Shanghai's expansion is going to be achieved through railway systems that will connect the city to workers from other provinces. There are currently 19 projects ongoing.
The government wants to build Shanghai as an "excellent global city" by improving access but not to overpopulate the already high population of 24 million.
City clusters will be built instead to expand the city. With the addition of 30 urban areas, the total city population will increase to 50 million.
This will be accomplished through the Yangtze Delta Cluster, where an extensive high-speed railway system will integrate urban areas. The delta cluster is just one of the many projects for the country's urbanization.
The blueprint of these urban clusters was issued by the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Housing. The goal of the blueprint is to attract high-end professionals to work in the urban clusters and revitalize innovation and the overall economy.
"Adding more density to the cities won't work anymore," said Alain Bertaud, a senior research scholar at New York University and a long-time consultant in China.
With the increases in property prices in Beijing and Shanghai, the blueprint intends to attract a large labor force without them exhausting city resources by providing a more convenient transport system.
Yao Zhiyong, an associate professor of industrial economics at Fudan University, said, "The blueprint shows policymaker's intention to let Shanghai play a core role in leading the Yangtze River Delta, transferring its industrial capacity and experience to more neighboring cities in the country's broad supply-side structural reform."
He added, "A coordinated Yangtze River Delta will also set examples for the rest of the country by extending its influence and experience into more inland cities."