The Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area , commonly as the Greater Bay Area ( GBA ), is a megalopolis , consisting of nine cities and two special administrative regions in South China . It is envisioned by Chinese government planners as an integrated economic area aimed at taking a leading role globally by 2035.
91-433: It is the largest and most populated urban area in the world. The GBA—with a total population of approximately 86 million people—includes nine mega cities of Guangdong province : Guangzhou , Shenzhen , Zhuhai , Foshan , Dongguan , Zhongshan , Jiangmen , Huizhou , and Zhaoqing as well as two special administrative regions , Hong Kong , and Macao (Macau). Hong Kong, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen have been described among
182-659: A common backdrop in dystopian science fiction , with examples such as the Sprawl in William Gibson 's Neuromancer , and Mega-City One , a megalopolis of between 50 and 800 million people (fluctuations due to war and disaster) across the east coast of the United States , in the Judge Dredd comic. In Demolition Man a megacity called " San Angeles " was formed from the joining of Los Angeles , Santa Barbara , San Diego and
273-607: A director of Guangdong Lung Cancer Institute). Overall, GBA has over 200 universities, producing many college and advanced degrees graduates — over 570,000 college students a year graduates only in Guangzhou . Within the GBA, Hong Kong hosts the highest density of top universities globally. Times Higher Education lists as the Top 5 of them the University of Hong Kong (ranked place 39 worldwide in 2021),
364-426: A given area. But others associate it with decentralization (spread of population without a well-defined center), discontinuity (leapfrog development), segregation of uses, etc. Gentrification and urban gentrification are terms for the socio-cultural changes in an area as a result of wealthier people buying property in a less prosperous community. As living costs rise, lower-income residents are forced to move out of
455-578: A global hub for artificial intelligence (AI), biotechnology, big data, and 5G technologies. The city has increased investment in R&;D, with a special focus on semiconductor production, aiming to reduce China’s reliance on imported chips. The GBA is taking significant steps towards carbon neutrality, focusing on the growth of renewable energy sources like solar power and offshore wind farms. Zhuhai and Foshan are expanding industrial clusters in green technologies and sustainable manufacturing. The core idea behind
546-417: A global offshore renminbi business hub and its role as an international asset management centre and a risk management centre. It also supports the city in promoting the development of high‑end and high value‑added financial, commercial and trading, logistics and professional services, making great efforts to develop innovation and technology industries, nurturing emerging industries, and establishing Hong Kong as
637-452: A homeless person remain in an emergency homeless shelter it was thought to be better to quickly get the person permanent housing of some sort and the necessary support services to sustain a new home. But there are many complications with this kind of program and these must be dealt with to make such an initiative work successfully in the middle to long term. Traffic congestion is a condition on road networks that occurs as use increases, and
728-420: A modern transportation system. GBA hosts three of the world's top ten container ports and five international airports ( Hong Kong International Airport , Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport , Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport , Macau International Airport and Zhuhai Jinwan Airport ). These airports account for an air freight traffic bigger than San Francisco , New York , and Tokyo combined. The GBA
819-550: A regional transportation hub. in the first six months of 2023, the Hong Kong section of the XRL recorded an average daily patronage of more than 40,000 passenger trips, with the highest number of passenger trips in a single day exceeding 90,000 passenger trips. Urban rail transit (including metros, commuter and regional railways) is expanding very fast. Hong Kong MTR was the first, and its model has subsequently been applied to other networks in
910-442: A result, some critics argue that sprawl has certain disadvantages including longer transport distances to work, high car dependence , inadequate facilities (e.g. health, cultural. etc.) and higher per-person infrastructure costs. Discussions and debates about sprawl are often obfuscated by the ambiguity associated with the phrase. For example, some commentators measure sprawl only with the average number of residential units per acre in
1001-636: A study by Wang et al. projected that urbanization and climate change will lead to an 8.87% increase in the exposure duration of dangerous discomfort ( Humidex equal to/above 45) for GBA residents by 2030. The China (Guangdong) Pilot Free Trade Zone (the Guangdong FTZ) was approved by the State Council in December 2014 and started operation in April 2015. The Zone has an area of 116.2 km and is composed of three areas,
