From the beginning of involvement in the research of the “five new cities”, ZHU Dajian realized that the construction of the “five new cities” is a process in which Shanghai created a new pattern of urban space and sought a “breakthrough point of strength exertion” in a larger spatial system. During this process, whether the “five new cities” could cultivate relatively independent competitiveness was of high importance.

How can the “five new cities” cultivate their competitiveness without relying on the main urban area? ZHU Dajian sorted out his thoughts on key issues such as industry, population, city and governance.

Optimize the Combination of Urban Genes to Build an Independent and Symbiotic City

When it comes to the planning and future development of the “five new cities” in Shanghai, I often emphasize a view that the competitiveness of a new city should not simply rely on the stock transfer of the main urban area, but to enhance its independence by making larger increments.

Why do I emphasize this point? Tracing back to the source, the goal of the “five new cities” is to build node cities with independence and comprehensiveness. Since it is a “node”, it means that the new cities should play an independent role in the external development axis of Shanghai. The emphasis on “comprehensiveness” means that the new cities should move from the single function of traditional satellite cities or suburban new cities to the comprehensive function of independent cities. The key issue lies in how to understand and interpret the independence of new cities.

“Independence” is not “isolation”, but focuses on whether the new cities can strengthen and optimize their genes after the functional spillover and promotion of the main urban area, and are truly capable of developing into independent and radiating cities in the urban network system.

It might make sense to introduce the story of Japan’s prefecture-level cities moving from “Placemaking 1.0” to “Placemaking 2.0”. The concept of “placemaking” was introduced in 2014 in Japan to discuss how to “strengthen” the cities in local areas to achieve their economic and social development goals for 2060, in contrast to the overwhelming attractiveness of metropolitan cities such as Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya.

The previous “Placemaking 1.0” emphasized the interdependence between local cities and metropolises – local cities relied on the development of metropolises and fed themselves via the development of metropolises.

Afterwards, in 2018, researchers of Nomura Club put forward the concept of “Placemaking 2.0”, emphasizing that local cities and metropolises should be independent and symbiotic, and should develop themselves into independent cities with their urban genes, to truly make local cities bigger and stronger. Yokohama’s 21st Century Future Port project is a typical case of transition from the interdependent mode to the independent symbiosis mode among the first-layer cities in the Tokyo circle, aiming to build an international city with relatively independent connections both externally and internally as well as a 24-hour constant flow of people.

When discussing the future development of the “five new cities” in Shanghai, I ever made a visual summary: if the commuters from the new cities to the main urban area are greatly reduced, then “independence” could be deemed as being achieved; if fewer people in the new cities need to study in the main urban area, and can be treated locally, then “comprehensiveness” could be deemed as being achieved; if the new cities are attractive to the population of the hinterland cities in the Yangtze River Delta and the cities near Shanghai, then “node” can be deemed as being achieved. Without a doubt, these are superficial results. From the perspective of internal causes and mechanisms, I would like to emphasize that the driving force of new city development is not to simply transfer the stock resources of the main urban area, but to make larger increments on the basis of optimizing the combination of urban genes and build node cities with independence and comprehensiveness.

Furthermore, the key to building endogenous and independent new cities is to enhance the competitiveness of each new city in such three elements as “industry”, “city” and “population”. Can industrial development of the new cities be supported by the urban resource endowment, especially the scientific and technological capacity? Can urban development of the new cities gather sufficient and appropriate human resources and have sufficient intellectual support from local universities? Do the employed population and their families in the new cities have access to high-quality public services locally in medical care, education, elderly care, travel and other aspects? For the new cities, to truly exert strength to the future development of Shanghai as a metropolis, the above questions need to be answered properly.

Improve the Competitiveness of “Integration Between Industries and Cities”: Cultivate Its Own Scientific and Technological R&D Support Capacity

When it comes to “integration between industries and cities”, the emphasis is usually on the requirement that where there are industries, there should be cities, and where there are cities, there should be industries. However, to build an independent and symbiotic City, we should discuss a more profound issue, that is, industrial development. Whether from the bottom up or the outside, the key to industrial development lies in the support from urban resource endowment, especially the capacity of scientific and technological R&D.

