When you think of a street, what images come to mind?

The streets are lined with snack shops that have been around since I was a kid; just outside the neighborhood, there’s a farmers’ market, a school, and a supermarket, and you often see elderly people sitting under the trees along the road, chatting and enjoying the shade…

The first images that come to mind of a street are just like this—full of the hustle and bustle of everyday life.

However, there is a group of streets that completely overturns this conventional perception.

Covering a mere 20 square kilometers, they generate an annual GDP exceeding 250 billion yuan; with a GDP output of nearly 900 million yuan per square kilometer, their industrial clustering capacity leads the way on the west bank of the Pearl River; they are home to the headquarters of numerous industry-leading companies and over 50 “gazelle” enterprises…

They truly let their actions speak louder than words—a single street has outshone an entire city.

The key to building a "super street" boils down to two factors: the return of manufacturing to urban centers and technological innovation.

Each super street

is a unique masterpiece

Streets are the most common grassroots administrative units in cities and towns. Today, an increasing number of extraordinary “basic units” are emerging in the heart of cities.

Some are home to hundreds or even thousands of tech companies; others have become hubs for corporate headquarters through technological innovation; still others are known as the “strongholds” of industry champions.

The unique style and character of each super street set them apart.

Standing on the Shoulders of Giants

In the Greater Bay Area, several streets have gained renown far and wide: Yuehai Street in Shenzhen, Liede and Luogang Streets in Guangzhou, Guicheng Street in Foshan, and Nancheng Street in Dongguan.

There are too many remarkable achievements to list, so today we’ll focus on one of them—Guangzhou’s Luogang Subdistrict.

Located in Guangzhou’s Huangpu District, Luogang Subdistrict accounts for less than 16% of the district’s total area yet hosts 80% of the district’s listed companies’ headquarters. The number of listed companies here represents 30% of the city’s total.

Behind these achievements lies the “giant” supporting Luogang Subdistrict: Guangzhou Science City.

Guangzhou Science City boasts an extraordinary economic density, with the headquarters of companies such as China Southern Power Grid, Cedar Holdings, Duoyi Network, and Skyworth’s South China headquarters all concentrated here.

Rapid development requires a steady stream of momentum, and “urban renewal” is the source of that momentum.

By demolishing inefficient shanties, small workshops, and hardware stores to create space for emerging industries, the area has achieved a post-renovation GDP per square kilometer of 13 billion yuan—a figure that leads the nation by a wide margin.

To better serve technology-driven enterprises, the district has established the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area National Technology Innovation Center and a National-Level Human Resources Industrial Park, mobilizing resources to build an innovative industrial cluster characterized by high technology content, high value-added, and low energy consumption.

Planning Creates the "Raw Jade Road"

There is a road in Suzhou where, if traffic jams occur, IT companies across the Yangtze River Delta might be up in arms!

This is by no means an exaggeration, because along this 14-kilometer stretch, world-renowned companies such as Bosch Automotive, Emerson, Andrew, AU Optronics, and Samsung are lined up one after another.

This is Suhong Road in the Suzhou Industrial Park.

As is well known, the success of the Suzhou Industrial Park is inseparable from the “30 million” planning initiative that paved the way.

The source of Suhong Road’s productive vitality also stems from a single plan.

In the early planning stages of the Suzhou Industrial Park, Suhong Road was designated as the main transportation artery of the industrial zone.

Driven by the goals and aspirations of “transformation and upgrading, and smart manufacturing for the future,” Suhong Road attracted the attention of numerous high-tech enterprises in the optoelectronics and IT industries as early as the beginning of the 21st century.

As businesses attracted more businesses, the advantages of industrial clustering gradually became apparent. The equipment, technology, and workforce required by enterprises could all be sourced within the region, leading to significant improvements in both production and service efficiency.

Originally regarded as the backbone of the industrial zone, Suhong Road is now striving for innovation.

From Siemens and Samsung to Philips, numerous multinational corporations have established R&D centers within the park, and the atmosphere of “innovation” and “creativity” along the road is growing significantly.

