Shenzhen Urban Index debuts at CMEE

The "Global Urban Governance Initiative — Shenzhen Urban Index (SUI)" was pre-released at the 2025 China Marine Economy Expo (CMEE) on Oct. 29. 

Dr. Shan Liang, director of the Shenzhen Center for Planning, Land and Development Research, presentss the Shenzhen Urban Index (SUI)'s construction logic and its application scenarios at the 2025 Marine Center City Forum. Photos from Dute News

The SUI aims to distill the "Shenzhen experience" into a replicable Chinese solution, contributing a theoretical framework and a more complete body of knowledge for governance of the world's megacities. At the 2025 Marine Center City Forum, Dr. Shan Liang, director of the Shenzhen Center for Planning, Land and Development Research, presented the SUI’s construction logic and its application scenarios.

From the perspective of global governance’s urban chapter, the Earth has entered the "Anthropocene — the Urban Age," in which human activity has become the primary force shaping the planet and cities are the focal point of contemporary human civilization. Global urban governance is therefore an essential part of advancing global governance initiatives. The SUI is intended to offer a new, multidimensional tool for assessing urban development, promoting dialogue and shared progress among cities worldwide.

In July 2025, the Central Urban Work Conference called for "the construction of modern cities of the people that are innovative, desirable to live in, beautiful, resilient, culturally advanced, and smart , thereby forging a new path for urban modernization with Chinese characteristics," laying out a new blueprint and direction for urban development. Following this guidance, the SUI goes beyond traditional indices that measure only GDP or skyline metrics, placing greater emphasis on a city’s innovation vitality, human-centered qualities, ecological sustainability, and global connectivity.

Shan said that in the 45 years since the establishment of the special economic zone, Shenzhen has developed into an internationally influential metropolis and achieved leapfrog growth, creating a remarkable chapter in the history of urban development. Because Shenzhen has often been "out of sync" with other Chinese cities — facing problems and challenges earlier — it has become a frontline testing ground for China’s urban transformation and has offered a "Shenzhen solution" to the nation. The SUI aims to elevate Shenzhen’s experience into a systematic model, converting development facts into guiding ideas. The launch of the SUI is intended to provide the world with a "Chinese solution" and a "Shenzhen paradigm" for observing and evaluating the future development of cities.

How the SUI is calculated. 

What is the SUI? Shan noted that the SUI is an international public good contributed to the world under the Global Governance Initiative framework. It embodies three specific values:

1. Enrich the “urban chapter” of global governance through Chinese-style urban modernization practice.

2. Provide reference cases for countries worldwide — especially cities in the Global South — to help close the North–South development gap.

3. Promote Shenzhen’s upgrade from a “special economic zone” to a “leader in global urban development thinking,” significantly enhancing Shenzhen’s international image and voice.

The core idea of the SUI is being nature-friendly and people-centered. Its value dimensions are “innovation, livability, beauty, resilience, civilization, and intelligence,” which collectively reflect China’s urban value propositions, Shenzhen’s experience in building the city, and the consensus of global cities.

SUI expression system

The SUI is not a “scoreboard” for competition among cities but an “observatory” of urban evolution. It aims to provide a comparable and learnable common metric for cities at different development stages and cultural backgrounds, promoting the exchange and sharing of best practices. Therefore, the SUI is more than a city ranking. It has a broader expression system that includes an agenda framework, an index ranking, an award, a case collection, an exhibition, and multiple forums.

Typical features of SUI

The SUI carries “Chinese characteristics” and a “Shenzhen gene.” Its notable qualities are innovativeness, futurity, global reach, regional focus, and integrated land–sea coordination.

●Emphasis on new quality productive forces: Its innovativeness is shown by linking multidimensional indicators through urban innovation.

● Integration of dynamic trends: Its futurity is reflected in the use of spatio-temporal panel data that incorporate development trends and rates of change.

●Engagement with Global South cities: Its global reach is demonstrated by covering cities in the Global South, emerging economies, and rising cities in developing countries.

●Strengthening urban-cluster collaboration: Its regional focus appears in indicators that highlight interaction and cooperation within city clusters and metropolitan areas.

●Attention to marine development and governance: Its land–sea coordination is shown by dedicated indicators for coastal cities, integrated with dimensions such as livability, resilience, and beauty.

How is the SUI used?

As an international public good for the world, the SUI is more than an index: it is a platform to share the Shenzhen solution, promote Chinese ideas, and facilitate global dialogue. It provides a new, multidimensional tool for assessing urban development and promoting dialogue and shared progress among cities worldwide.

●Monitoring tool for urban indicators: Assess urban development status, accurately identify strengths and weaknesses, dynamically update strategies for building world-class benchmark cities, and provide scientific support for policymaking and resource allocation.

●Reference benchmark for development paradigms: Move from following to leading — offer a replicable evaluation framework and practical pathways for fast-urbanizing countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

●Action framework for urban development: Centered on the concept of a “modern, people-centered city,” translate the vision of Chinese-style urban modernization into an action framework that is understandable and applicable globally.

●Open and inclusive discourse platform: Bearing the Chinese philosophical idea of “leading with a grand vision so others follow,” the SUI aims to attract global city participation and sharing with an open, inclusive stance, and to promote a fairer, more reasonable global governance system.