Guangzhou’s demographic trends

The interaction between cities

The plan proposes to strengthen coordinated development within city clusters and motivate population transfers from large cities to the small and mid-sized ones.

It particularly encourages people to live in Foshan , Zhongshan, Zhuhai, Jiangmen, Zhaoqing, and Huizhou. In fact, cities like Foshan, Zhongshan, and Qingyuan have already begun to take multiple measures to enhance their connectedness to Guangzhou since 2017, which aims to draw more talents and innovation resources through their interactions with the provincial capital.

The western extension of the Guangzhou Metro Line 7 is under construction and will stretch from Guangzhou's Huangpu district all the way to Foshan's Shunde district; while the proposed southern extension of Guangzhou Metro Line 18 will enable Zhongshan residents to travel to Guangzhou within half an hour via subway.

Hu Gang believed that, with the improvement of traffic infrastructure in Guangzhou and its neighboring cities, the flow of population and talents between these cities will become even more frequent, and the regional factor mobility within the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao greater bay area will be significantly enhanced.

"Tokyo has a population of 38 million. But many of them live in peripheral areas like Chiba prefecture rather than the downtown area, which constitutes the concept of a 'Greater Tokyo Metropolitan Area'. Guangzhou and Foshan have already been largely integrated as one. As Guangzhou becomes increasingly connected to other cities in all aspects, the boundaries between cities will be blurred. By then, the so-called 'Greater Guangzhou Metropolitan Area' will come into being as well," said Hu.