Without such support, the development of enterprises may play an insignificant role and undergo frequent changes. One batch is introduced in one period and another batch is transferred out in another period, failing to form lasting and rooted unique competitiveness of a city. As far as the current issues are concerned, there are three situations of “failure in integration between industries and cities” that need to be improved——

In the new cities, there have been preliminary characteristic industries, but they are incompatible with the city’s scientific and technological capacity.

For example, the main industry of “One City, one Famous Garden” in Fengxian New City is the “Oriental Beauty Valley”, including such three categories as cosmetics, health food and biomedicine. In 2020, it achieved an output value of 69.3 billion yuan. During the “14th Five-year Plan” period, the goal is to develop it into a pillar industry with an output value of 100 billion yuan.

However, from the perspective of integration between industries and cities, there are still deficiencies in the local development of the above industries. In the “Oriental Beauty Valley”, manufacturing and production enterprises account for the majority, and there are few R&D companies, service-sector companies and headquarters enterprises. The fundamental reason is that the local scientific research institutions and service platforms related to making characteristic industries bigger and stronger are in the main urban area, and Fengxian New City itself cannot support the in-depth development of the “Oriental Beauty Valley”. Therefore, to make the “Oriental Beauty Valley” a truly endogenous pillar industry of Fengxian New City, it is necessary to vigorously introduce and cultivate its own scientific and technological R&D support capacity. Only in this way can a new city develop into an independent one with great achievements.

The layout of characteristic industries is that the manufacturing industry is in the new cities, but the headquarters is located in the main urban area.

For example, the main carrier of “One City, One Famous Garden” in Jiading New City is automobile manufacturing and related industries with SAIC Motor as the main body. However, as the headquarters of SAIC Motor, a state-owned enterprise is located in the main urban area, the occurrence, development and transformation of industries in the new cities are very dependent on the main urban area.

To build Jiading New City into an independent new city, probably a feasible suggestion is to let enterprises like SAIC Motor to put certain aspects of its headquarters’ functions and headquarters of secondary companies in Jiading New City, so as to increase the dominance and discursive power of Jiading New City in the value chain of the automobile industry at home and abroad. In fact, it is very important for the development of the “five new cities” that some manufacturing-based Shanghai SOEs move their headquarters to the new cities, either alone or in partnership, for the integrated development with related industries.

Development of the new cities does not involve certain global urban economic functions and related high-end service industries.

The traditional global city theory generally emphasizes that finance, trade and other functions should be concentrated in the central business districts and metropolitan areas of global cities. However, the theory of Global City Region in recent years holds that under the background of the digital revolution and information technology, the spatial distribution of producer service industry related to global urban functions can occur in a broader global city region.

If such development is a general trend, Shanghai’s “five new cities” need to have a strategy and plan for a higher level of characteristic functions, and need to make a layout for the high-end producer service industry and life service industry in addition to the characteristic manufacturing industry. In fact, it is inevitable for a shipping center city like Nanhui New City to vigorously develop the shipping-related financial industry.

Improve the Competitiveness of “Integration Between Population and Industries”: Attract Talents to Start Businesses and Work Locally

The key to improving the competitiveness of population and industries is the availability of sufficient human resources locally for industrial development. New high-tech industries, in particular, need support from highly skilled talents.

In the past, the focus of development zone construction was to develop a labor-intensive manufacturing industry, and the solution was to recruit workers from other places on a large scale and at a low cost. Nowadays, with the rise in both industrial energy level and labor cost, it is no longer competitive to continue on this path. Moreover, the industrial development of the “five new cities” in Shanghai is oriented towards high-end manufacturing industries with scientific and technological innovation, such as artificial intelligence, integrated circuits and biomedicine, and it is even more unlikely that the traditional approach of integrating population and industries will be followed.

It is worth discussing where the incremental population growth of the “five new cities” will mainly come from, given that each of the five new cities is aiming at developing into a megacity of one million people by 2035.

Some argue that the increase in population in new cities should derive from decentralization of the main urban area. In fact, after the renovation of old areas and population evacuation in the past three decades, there are not many people who can move from the main urban area into the new suburban areas.

Some people believe that the increase in population in the new cities can derive from the urbanization of the local rural population. But in fact, the urbanization rate of Shanghai has exceeded 90%, where people have almost gone either “into the city” or “upstairs”.

