ABSTRACT

Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Shenzhen now form an interesting trio of world or global cities in Asia. Their relative economic positions in the Asian regional context and globally have shifted due to their very different trajectories of development over the last three decades. The shifting positions and roles of the three cities have also produced and been facilitated by the reconfigured relations among them. The post-1990 rise of Shanghai as China’s premier global city raised a running question of when, possibly more than whether, Shanghai will surpass Hong Kong, at least in some important functional areas and global connections. Despite starting as a small village and because of its location abutting Hong Kong, Shenzhen has surpassed Hong Kong in population and is approaching the latter in total GDP. Yet the question of whether Shenzhen is outcompeting Hong Kong, especially in innovation, did not surface until quite recently. Is Hong Kong potentially losing out in competing with Shenzhen at its doorsteps and Shanghai from a distance? This question is addressed from two connected vantage points. One is to assess Hong Kong’s more mature position and role against the rapid expansion and enhancement of what Shanghai has become. The second is to focus on the emerging but narrow competition between Hong Kong and Shenzhen. To enhance this double-headed comparison highlighting Hong Kong, I also draw an auxiliary line of comparison between Shanghai and Shenzhen. This way of triangulating the three cities yields a pair of analytic benefits. It not only reveals if Hong Kong has experienced particular competitive erosion vis-à-vis Shanghai and Shenzhen but also relocates Hong Kong’s shifting fortune within and against a more differentiated and complex landscape of top Chinese cities at both the regional and global levels.