new master plan <shanghai city master plan (1999-2020)>.
Within the plan, the vision of the Shanghai will be one of world economic center, world financial center,
world trade center and world shipping center. Shanghai whole region will be the important component
of Yangtze Delta mega-polis. The development along the river and the coast line as well as the new
town in suburb has been emphasized.
IV. Shanghai Global city.
In their second annual Global Cities Index, Foreign Policy magazine takes aim at Shanghai pride,
ranking the city 20th (tied with Frankfurt), below Beijing, which comes in at number 15. 19
The metropolis has the ambition to become a metropolis of services. However her manufacturing
strength continues to rearrange minds: in some sectors, Shanghai and her region dominate largely the
national production. If the development of shanghai is based on the powerful municipal capitalist, it also
takes its dynamism of private initiative. The innate sense of business of Shanghai entrepreneurs explains
the incredible dynamism of the creation of small and medium private enterprises (about 40% per year)
and the extremely rich local fabric of active SMEs in all areas.
The city-province welcomes a growing number of Asian headquarters for major international
companies, including French. In early 2008, she concentrated more than 35% subsidiaries of French
18
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2006-07/03/content_631193.htm. Retrieved December 24, 2011.
19
http://www.cnngo.com/shanghai/life/shanghai-most-global-city-china-think-again-692243. Retrieved December 24, 2011.
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9. Shanghai – A global city |
companies in China (300 of 850) and 34% of all French establishments in China (647 of 1887).
Showcase of modern China, Shanghai is a place where are drawn all the new Chinese trends.
Today, in Shanghai, a foreign company enters every 26 minutes, and we count almost 40 000 in the
megalopolis. Proof of its attractiveness. As the showcase of Chinese modernity, Shanghai is a place
where all the Chinese new trends are drawn.
There were 152,050 officially registered foreigners in Shanghai as of 2009, an increase of 50% from
100,011 in 2005. The three largest foreign nationalities were Japanese (31,490), American (21,284) and
Korean (20,700).20 Some foreign expatriates are staying in Shanghai as long-term settlers, renewing
Shanghai's reputation as China's global city. In addition, there are a large number of people from Taiwan
living within the municipality (2010 estimates vary around 700,000).21
Insert Figure 3: Foreigners in Shanghai come from 214 countries and regions. Following top five. At
page 13
V. Conclusion
The vision of the Shanghai will be one of world economic center, world financial center, world trade
center and world shipping center.
In conclusion, Shanghai has become a strategic concentration node for global capital. Its geographic
location together with its world lead in g capacity in air- and water-way transportation make the city a
global convergent point of investment and trade activities. The city also develops competitive
infrastructures, network, and urban policies to attract more foreign investment and promote international
transaction.
Shanghai will only succeed as a city and a place to live if it fulfills its economic role and generates
sufficient revenue to guarantee social and environmental improvement all that is required is that the city
uses a slightly longer timeframe. Social and environmental initiatives can be shown to affect economic
performance in, say, five to 10 years.
20
Shanghai statistics bureau. http://www.stats-sh.gov.cn/tjnj/nje10.htm?d1=2010tjnje/E0214.htm. Retrieved December 24,
2011.
21
Xinhua News Agency. 2009. Retrieved 1 December 2009.
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10. Shanghai – A global city |
The above analyses show that Shanghai occupies the central place in the national economy and has
experienced an enormous economic growth in the last decade. As Shanghai is leading the way for the
national economic development, it can at least be justified as a “primate city” in China.
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11. Shanghai – A global city |
References.
1. Shanghai, the sixth national census in 2010 Communiqué on Major Data. At 05:53 on May
3rd, 2011.Source: Liberation Daily Magazine.
2. Urbanites head for new life in suburbs - By Mark South (China Daily).
Http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2006-07/03/content_631193.htm. Retrieved December
24, 2011.
3. Http://chiefexecutive.net/shanghai-world-city. Retrieved December 24, 2011.
4. Shanghai statistic. Http://www.stats-sh.gov.cn/tjnj/nje11.htm?D1=2011tjnje/E0109.htm.
Retrieved December 24, 2011.
5. "Shanghai GDP rises 9.9% last year, beating target". Shanghai Daily. 2011-1-25 .
Http://www.shanghaidaily.com/sp/article/2011/201101/20110125/article_462395.htm.
Retrieved December 24, 2011.
6. “Shanghai ranks first in economic competitiveness”. 16:23, March 01, 2011.
Http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90778/90862/7304666.html. Retrieved December 24,
2011.
7. "Shanghai overtakes s'pore as world's busiest port". Straits Times. January 8, 2011. Retrieved
December 24, 2011.
8. AAPA World Port Rankings 2009. Http://aapa.files.cms-
plus.com/pdfs/WORLD%20PORT%20RANKINGS%202009.pdf
9. "Cargo Traffic 2010 FINAL from Airports Council International". Airports Council
International. 2010-08-01.
Http://www.airports.org/cda/aci_common/display/main/aci_content07_c.jsp?Zn=aci&cp=1-5-
54-4819_666_2 Retrieved December 24, 2011.
10. "From obscurity, Guangzhou and Shanghai Pudong airports move up rankings". CAPA. June
3, 2011. "From obscurity, Guangzhou and Shanghai Pudong airports move up rankings"
Retrieved December 24, 2011.