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#17328474979661092-480: A world-class airport cluster in the region and building inter-city high-speed rail links and motorways to improve connectivity both within the GBA and beyond. The planned construction of two bridges across the Pearl River Delta will significantly reduce travelling times within the region and simultaneously promote a free flow of people, goods , capital , and information in the region. Given rising concerns about
1183-666: Is a core platform for prototyping and fast engineering, with both cost and timelines for prototyping being the lowest in the world. GBA's industrial traditions have been long anchored in Guangzhou and modernized in Shenzhen . These industrial traditions in the GBA are the foundation upon which its future development is built. Its current GDP is primarily generated in traditional industries and based on tried and tested business models. The spectrum ranges from wood and plastics processing to new textiles and materials to manufacturing state-of-the-art electronic components. It also includes companies in
1274-572: Is a key national development area for the biomedical industry which has developed rapidly in recent years. The region has a noticeable advantage in industrial agglomeration and a complete upstream and downstream industry chain, it has particularly moved ahead in R&D, production and circulation of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and chemical medicine. According to statistics from the Ministry of Commerce, Guangdong's total sales of Chinese patent medicine in 2017 reached US$ 4 billion, accounting for 11.16% of
1365-497: Is a place for the Central and local governments to test new policies, to explore new development models and better integrate the economy with international practices and with Hong Kong and Macao. When it was founded, the free trade area comprised 34 measures for greater openness in six areas: manufacturing, financial services, maritime transport services, trade services, professional services and technology, and cultural services. This plan
1456-494: Is a very large city , typically with a population of more than 10 million people. The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) in its 2018 "World Urbanization Prospects" report defines megacities as urban agglomerations with over 10 million inhabitants. A University of Bonn report holds that they are "usually defined as metropolitan areas with a total population of 10 million or more people". Elsewhere in other sources, from five to eight million
1547-429: Is an economic powerhouse. Its combined regional GDP was RMB¥13 trillion (US$ 1.8 trillion) in 2022, which is equivalent to over 10 percent of GDP for all of China. If the GBA were its own country, it would rank as the 12th biggest economy globally (almost equal to South Korea's and bigger than Australia's economy). GDP growth of GBA was 4.4 per cent in 2019, and GDP is expected to reach US$ 4 trillion by 2030, which would lead
1638-500: Is around 22.3 °C, with the average temperature of 16–19 °C in January and 28–29 °C in July. However, the highest temperature in summer goes more than 35 °C and the lowest can be lower than 10 °C. Temperatures in Hong Kong and Macao are nearly the same, with the annual average temperature around 23 °C, a little higher due to their location more to the south and closer to
1729-429: Is characterized by slower speeds, longer trip times, increased pollution, and increased vehicular queueing . The Texas Transportation Institute estimated that, in 2000, the 75 largest metropolitan areas experienced 3.6 billion vehicle-hours of delay, resulting in 5.7 billion U.S. gallons (21.6 billion liters) in wasted fuel and $ 67.5 billion in lost productivity, or about 0.7% of the nation's GDP . It also estimated that
1820-736: Is considered the minimum threshold, along with a population density of at least 2,000 per square kilometre. The terms conurbation , metropolis , and metroplex are also applied to the latter. The total number of megacities in the world varies between different sources and their publication dates. The world had 33 according to UN DESA (in 2018), 25 according to the OCDE, 45 according to CityPopulation.de (in 2023), and 44 according to Demographia (in 2023). A good percentage of these urban agglomerations are in China and India . The other four countries with more than one megacity are Brazil , Japan , Pakistan , and
1911-467: Is establishment of airport clusters. Five main airports – Hong Kong International Airport , Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport , Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport , Macau International Airport and Zhuhai Jinwan Airport —as well as a group of feeder airports, will constitute a cluster that will be developed in two phases. Phase one, due for completion in 2025, will establish a Greater Bay Area airport conglomerate, with greater interaction between
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#17328474979662002-619: Is home to numerous universities with hospitals and academic centres. Among them are the “University Town” located on the Xiaoguwei Island in Guangzhou is considered as one of the “ten cores” of the “Science and Technology Innovation Corridor (STIC)”-blueprint for “China's Silicon Valley”. The most prominent among 12 universities of the “University Town” is Sun Yat-sen University which ranks 33rd in Asia and 182nd worldwide in 2023 in terms of aggregate performance ( THE + ARWU + QS ) as reported by
