Shanghai boosts friendship with global cities

At Friday's forum, smart city development was one of the key topics for discussions.

Morero said Johannesburg, the largest city in South Africa with a population of over 4 million, has been learning from Shanghai in smart city development since 2009 when the two cities established friendly exchange relations.

Since 2011, Johannesburg has started to build an extensive internet network consisting of both broadband Wi-Fi and free hotspots in public spaces. The city has also implemented a smart program in which people can pay for municipal services through smartphones, which is one of the things they learned from Shanghai, according to Morero.

Morero said they also hope to develop technology for preventing crimes, as well as enhancing the entire communication network for transport, fire, and emergency management systems.

Wajenda Chambeshi, director of International Relations, Policy and Protocol of Los Angeles, focused more on working to implement Los Angeles's partnership with Shanghai in building a green shipping corridor between the world's two major ports.

"I heard Shanghai is even way ahead of Los Angeles. They have automated the ports with the containers. They are controlled remotely, which is something I can continue sharing with my team in Los Angeles to make our partnership more implementable," Chambeshi said.

Representatives also shared their experience of exploring the city of Shanghai.

While Radich said he was most impressed by Shanghai's livability, Morero mentioned Shanghai's great accessibility of its public transport and smart technology. The senior official of Johannesburg also showed great interest in Shanghai's waste management.

As for Chambeshi, he was most interested in Shanghai's embracing of artificial intelligence for its urban development.

During his visit to the Shanghai Urban City Planning Exhibition Center on Thursday, Chambeshi said he learned of how Shanghai is going to integrate the use of AI to make the people's lives better in the next 50 years.

"Shanghai has been very AI open for me personally," said Chambeshi, who was visiting Shanghai for the first time.

Above all, Chambeshi, who has managed to take the city's subway on his own and did some shopping during one night in Shanghai, said he was impressed by the safety in the city.

"You can walk any time of the night, and see how it's organized and planned," he said.