Others believe that to increase population, the new cities must open up unconditionally. However, in fact, the total cost of moving to the cities cannot be reduced unconditionally in Shanghai, and there will be no great potential for growth in this aspect.

To sum up, I think the source of population growth in the new cities should be mainly from the fresh graduates of universities in Shanghai and other universities in China. To exert strength, the new cities should utilize their industrial development, absorb more fresh graduates and have a population of productive and living significance. Therefore, a strategic plan and layout for the planning and construction of universities and majors related to own industrial development are necessary for the new cities, regardless of whether they are now available or not, weak or strong. With the continuous enrollment of students from all over the country to universities, the interaction during university studies can increase the possibility and success rate of employment in the new cities after graduation of the students.

The industrial development of the “five new cities” mostly focuses on high-end manufacturing. Therefore, it is of great practical significance for some universities of science and engineering in Shanghai and their majors to set up branches in the new cities. The key is to strengthen the interaction between universities and cities.

I have heard that a considerable number of graduates from Shanghai Maritime University have found jobs in Nanhui New City, which is good news; I have also heard that fewer university graduates from Songjiang New City are employed in Songjiang because some liberal arts majors do not match the industrial development of Songjiang New City.

The establishment of university branches in the new cities is also helpful to solve the separation of some high-end talents living in the new cities and working in the main urban area. While lecturing in Fengxian New City, I heard that many people living in Fengxian had already worked locally, but some high-end talents still need to drive to and from the main urban area every day because they failed to find suitable jobs concerning finance, consulting and trade in Fengxian.

It can be seen that apart from disciplines and majors directly related to the new city industry, the new cities also need to have some disciplines and majors related to the productive service industry when developing the universities, to develop some high-end services and attract and solve the local entrepreneurship and employment of high-end talents. The knowledge economy circle around Tongji University has created some design industries with the combination of arts and science from scratch, and gathered a batch of design and innovation talents, which may provide enlightenment for exploration in this aspect.

From “Attraction by the Industries” to “Attraction by the Cities”: Where There Is Scenery, There Is New Economy

In the past, the development of industrial parks followed the basic logic of “attraction by the industries” – attracting investment and enterprises first, and then attracting workers. After the park was developed, secondary construction was carried out to turn the park into an urban area. But now, if the “five new cities” follow this path, the prospects will be unlikely satisfactory.

Highly skilled workers are not only concerned about work, but also about the quality of life, and high-tech industries often follow talents. Huawei invested in Xicen, Qingpu to build a digital R&D center with 30,000 employees, largely due to convenient transportation, complete functions, suitable living conditions and a beautiful environment. The so-called “where there is scenery and culture, there is new economy” is precisely the model of “attraction by the cities”.

The key to the integration between people and cities is the public services and spatial quality of a city, which is the high added value created by urban construction in space construction. High-skilled workers are not only producers and residents of cities, but also consumers of urban culture. The things that highly skilled workers are most concerned about are, firstly, whether they can get appropriate education, medical care, culture and other services in the new cities without having to go to the main urban area; secondly, whether a 15-minute living circle has been built in the residential communities to obtain various services and solve daily chores by walking distance; thirdly, whether blocks in the new cities can provide entertainment and high-quality cultural consumption. Stylish cafes, teahouses and bookstores are their favorite places.

In terms of improving urban quality, some people believe that improving the energy level of public services in the new cities is to transfer and transport some high-energy medical and educational resources in the central urban area to the new cities. It’s certain that at the beginning of construction, the new cities need support and even first push from the main urban area. However, if they always rely on the main urban area, and expect the resource space transfer, it is actually a transfer from the left pocket to the right pocket, resulting in the dilution of the total quantity of resources in Shanghai as a metropolis, which has not fundamentally enhanced the competitiveness of the city as a whole.

To study the development of the new cities, I like to tell a story during the development in Pudong before. At the beginning of development in Pudong New District, a foreign businessman asked Zhao Qizheng, then director of Pudong New District Management Committee, if I get sick, should I be well treated in Pudong or should I go to Puxi across the Huangpu River? This challenging question led Zhao Qizheng to decide that Pudong must have a first-class hospital of its own, as well as advanced medical facilities and high-level talents. Now, Shanghai East Hospital, a third-class hospital in Pudong, which is among the national top 100 list, was thereby established. Shanghai East Hospital later introduced a large number of high-level talents from home and abroad, creating new competitiveness that was not originally available.