2093-560: Is in the Pearl River Delta along the South China coast. Mountain ranges and peninsulas shape the GBA. The province of Guangdong, for instance, possesses a coastline of 4,114 km (2,556 mi) due to the multiplicity of islands, bays and peninsulas. This multiplicity of small islands results from the Pearl River Delta , which is the convergent point of the East, North and West Rivers. It
2184-519: Is planned to strengthen its position as an international hub for financial and logistical services. Second, Macau. The former Portuguese colony is envisioned to develop into a centre for international tourism, leisure and cultural exchange, as well as a trading hub with Portuguese-speaking countries. Third, Guangzhou. The city is planned as a commerce, transportation and education hub. Fourth, Shenzhen, which will focus on innovation. With each city specialising further in their respective comparative advantages,
2275-572: Is rapidly evolving into the dynamic world-class city cluster connected with the modern transportation network featuring Huangpu Bridge , Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong High-speed Railway , Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (HZM Bridge), Nansha Bridge and Guangzhou-Shenzhen Intercity Railway . There are also massive ongoing infrastructure projects underway. Among them – construction of Guangzhou-Zhanjiang High-speed Railway, Gangzhou-Shenzhen Highspeed Railway and Guangzhou-Shanwei-Shantou High-speed Railway. Further step in GBA's infrastructure development
2366-547: Is stepping up efforts in I&;T development in eight major areas, including: increasing resources for R&D; pooling together technology talent; providing investment funding; providing technological research infrastructure; reviewing existing legislations and regulations; opening up government data; enhancing procurement arrangements; and strengthening popular science education. So far, the Government has invested over $ 100 billion. GBA
2457-564: Is therefore unsurprising that the network of bays and rivers has contributed to the archipelagic nature of many cities within the GBA. The cities of Guangzhou, Zhuhai, Hong Kong, and Macao for instance "each possess constituent and distinctly islanded territorial niches that are focused on particular industrial areas." The entire area has temperate springs (March to May), hot and wet summers (June to August), clear and cool autumns (September to November), and mild, rainy winters (December to February). The annual average temperature of Guangdong Province
2548-501: Is to open Guangdong's research and development (“R&D”) facilities and equipment to Hong Kong R&D institutions and support the relevant institutions to participate in national technological programmes. It provides support for technological infrastructure and technological innovation for industries including the development of the Hong Kong-Shenzhen Innovation and Technology Park; the five R&D centres in Hong Kong,
2639-633: The Aggregate Ranking of Top Universities . Numerous highly rated medical schools operate in the region, including the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University , a leading hospital with over 3,000 beds. Several world leaders in translational medicine are based in GBA, such as the lung cancer authority Professor Yi-Long Wu (vice-president of the Guangdong General Hospital and Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, and
2730-801: The Chinese University of Hong Kong (ranked 56 worldwide in 2021), the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (ranked 56 worldwide in 2021), the City University of Hong Kong (ranked 126 worldwide in 2021) and the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (ranked 129 worldwide in 2021). The government aims to strengthen I&T cooperation, develop international innovation platforms by encouraging Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao enterprises and scientific research institutes to participate in international I&T cooperation. The goal
2821-509: The People's Bank of China has introduced new measures aimed at liberalizing China's controls on foreign exchange and foreign currency remittance . The picture below shows the GDP development by city in the GBA, which has separated out into three groupings in terms of GDP, with Hong Kong, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou occupying a clear first tier, Foshan and Dongguan the second tier, and the remaining cities in
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2912-778: The United States . African megacities are present in Nigeria , Egypt , South Africa , Angola and the DRC ; European megacities are present in Russia , France , the United Kingdom , and Turkey (also in Asia ); megacities can be found in Latin America in the countries of Brazil, Mexico , Colombia , Peru , and Argentina . Some sources identify the Greater Tokyo Area as the largest megacity in
3003-703: The Wuling ( simplified Chinese : 五岭 ; traditional Chinese : 五嶺 ; pinyin : Wǔlǐng ; Jyutping : ng5 ling5 ; lit. 'Five Mountains'), is a major mountain range in Southern China that separates the Pearl River Basin from the Yangtze Valley and serves as the dividing line between south and central subtropical zones. The main range of Nanling Mountains stretch west to east about 600 kilometers (370 mi) from Guilin and Hezhou of
3094-453: The atmosphere of chemicals , particulate matter , or biological materials that cause harm or discomfort to humans or other living organisms, or damages the natural environment . Many urban areas have significant problems with smog , a type of air pollution derived from vehicle emissions from internal combustion engines and industrial fumes that react in the atmosphere with sunlight to form secondary pollutants that also combine with
