1.21 million commute across cities in GBA

Liu Xuhe, who lives in Tangxia Township in neighboring Dongguan City, got used to ordering ride-sharing services to commute on weekdays between his home and workplace in Longhua District, Shenzhen.

“I am planning to purchase a new energy car with a Shenzhen license plate,” he told Shenzhen Evening News. “I am also looking forward to the day when I can ride an intercity metro line.”

Liu is among millions of commuters across the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA).

According to a report released by Guangzhou authorities recently, the total number of commuters across nine GBA cities rocketed to 1.21 million last year, with 42% traveling between Guangzhou, Foshan and Zhaoqing, and 40% between Shenzhen, Dongguan and Huizhou.

Daily average passenger trips within the GBA reached 6.62 million, up by 3.3% year on year, accounting for 75% of the total travel volume among 21 cities in Guangdong Province, the report said.

“Cross-city commuting has become common in the GBA, as it brings residents more job opportunities. It also reflects the further integration of the GBA,” Sun Bushu, a renowned urban research expert, was quoted as saying.

Among GBA cities, Foshan and Guangzhou recorded the highest volume of intercity passenger trips per day with an average of 1.74 million. Behind the figure lies the two cities’ similarities in dialect, culture and history, as well as joint efforts from both governments.

The two cities recently issued a five-year urban integration planning, which highlights mutual recognition of the cumulative number of years for household registration, citizen cards and social security cards. They will also actively promote the sharing of talents and educational resources.

Foshan and Guangzhou’s urban integration sets a good example for Shenzhen, Dongguan and Huizhou to form a metropolitan circle.

The three cities can learn from Foshan and Guangzhou in terms of building intercity metro lines and developing industrial and land planning as a whole, as pointed out by Lin Jiang, deputy director of Sun Yat-sen University’s Center for Studies of Hong Kong, Macao and Pearl River Delta.

The construction of the metropolitan circle has pushed ahead steadily. According to provincial guidelines on national land planning of metropolitan circles in Guangdong, a regional service center is set to be established in the Fenggang and Pinghu area as well as the Dayun, Pingshan and Huiyang area.

The high-standard public service coordination demonstration zone will make full use of Shenzhen’s high-quality public service, technologies and talents, and Dongguan and Huizhou’s land resources and supporting facilities.

In the future, the Shenzhen-Dongguan-Huizhou metropolitan circle is expected to further unleash the cities’ potential in talents, capital and innovation, the News said.