Building an Independent City in the Municipal Metropolis Circle Requires Innovation in Governance

The ternary integration competitiveness composed of “integration between industries and cities”, “integration between population and industries” and “integration between people and cities”, coupled with the introduction of high-speed railways (including municipal railways, intercity railways and trunk railways) into each new city as a transportation hub of “integration between stations and cities”, can be summarized as four integration. Thus, the “four-high” model of strength exertion by the new cities can be formed, i.e., the new cities should strive to develop urban competitiveness matched in four aspects: high-energy industries (including manufacturing and service industries), universities and scientific research institutions, high-quality public services (including class III hospitals), and high-speed rail transit.

It should be further emphasized that such multi-faceted and integrated competitiveness is based on governance capacity. We should realize that the main urban area and new cities in the metropolis circle need to be based on different governance logic and innovate in governance capacity and governance systems.

On regional linkage and coordinated development, “Questioning by Wang Daohan” is spreading in the academic circle, saying that in regional development, each city has its own vitality, but if they are facing problems of homogeneous competition, the issue of “1 + 1 < 2” will occur on the whole.

A cross-regional metropolis circle is going to be built in Shanghai, with the five new cities within the scope of Shanghai, while such cities near Shanghai as Wujiang, Kunshan, Taicang and Jiashan are cities in Jiangsu Province and Zhejiang Province outside the administrative divisions of Shanghai. To make an extension on the “Questioning by Wang Daohan” to study the issue about efficient governance for the development of Shanghai as a metropolis circle, we need to distinguish between the two aspects of outside and inside Shanghai.

The key to efficient governance outside Shanghai is how can dynamic cities in different administrative regions achieve integrated development. This problem is being explored by the Yangtze River Delta Integrated Development Demonstration Zone. To develop the “five new cities”, it’s necessary to emphasize the issue of efficient governance within Shanghai, that is, how cities under the same administrative district can be dynamic and competitive independently?

On the latter issue, what is important is how to establish a flattening mechanism which combines effect and efficiency between the municipal and district governments, and meanwhile avoid the traditional development model that “if we let it be, there will be a mess” and that of “blindly spreading and enclosing the land”. It can be seen that the underlying meaning behind strength exertion by the five new cities in Shanghai is that the system and mechanism should break through the original fragmented and vertically rigid command mechanism, and on the basis of district-oriented and city-district cooperation, flexible and overall orderly arrangements should be made indeed to drive the development of the new cities.

The goal of strength exertion by the new cities is to develop the spatial pattern of Shanghai as a metropolis from the original 16 municipal districts divided into urban areas and suburbs into a structured “1 + 5” municipal metropolis circle that meets the construction needs of a modern international metropolis. “1” refers to the main urban area composed of several municipal districts in central Shanghai, covering an area of about 1,200 square kilometers and including about 14 million people. “5” refers to the “five new cities”, each of which is to be built as an independent integrated node city with a core city population of 1 million to drive the development of a larger regional hinterland.

The most challenging problem is that each municipal district of the main urban area and the municipal district in which the “five new cities” are located should have different goals and emphases for urban governance. In contrast, as for the main urban area, it is necessary to play down the expectations of “fighting separately” and “standing out” in the spatial development of each municipal district. All districts should make concerted efforts to serve in building the main urban area into an outstanding global urban core bearing area. As for the new cities, we should improve the unique competitiveness in spatial development and governance, and then play the role as an independent and comprehensive node city in the development axis and regional hinterland.

In this sense, I think the planning, construction and governance of Nanhui New City should and can play a leading and exploratory role. We should take advantage of the major opportunities and legal conditions required by the state to make Pudong New Area a leading area in achieving the second Centennial goal, make an overall design on the governance capacity and system of the relationship between the new cities and Shanghai as a metropolis, between the new cities and the main urban area, and between the new cities and the cities near Shanghai, and make an exploration that can be of reference to other new cities and even to the construction of cities in the metropolis circles nationwide.