3185-630: The English language government website of the State Council adopted the name "Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Bay Area". Just over two months later, on 1 July 2017, the "Framework Agreement on Deepening Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Cooperation in the Development of the Bay Area" ( 深化粵港澳合作 推進大灣區建設框架協議 ) was signed in Hong Kong . From then on, the term “Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area” has been widely used to refer to
3276-424: The GBA has the highest concentration of Fortune 500 companies in the country and houses a majority of China's most innovative technology companies, such as Huawei , ZTE , DJI , BYD , GAC Group , and Tencent (parent company of WeChat ). GBA has a rich ecosystem of startups, incubators, and accelerators in the fields of agile tech, biotech, medical tech, and innovation . For these reasons, many experts consider
3367-694: The GBA is healthcare. The Guangzhou International Bio-Technology Island (formerly known as Dove Island ) located in Huangpu district, Guangzhou is a biotech industrial zone in the region. Besides prioritizing innovation and high-tech industries, the GBA seeks to draw in foreign investors. For that purpose, The Opinions Concerning Financial Support for the Establishment of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area envisaged gradual financial liberalization. Additionally, In May 2020,
3458-709: The GBA is supposed to become a “vibrant world-class city cluster”. The Development Plan for the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area gave a vital impulse to the rapid advancement of urbanisation. It foresees establishing data ports, information networks, electronic payment, and telecommunications systems , and developing “ smart transport , smart energy, smart municipal management and smart communities”. The plan supports Hong Kong in consolidating and enhancing its status as international financial, transportation and trade centres as well as an international aviation hub, and strengthening its status as
3549-410: The GBA is what is considered to make it a crucial future location by experts. Since the GBA is building on a modern industrial infrastructure grown over decades, its future importance for developments in high-tech and digitalization are seen to be increasing. According to one expert, metro lines, high-speed lines, 5G internet, and intelligent and autonomous systems will be present in the GBA by 2022. GBA
3640-465: The GBA's GDP to overtake that of Germany in 2019. The region has a diverse economic outlook with industrial development zones in all eleven cities covering emerging industries, R&D and high-end sectors. Among the emerging industries, the Internet of Things (IoT) , Artificial Intelligence , hydrogen technologies , new mobility, and cleantech are most prominent. Another rapidly growing economic area in
3731-435: The GBA. With the rising economic importance, the GBA also underwent unprecedented urban growth over the past three decades. The total urban areas have expanded from 652.74 km2 in 1986 to 8137.09 km2 in 2017 (approximately 13 times), at an 8.28% average annual growth rate. Main driving factors of the urban expansions in the GBA were rapidly increasing GDP, income, and population. Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Foshan, and Dongguan recorded
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3822-471: The GBA. If achieved, they are expected to transform the GBA into an international first-class bay area in 2022 and evolve the region into an international first-class bay area by 2035. The progress will be achieved through deepening reform, prioritising innovation, accelerating connectivity, and improving the environmental footprint in the region. The Outline Development Plan foresees the implementation of several infrastructural projects. For instance, developing
3913-600: The Greater Bay Area consistently develops artificial intelligence , robotics , biomedical and healthcare technology, energy distribution systems and data connectivity sectors. These sectors are playing a key role in smart and sustainable urban development solutions. The main challenges faced by the GBA while advancing urban solutions is growing environmental and air pollution , improvements in cross-border mobility of people and goods, as well as capital flow , information , and data . In terms of environmental problems,
4004-573: The Greater Bay Area ranges from humid subtropical to tropical climate in the far south. There are a few mountain ranges collectively called the Nan Mountains (Nan Ling) as well as a few inactive volcanoes on Leizhou Peninsula . The Greater Bay Area consists of nine cities of Guangdong Province, which account for around 30% of the land mass of Guangdong Province, plus the Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macao. It
4095-594: The Hong Kong Science Park, Cyberport and the State Key Laboratories. Furthermore, it nurtures platforms for technological innovation for industries and manufacturing innovation centres. The program fosters the flow of technology talent and resources, facilitate R&D collaboration to allow eligible higher education institutions and R&D institutes in Hong Kong to apply for Mainland technology projects, and use relevant funding in both places according to