Small Businesses Unleash Great Energy

Zhejiang has long been renowned for its “private enterprises.” Hangzhou’s Xixing Subdistrict and Ningbo’s Panhu Subdistrict have harnessed the vitality of small businesses to the fullest, giving rise to the concept of “super subdistricts.”

Ningbo’s Panhu Subdistrict currently hosts 17 municipal-level or higher “single-champion” and model enterprises, establishing itself as a “stronghold” for industry leaders.

Hangzhou’s Xixing Subdistrict is home to the headquarters of Hikvision, a leading surveillance technology company; Geely, a leading private-sector automaker; and Leapmotor, a new force in the automotive industry. It has also nurtured 52 gazelle enterprises.

To build a modern industrial system, Ningbo’s Panhu Subdistrict has leveraged startup accelerators such as the China Academy of Engineering Physics (CAEP) Ningbo Military-to-Civilian Technology Park and the Ningbo Branch of the Tsinghua University Yangtze River Delta Research Institute to cultivate and attract over 30 high-tech enterprises.

At the same time, a number of enterprises have been selected for Ningbo’s “Science and Technology Innovation 2025” initiative.

For small enterprises seeking to build the same level of competitiveness as large enterprises, one of the most critical factors is robust technical capabilities.

Each year, Panhu Subdistrict formulates economic support measures based on industrial priorities and the actual needs of enterprises, encouraging companies to increase R&D investment and engage in industry-academia-research collaboration.

Seizing the opportunity presented by the creation of a provincial-level “Thousand Talents Plan Industrial Park,” Panhu Subdistrict has made every effort to attract top overseas talent, national-level leaders, and leading entrepreneurial and innovation teams.

This has led to the establishment of 10 academician and postdoctoral workstations, as well as 45 national high-tech enterprises.

Of course, the defining characteristics of a “super sub-district” extend beyond these three aspects: “the industrial park is the industrial ecosystem,” “upstairs and downstairs represent upstream and downstream,” and the “specialized, refined, distinctive, and innovative” enterprises lining a single street…

Each "Super Subdistrict" has its own unique character.

Behind the "Super Subdistricts"

What is the core secret

What commonalities exist behind the rise of these "super streets" and "top-tier streets"?

In summary, these include the return of high-end manufacturing to urban centers, the urbanization of science and technology innovation, and the organic integration of science, industry, city, and people.

Two key factors stand out: manufacturing and technological innovation.

Nancheng Subdistrict in Dongguan has fully realized the synergy of “technological innovation + advanced manufacturing.” It has established nine major industrial parks, including Tianan Digital City and Lianke International Information Industrial Park, attracting eight Fortune 500 multinational corporations and hosting over 300 national high-tech enterprises.

Regarding the future of manufacturing, there are two distinct viewpoints: one advocates for “relocating from urban areas to industrial parks,” while the other promotes “bringing industry back into the city.”

Compared to cities that vigorously promote “relocating from urban areas to industrial parks,” those calling for “bringing industry back to the city” are actually manufacturing powerhouses like Guangzhou and Shenzhen.

However, in such large cities where land is at a premium, is the return of industry to the city center even feasible?

In fact, the industries capable of “returning to the city” are mostly urban industries—not traditional industrial forms—but rather enterprises focused on low-carbon sustainability, high precision and technology, and high value-added production.

Take, for example, a mid-to-high-end auxiliary power supply company with a production area of 15,000 square meters and an annual output value of 300 million yuan. Although rental costs in the central urban area are high, the market there is larger, so the company can fully absorb the land costs.

In the past, companies might have only located their R&D centers and sales teams in the city center.

However, with the advancement of the "industry back to the city" initiative, high-end production lines are also beginning to return to urban areas.

The manufacturing returning to the city is largely centered on sectors such as next-generation information technology and biopharmaceuticals—industries typically characterized by high technological content, high economic density, and strong competitiveness.

Consequently, as the city’s GDP per unit of land increases, the issue of industrial hollowing-out has also been effectively addressed.