Opinion | Hong Kong versus Shenzhen: great cities are more than their GDP

While Shenzhen now rivals Hong Kong on some economic indicators, catching up culturally will be harder. Shenzhen must continue to develop its own character and not simply be an abbreviation of Chinese progress

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Published: 9:45am, 9 Jan 2021Updated: 9:45am, 9 Jan 2021

Most of us think of cities as ancient things, places that grew into urban centres over centuries and may often have played outsize roles in the development of their nations. As someone who writes about cities from San Francisco to Moscow and Seoul, that is typically how I consider them too.

However, in the changing global landscape, this may no longer be the case. Dubai is often heralded as the prime example of an “instant” city that not only grew rapidly in mere decades but also grew due to exacting planning and has profited greatly from the cosmopolitan atmosphere it has created.

Indeed, Dubai’s success has become so legendary that other cities are using it as a template for their own growth. But, beyond Dubai, there is Shenzhen, arguably an even more significant city.

In numbers, its growth is staggering. Upon Bao’an county’s conversion to the city of Shenzhen in 1979, the total population was recorded at 314,000. The official 2018 census, in vast contrast, notes over 12 million registered residents, and government figures estimate that the real population is currently closer to 20 million.

This contrasts with Hong Kong’s official population of 7.5 million, and yet Hong Kong is not simply a large metropolis, it embodies vast connotative meaning the world over. Hong Kong is one of the first places many think of when they think of China as a whole.

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