4186-857: The Nansha New Zone in Guangzhou (60 km), the Qianhai & Shekou Area in Shenzhen (28.2 km), and Hengqin New Zone in Zhuhai (28 km). The Guangdong FTZ is supposed to be the first mover and the pilot region designated by the Central Government as the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao in-depth cooperation demonstration zone and serves as a place to promote the service trade liberalization of the three regions..It
4277-513: The National Medical Products Administration has formulated the “Special Approval Procedure for Innovative Medical Devices” to encourage research and innovation of medical devices. As of June 2020, a total of 265 products have entered the special review list of innovative medical devices, of which 44 products are from companies in the Greater Bay Area, amounting to 19.0% of all selected domestic manufacturers. The Government
4368-753: The Pearl River Delta a third tier. It is accurate to view the GBA as having three leading economic cities of comparable importance. 22 companies from the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) make their mark on the 2024 Fortune Global 500 list, including 17 from Guangdong and 5 from Hong Kong. Guangzhou has become a key player in the NEV (New Energy Vehicles) industry, with the district's output expected to surpass 300,000 units annually by 2024. Major companies like XPeng Motors and GAC are expanding their R&D efforts, driving technological advancements in battery efficiency and autonomous driving. Shenzhen continues to lead in technological innovation, positioning itself as
4459-492: The absolute number of slum dwellers is rising. The majority of these are located in informal settlements which often lack sufficient quality housing, sanitation, drainage, water access, and officially recognized addresses. The increase in informal settlement population has been caused by massive migration, both internal and transnational, into cities, which has caused growth rates of urban populations and spatial concentrations not seen before in history. These issues raise problems in
4550-526: The annual cost of congestion for each driver was approximately $ 1,000 in very large cities and $ 200 in small cities. Traffic congestion is increasing in major cities and delays are becoming more frequent in smaller cities and rural areas. Urban sprawl , also known as suburban sprawl, is a multifaceted concept, which includes the spreading outwards of a city and its suburbs to its outskirts to low-density, auto-dependent development on rural land, with associated design features that encourage car dependency . As
4641-615: The census in the year 742 recorded in the New Book of Tang , 362,921 families with 1,960,188 persons were counted in Jingzhao Fu (京兆府), the metropolitan area including small cities in the vicinity of Chang'an. The medieval settlement surrounding Angkor , the one-time capital of the Khmer Empire which flourished between the 9th and 15th centuries, could have supported a population of up to one million people. From around 1825 to 1918 London
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#17328474979664732-477: The centre for international legal and dispute resolution services in the Asia‑Pacific region. To achieve this goal, the four designated “core cities” will be developed according to their respective comparative advantages: The Reform and Opening Up process triggered China's rapid economic rise over the past three decades. One of the pillars of this economic reform was the ' Open Door policy ' of 1978, paired with
4823-419: The community leading to an increase in average income, which in turn makes the area more desirable to other wealthier property or business owners, further pushing the living costs up. This process also tends to lead to a decrease in average family size in the area. This type of population change reduces industrial land use when it is redeveloped for commerce and housing. Air pollution is the introduction into
4914-455: The construction of the Nation's Science and Technology Industrial Innovation Centre and the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area, to provide support for the Nation to implement its innovation-driven development strategy. It aims to become a world leading innovation center for technological industries, a main science center, and the innovation leader in the world by 2050. The Greater Bay Area
5005-521: The country's total sales of Chinese patent medicine, ranking first in the country. The Greater Bay Area is also one of the production and research bases of chemical drugs. Leading enterprises such as Guangzhou Baiyunshan Pharmaceutical, Livzon Pharmaceutical Group, United Laboratories Internet, Bright Future have settled in the region, selling products nationwide. The Greater Bay Area is an important production and research base of medical devices in China. In 2019,
5096-624: The creation of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) . By allowing and encouraging foreign direct investments , these zones became engines of China's further economic, social, urban, and political development. The first SEZs were established in 1979, starting with Shenzhen next to Hong Kong and Zhuhai adjacent to Macao , pioneering experiments devised to exploit the capability of differences of each city. As accelerators of economic growth, these zones were characterized by skilled labour and an abundance of resources. There are currently over 2000 so-called "economic development zones" (or EDZs) in China. While
