On May 24,2025, at the Tongji Planning Practice Symposium: Addressing Planning Transformation and 2025 Technical Exchange jointly organized by Shanghai Tongji Urban Planning & Design Research Institute Co, Ltd. and Tongji University School of Architecture and Urban Planning, Dean Zhang Shangwu officially released the "China Metropolitan Area Comprehensive Competitiveness Report" (hereinafter referred to as the "Report").

The Report was jointly developed by Shanghai Tongji Urban Planning and Design Research Institute Co., Ltd., the School of Architecture and Urban Planning at Tongji University, and the School of Architecture and Urban Planning at Shenzhen University. The joint publishing entities include the Shanghai and Yangtze River Delta Research Center of Tongji Planning Institute, the Collaborative Innovation Center for Intelligent Planning in the Yangtze River Delta City Cluster, and the Key Laboratory of Intelligent Spatial Planning Technology under the Ministry of Natural Resources. The Xinhua Index Research Institute provided support for its release.

Among the contributors, Professor Zhang Yishuai from our School of Planning served as Executive Editor of the Report, while Vice President Professor Yang Xiaochun acted as consulting expert. Faculty members Chen Hongsheng, Zhang Yan, Gu Zhihui, Gao Wenxiu, and Zhang Li participated in its compilation. The report contains three key components: First, it comprehensively identifies the spatial scope of major metropolitan areas nationwide through analyzing economic functional networks and their adjacent transportation corridors. Second, it establishes a comprehensive competitiveness evaluation system for metropolitan areas across five dimensions—hard power development, soft power development, central city competitiveness, integration level, and balanced development—evaluating both overall performance and relative rankings of major metropolitan areas nationwide from both macro and micro perspectives. Finally, it assesses the integration level of metropolitan areas through the lens of factor mobility.

The Report focuses on foundational research in cross-regional spatial planning for metropolitan areas, offering significant theoretical and practical value for related land-use planning practices. Moving forward, subsequent metropolitan area series reports will be grounded in China's developmental realities, promoting the close integration of theoretical research and planning practices. These efforts aim to continuously enhance spatial planning capabilities for urban agglomerations and metropolitan areas across China, thereby contributing to the great journey of achieving "Chinese-style modernization".

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China Metropolitan Circle Comprehensive Competitiveness Report

(Excerpt from the "Tongji Planning TJUPDI" WeChat account)