11. “ACI releases World Airport Traffic Report 2010” at
http://www.aci.aero/aci/aci/file/Press%20Releases/2011/PR_01082011_2010_WATR.pdf
Retrieved December 24, 2011.
12. Shanghai Customs statistics,
13. Shanghai’s report by Ministry of commerce of china.
Http://english.mofcom.gov.cn/aroundchina/Shanghai.shtml.
14. Http://www.rfsworld.com/Commercial-cellular-needs-of-Shanghai-Metro-swiftly-serviced-
ahead-of-World-Expo,62,1,pressreleases,517.html. Retrieved December 24, 2011.
15. Shanghai Metro. January 1, 2010. Http://www.visitshanghaicity.com/2010/01/shanghai-
metro.html. Retrieved December 24, 2011.
16. The Shanghai Maglev Train. Http://shanghaichina.ca/video/maglevtrain.html. Retrieved
December 24, 2011.
11 | Page

12. Shanghai – A global city |
17. Chinese academy of engineering, national research council of the national academies and the
national academies press. 2003. “Personal Cars and China”. Page 243.
18. Http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2006-07/03/content_631193.htm. Retrieved December
24, 2011.
19. Http://www.cnngo.com/shanghai/life/shanghai-most-global-city-china-think-again-692243.
Retrieved December 24, 2011.
20. Source: Comprehensive Plan of Shanghai Central City (1999-2020).
21. China Daily 02/23/2011 page5. Http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2011-
02/23/content_12060936.htm. Retrieved December 24, 2011
22. Shanghai statistics bureau. Http://www.stats-
sh.gov.cn/tjnj/nje10.htm?D1=2010tjnje/E0214.htm. Retrieved December 24, 2011.
23. Shanghai statistic. Http://www.stats-sh.gov.cn/tjnj/nje11.htm?D1=2011tjnje/E0109.htm.
Retrieved December 24, 2011.
24. Shanghai Statistical Yearbook 2011. Http://www.stats-
sh.gov.cn/tjnj/nj11.htm?D1=2011tjnj/C0104.htm. Retrieved December 24, 2011.
25. “Shanghai’s Future as an International Financial Centre”. Hanseng bank report, Jun 24th, 2009.
26. According to ACI World Traffic Statistics at http://www.aci-na.org/content/aci-world-traffic-
statistics. Retrieved December 24, 2011.
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13. Shanghai – A global city |
Tables and figures
Figure 1: Shanghai urban planning (1900 – 2020)22
Figure 2: Shanghai's population growth23
22
Source: Comprehensive Plan of Shanghai Central City (1999-2020).
23
China Daily 02/23/2011 page5. http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2011-02/23/content_12060936.htm. Retrieved
December 24, 2011
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14. Shanghai – A global city |
7253
2009 7209
20700
31490
5008
7264 UK
2008 7717 Germany
22736
33427 Singapore
Korea
2904 Japan
4591
2005 5547
14047
27812
0 5000 10000 15000 20000 25000 30000 35000 40000
Number people
Figure 3: Foreigners in Shanghai come from 214 countries and regions. Following top five.24
24
Shanghai statistics bureau. http://www.stats-sh.gov.cn/tjnj/nje10.htm?d1=2010tjnje/E0214.htm. Retrieved December 24,
2011.
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15. Shanghai – A global city |
Figure 4: Solution to transportation problems
16 15.2
14.2
14 12.7
12.3
11.3 11.4
12 10.5 10.3
9.7
GDP growth (%)
10
8.2
8
6
4
2
0
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Table 1: Shanghai GDP's Growth rate (2001 - 2010)25
25
Shanghai statistic. http://www.stats-sh.gov.cn/tjnj/nje11.htm?d1=2011tjnje/E0109.htm. Retrieved December 24, 2011.
15 | Page

16. Shanghai – A global city |
Year GDP (Billion RMB) GDP per capita (RMB )
1990 781.66 5911.00
2000 4771.17 30047.00
2009 15046.45 69164.00
2010 17165.98 76074.00
Table 2: Shanghai's GDP26
26
Shanghai Statistical Yearbook 2011. http://www.stats-sh.gov.cn/tjnj/nj11.htm?d1=2011tjnj/C0104.htm. Retrieved December
24, 2011.
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17. Shanghai – A global city |
Table 3: Shanghai’s dominance in mainland China’s financial market27
Table 4: Shanghai position in world financial market 28
27
“Shanghai’s Future as an International Financial Centre”. Hanseng bank report, Jun 24th, 2009.
28
“Shanghai’s Future as an International Financial Centre”. Hanseng bank report, Jun 24th, 2009.
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18. Shanghai – A global city |
Shanghai (PVG)
Amount (% Change from the previous World Rank
year)
Passengers 40 578 621 (26.4%) 20
Cargo 3 228 081 (26.9%) 3
Table 5: Air Traffic statistics for Shanghai in 201029
Figure 5: Shanghai metro is the longest metro system in the world
29
According to ACI World Traffic Statistics at http://www.aci-na.org/content/aci-world-traffic-statistics. Retrieved December
24, 2011.
18 | Page