5187-669: The development of the Greater Bay Area (GBA) is laid out in ‘Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area’ released by the Chinese central government in February 2019. The ambitious goal foresees a linkage of the nine cities in Guangdong province's Pearl River Delta , Hong Kong and Macau into an economically integrated world-class business hub. The document stipulates crucial milestones for
5278-416: The early 2000s, Chinese scholars began using the term “Greater Pearl River Delta” (GPRD) which described the 9 + 2 city agglomeration that encompassed post-handover Hong Kong and Macao. The GPRD was conceptualized as a series of lesser cities as industrial nodes with specialist functions clustering around two prominent cores – Guangzhou, the provincial capital, and Shenzhen. In 2003, Guangdong province advocated
5369-581: The eastern Guangxi to Ganzhou of the southern Jiangxi , north to south about 200 kilometres (120 mi) from Yongzhou and Chenzhou of the southern Hunan to Qingyuan and Shaoguan of the northern Guangdong ; With their branches, the mountains run west to east 1,400 kilometers (870 mi). There are trough basins in the Nanling; most of the western basins in Nanling Mountains are composed of limestone , where karst regions are located. Most of
5460-538: The eastern basins are made up of red sandstone , where danxia landform areas are found. The Nanling are boundaries between the four provinces of Guangdong, Guangxi, Hunan and Jiangxi, and also the cultural boundaries. To the south of the mountains are Lingnan culture areas. The Nanling is a corridor where Chinese ethnic groups migrate and also the land of national amalgamation . In the Nanling, there form trough corridors, tectonic fault basins or watersheds, where are relatively low and not difficult to climb, between
5551-519: The environmental impact of rapid urbanisation and infrastructure development, the Outline Development Plan includes ecological conservation as well as green and low-carbon development models. The end goal stipulated by the document is to transform the GBA into a services-oriented economy. To realise this end goal, the four designated “core cities'' will be developed according to their respective comparative advantages. First, Hong Kong. It
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#17328474979665642-406: The equator. GBA receives abundant amount of precipitation throughout the year. GBA has a total population of approximately 86.17 million people (5% of China's total population). The population is expected to reach 100 million people by 2030. The Greater Bay Area is a critical export hub, accounting for 37% of China's exports . This is due to the large airports and railway stations connected by
5733-549: The facilities. Phase 2 aims to lift all the airports to a world-class level by 2035 with "safe, green, smart, human and synergetic qualities". The Hong Kong section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link (XRL) connects to the national high-speed rail network, significantly shortening the travelling time between Hong Kong and Shenzhen, Guangzhou and other cities in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region, and reinforcing Hong Kong's position as
5824-522: The food and construction sectors, the automotive and aircraft industries, manufacturers of high-end medical products, as well as IT companies and software and hardware producers. Building upon the years-long manufacturing traditions in the region, the Outline Development Plan sets the goals of creating clusters for advanced equipment manufacturing in Zhuhai and Foshan , and high-end manufacturing industries in Shenzhen and Dongguan . The industrial tradition of
5915-588: The government to Ravenna and Rome's population declined to a mere 20,000 during the Early Middle Ages , reducing the sprawling city to groups of inhabited buildings interspersed among large areas of ruins and vegetation. Baghdad was likely the largest city in the world from shortly after its foundation in 762 AD until the 930s, with some estimates putting its population at over one million. Chinese capital cities Chang'an and Kaifeng also experienced huge population booms during prosperous empires. According to
6006-408: The high (75–85%) urbanization levels of North America and Western Europe . Since the 2000s, the largest megacity has been the Greater Tokyo Area . The population of this urban agglomeration includes areas such as Yokohama and Kawasaki , and is estimated to be between 37 and 38 million. This variation in estimates can be accounted for by different definitions of what the area encompasses. While
6097-412: The idea of “Pan-PRD” as an even more extensive regional construct that comprised nine neighboring provinces to promote economic cooperation. A somewhat similar idea should later be mentioned in the English version of China's 13th Five-Year Plan , taking the Pearl River Delta and including the larger province of Guangdong. Four years later finally, on 13 April 2017, the heading of a piece of news released at
6188-447: The least-urbanized continents, Asia and Africa . Surveys and projections indicate that all urban growth over the next 25 years will be in developing countries . One billion people, almost one-seventh of the world's population, now live in shanty towns . In many poor countries, overcrowded slums exhibit high rates of disease due to unsanitary conditions, malnutrition, and lack of basic health care. By 2030, over 2 billion people in
