Shanghai, a global city

上海, shang hai (in Pinyin): the Chinese characters mean 'over the sea', or 'on the sea'. Shanghai's landform and projection into a vast maritime foreland inspired its name. The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu river flowing through it.

One should know the power of Chinese characters, as if the site already had the fate to become the first container port in the world.

As of 2018, the Greater Shanghai metropolitan area was estimated to produce a gross metropolitan product of nearly 1300 millions USD.

#1. Recent history of Shanghai

#A. 19th century

Once a fishing village, European powers imposed free trade and opened the city after the First Opium War, forcing China into signing what locals called 'unequal treaties' (which they still resent): China had to accept European trade settlements and start cooperating.

An international concession, gathering most of the foreign powers, was created on The Bund, close to the Huangpu river (黄浦江, Yellow River). Meanwhile, the French concession was an exception located on a wetland.

The city gradually became the economic centre of China.

#B. 20th century

The city was totally invaded by Japan in the late 1930s, as well as Nanjing and Shandong. PRC, People’s Republic of China, was founded in 1949. Mao Zedong, being the head of the Chinese Communist Party, closes the city to foreign imperialistic powers.

Mao disliked Shanghai. In his eyes, it was only a decadent city, full of foreign influences. He was more inclined to strengthen the capital city, Beijing. In spite of this political view, Shanghai still remained at the time the main commercial and industrial centre of China.

When Mao died in 1976, Deng Xiaoping was rehabilitated. In 1979, he decided to open China to foreign capital investments, making Shanghai a laboratory of capitalism in a communist country: 1 country, 2 systems.

Deng created one of the first SEZ, Special Economic Zone, in Shanghai Pudong. SEZs allowed foreign corporations to settle in and make profits. The idea was gradually contributing to the Chinese economy.

Transnational Corporations (TNCs) were allowed to do business directly in the centre of Shanghai. Soon they were granted all the facilities of what globalised cities can offer.

#2. How did Shanghai become a global city?

#A. The Pudong SEZ

At the time of Deng Xiaoping’s decision, most of the Pudong area, located in front of the Bund district, was a wet rural area made of swamps.

Then huge works started to modernise the infrastructures and to transform the city into a competitor of Singapore, Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Taipei. 8 lanes highways were built, plus a brand-new airport (Pudong airport) and Maglev, a very high speed magnetic levitation train, linking the airport to the city centre. Maglev was built with a technology owned by a German TNC: Transrapid.

Deng viewed Pudong as the eye of the dragon, the Huangpu river being the body and Shanghai being its head.

Harbours were built to replace the saturated Huangpu harbour: Waigaoqiao and Yangshan harbours. Yangshan is now the first harbour in the world. It is located on an island, 33 km from the shores and is linked to the continent by a bridge called Donghai.

#B. Tertiarisation of the economy

From a heavy industry centre, Shanghai rapidly transitioned to a global node of the service sector. The city has attracted a large amount of TNCs and is today the sixth financial center in the world.

Pudong, as a SEZ, is a free-trade zone, allowing the city to also attract digital ventures and the leaders of the tech economy.

The city became famous with its Opera, its museums and art galleries. The city produces its own ranking of Universities in the world. Shanghai is actively participating in China’s path to power, through hard power and soft power.

#3. Elements nuancing Shanghai's success

#A. Uncontrolled urban sprawl

Urban sprawl, often too rapid, sometimes poorly planned, is a factor that can help reevaluate the global city's success.

The city has attracted low-income and under educated labour force coming from all over China, from all the provinces of the PRC. Those workers are called Mingongs (民工).

Satellite cities have emerged as the city centre is affected by strong real estate speculation. As a consequence, the edges of the city have clearly expanded, to the expense of the transportation network efficiency.

Commuting is a major problem, and come with consequences: pollution is severe.

#B. Social inequality

Huge works to modernise the city required confiscation of lands and buildings. Since the PRC is a communist State, it owns the land, and no opposition was tolerated. The least affluent peoples naturally were the most affected by this policy, and some of them were not even offered regular housing replacement.

Gentrification of the centre aggravated the phenomenon. It is very visible in the Bund as well as in Tianzifang, for example.

Hutongs, which are traditional low-rise districts, are destroyed in favour of high-rise compounds which the poor cannot afford.

On top of that, Mingongs, workers coming from other provinces, do not have the same right as they do not hold the Shanghai hukou (household registration in Shanghai). This hukou is the identification document that allows citizens to have health insurance and grant citizen's children the right to go to schools. Mingongs are, de facto, second class citizens, which makes the situation of inequality even worse. This also encourages corruption.

#C. Environment issues

30 years in frenzy of development severely affected the environment. What is visible in global cities of North America, Western Europe or in Japan, is in emerging countries even worse, like in Shanghai.

Smog is permanent, worsened by the humid climate. It generates respiratory diseases. 200 AQI is equivalent to smoking a pack of cigarettes a day. Shanghai had several episodes peaking at 900 AQI. Schools might close during those peaks. People are massively buying air purifiers.

Groundwater flows were disrupted, and aquifers are empty, which has generated land subsidence up to 2.6 meters in the city centre. This poses a new threat: the sea could flood the lands if dykes were had not been built to contain salty waters.

Environmental challenges awareness is not yet a core concern of the population.