This book makes two key contributions to urban studies. First, it emphasizes the ongoing strategic and economic relevance of cities—particularly global cities—vis-à-vis nation-states in an age of globalization and great-power competition. The author highlights how smart cities are crucial to regaining economic leadership in this transformative era. Second, it prompts a systematic examination of whether Smart City 2.0 can surpass traditional global cities—long dominated by finance and advanced producer services—to become the next generation of global hubs. This perspective challenges scholars to reconsider the spatial dynamics of economic agglomeration and dispersion across diverse urban models. A valuable resource for those engaged in contemporary urban research.

—Chen Xiangming, Distinguished Professor of Global Urban Studies, Trinity College (USA), School of Social Development and Public Policy, Fudan University

Ge Tianren, a Tsinghua-Harvard Joint Program Ph.D., is a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Public Policy at Tsinghua University and a professor at the School of Political Science and International Relations at Tongji University. He also serves as a council member of the Chinese Political Science Association. His main research areas include Chinese politics, national governance, digital city, and AI society governance. He has published three books and one translated work. He previously authored the report Social Factors in the Rise and Fall of Great Powers, and his recent publications include Fragmentation and Integration: Community Development and Grassroots Governance in China (2019), The Intelligent Revolution and the Future of Riders: A Social Survey of Digital Deliver Workers in Shanghai (2024), and Politics and Governance of Modern City: An Interdisciplinary Global Comparison (2025).