6279-567: The mid 1970s the term was coined by urbanist Janice Perlman referring to the phenomenon of very large urban agglomerations. In 1800, only 3% of the world's population lived in cities, a figure that rose to 47% by the end of the twentieth century. In 1950, there were 83 cities with populations exceeding one million; by 2007, this number had risen to 468. The UN forecasts that today's urban population of 3.2 billion will rise to nearly 5 billion by 2030, when three out of five, or 60%, of people will live in cities. This increase will be most dramatic on
6370-460: The most remarkable urbanization changes, while Hong Kong and Macau had respectively lower magnitudes of change (118.53 and 6.98 km2, respectively). Due to its industrial strength, advanced infrastructure, and vast human resources, GBA is an ideal place for developing and implementing smart city solutions. Thanks to the highly connected and innovation-driven entrepreneurial landscape of I&T trailblazers like Guangzhou , Shenzhen and Hong Kong ,
6461-594: The natural gorge channels and the river systems in the north and south of the Nanling are natural channels, people-to-people exchanges are easy. Since the Qin dynasty , from the Central Plains into Lingnan (the south of the Nanling) there have been five ancient roads, which are YuechengLing Road ( 越城嶺道 ), Mengzhuling Road ( 萌渚嶺道 ), Qitianling Road ( 騎田嶺道 ), Lingling-Guiyang Path ( 零陵桂陽嶠道 ) and Dayuling Road ( 大庾嶺道 ). At
6552-621: The period of the Republic and later of the Empire , Rome was the largest , wealthiest, and most politically important city of the ancient world, rulling over Europe, Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often stated that its population passed one million people by the end of the 1st century BC, however, its sometimes debated about whether the population actually reached such a large size. Rome's population started declining in 402 AD when Flavius Honorius , Western Roman Emperor from 395 to 423, moved
6643-602: The political, social, and economic arenas. People who live in slums or informal settlements often have minimal or no access to education, healthcare, or the urban economy. As with any large concentration of people, there is usually crime. High population densities often result in higher crime rates, as visibly seen in growing megacities such as Karachi , Delhi , Cairo , Rio de Janeiro , and Lagos . Megacities often have significant numbers of homeless people. The actual legal definition of homelessness varies from country to country, or among different entities or institutions in
6734-587: The populations. Another list defines megacities as urban agglomerations instead of metropolitan areas. As of 2021, there are 28 megacities by this definition, like Tokyo. Other sources list Nagoya and the Rhein-Ruhr as megacities. According to the United Nations, the proportion of urban dwellers living in slums or informal settlements decreased from 47 percent to 37 percent in the developing world between 1990 and 2005. However, due to rising population,
6825-603: The prefectures of Tokyo , Chiba , Kanagawa , and Saitama are commonly included in statistical information, the Japan Statistics Bureau only includes the area within 50 kilometers of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Offices in Shinjuku , thus arriving at a smaller population estimate. A characteristic issue of megacities is the difficulty in defining their outer limits and accurately estimating
6916-583: The primary emissions to form photochemical smog . The sheer size and complexity of megacities gives rise to enormous social and environmental challenges. Whether megacities can develop sustainably depends to a large extent on how they obtain, share, and manage their energy and material resources. There are correlations between electricity consumption , heating and industrial fuel use, ground transportation energy use, water consumption , waste generation , and steel production in terms of level of consumption and how efficiently they use resources. Megacities are
7007-428: The region an emerging Silicon Valley of Asia. Given traditional divisions between the provincial and municipal governments and business elites, there are some opinions that the ambitious idea behind the GBA might be difficult to implement. The "Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area" is sometimes confused with the area of the Pearl River Delta and Guangdong province. While the geographical term “ Pearl River Delta ”
7098-406: The region in officially translated sources. English-language sources tend to simply refer to the area as “Greater Bay Area” or GBA for short. Its geographical makeup, the cities it encompasses and its population centers are detailed in the section below. The GBA is located in the southern coastal area of China (21◦320–24◦260N, 111◦200–115◦240E). Located in the very south part of China, the climate of
7189-651: The region. The total length of all cities' metro lines is now 924.8 km (574.6 mi). Being part of the Silk Road as well as Chinese international marine gates and trade hotspot for the last two thousand years, GBA features rich palette of cultural and folk traditions, languages, and food. Among them, a distinct European ambience – the Cantonese culture with its center in Guangzhou (also known as Canton and formerly Romanized as Kwangchow), Macau , eastern Guangxi , and Hong Kong . Megacity A megacity
7280-462: The regulations. It enhances the management of cross-boundary use of medical data and bio-samples necessary for R&D collaboration projects, enables Hong Kong R&D institutes in Guangdong to enjoy the same treatment as other Mainland R&D institutes. Additionally, it provides facilitation measures relating to immigration, etc., to encourage exchanges between technological and academic talent. GBA
7371-527: The same country or region. In 2002, research showed that children and families were the largest growing segment of the homeless population in the United States, and this has presented new challenges, especially in services, to agencies. In the US, the government asked many major cities to come up with a ten-year plan to end homelessness. One of the results of this was a " Housing first " solution, rather than to have
7462-498: The same time, many tributaries of the Yangtze system and Pearl River system have also formed west to east passages. The mountains forming the ranges are generally of moderate altitude, the highest point being the summit of Kitten Mountain at 2,142 meters (7,028 ft). The Nanling mountains are a regional biodiversity hot spot for endemic species of plants , birds and amphibians . The five mountain ranges that make up
7553-600: The surrounding metropolitan regions following a massive earthquake in 2010. Fictional planet-wide megacities ( ecumenopoleis ) include Trantor in Isaac Asimov 's Foundation series of books and Coruscant (population two trillion) in the Star Wars universe. Nan Mountains The Nanling ( simplified Chinese : 南岭 ; traditional Chinese : 南嶺 ; pinyin : Nánlǐng ; Jyutping : naam4 ling5 ; lit. 'Southern Mountains'), also known as
7644-400: The term "economic development zone" is the official and literal translation of the Chinese term "经济开发区 ( pinyin : jīngjì kāifāqū )", it may be better translated as "economic clusters" in English. Among these clusters, Guangzhou Economic and Technological Development Zone , Foshan National High-Tech Industrial Development Zone and Zhaoqing High-Tech Industrial Development Zone are located within
7735-441: The total output value of the medical device industry in the Greater Bay Area reached US$ 18.51 billion, accounting for 16.67% of the national total and ranking first in the country. Meanwhile, the Greater Bay Area is also an innovation highland for medical devices. Innovation platforms such as high-performance medical device innovation centers have been set up in the Greater Bay Area, accelerating local industrial innovation. Since 2014,
7826-674: The world will be living in slums . Over 90% of the urban population of Ethiopia , Malawi and Uganda , three of the world's most rural countries, already live in slums. By 2025, Asia alone will have at least 30 megacities, including Mumbai , India (2015 population of 20.75 million people), Shanghai , China (2015 population of 35.5 million people), Delhi , India (2015 population of 21.8 million people), Tokyo , Japan (2015 population of 38.8 million people) and Seoul , South Korea (2015 population of 25.6 million people). In Africa, Lagos , Nigeria has grown from 300,000 in 1950 to an estimated 21 million today. For almost five hundred years, during
7917-464: The world's 50 "superstar cities". Surrounding the Pearl River Delta with a total area of 56,000 km (comparable in size to Croatia ), it is the largest and the richest economic region in South China . The GBA's combined regional GDP was RMB¥13 trillion (US$ 1.8 trillion) in 2022, which was equivalent to over 10 percent of GDP for all of China. As one of China's most vibrant and important regions,
8008-459: The world, while some others give the title to the Pearl River Delta in China. The term "megacity" entered common use in the late 19th or early 20th centuries; one of the earliest documented uses of the term was by the University of Texas in 1904. Initially the United Nations used the term to describe cities of 8 million or more inhabitants, but now uses the threshold of 10 million. In
8099-413: Was coined in 1947 reflecting the region's rich and diverse local histories, the term “Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area” refers to a much larger area. Within the discourse on regional planning and mega-city positioning, the Pearl River Delta's spatial structure has been contoured and realigned according to changing administrative boundaries, economic productivity, and infrastructural connectivity. In
8190-603: Was published by the Guangdong Government in December 2017, aiming to build a region approximately 180 kilometers long starting from the Guangzhou-Foshan border in the north, running through downtown Guangzhou, Songshan Lake in Dongguan, and downtown Shenzhen, to Dapeng New District in Shenzhen in the south into the core area of GBA's National Independent Innovation Demonstration Zone. The goal is to give all-around support to
8281-421: Was the largest city in the world, with the population growing rapidly; it was the first city to reach a population of over 5 million in 1900. In 1950, New York City was the only urban area with a population of over 10 million. Geographers had identified 25 such areas as of October 2005, as compared with 19 megacities in 2004 and only nine in 1985. This increase has happened as the world's population moves towards
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