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I . World of Cities：It should be fine，but a bit different
Future historians might find 2020 a very accurate node for periodization，there's the World B.C（Before Corona），and the World A.C.（After Corona）.
This new epoch started from the lock down of a city with more than 10 million population，and quickly exacerbated.Now we are at the “circuit breaker” point of globalization
As of the first quarter of 2020，“lockdown” and “shut down international aircrafts” evolved from sheer fantasy to realistic policy option or even concrete measures for city decision makers around the world.
The COVID-19 marked a deep bloodstain on the Anthropocene. In 2020，the dawn of a new era，international cities（International metropolis，world city，global city）have to re-examine series of questions，including the globalization trends，the world urban networks，urban internationalization strategies，portal hub functions，and balance between traffic and security.
2.“Humanism” becomes the focus of competition
The prosperity of any city is built on its citizens.The competition of attracting people has become increasingly important on different levels of city competitions（international competitions or domestic competitions among Chinese cities）.
Internationally speaking，global cities compete for international talents，especially on pursuing highly skilled young people with diverse talents.Those people are core for cities to maintain future competitiveness.
3.“Huddle together for warmth”，the prominent pattern for regional competition
The dependence of major international cities on their city regions has become more pronounced.Cities have gradually abandoned the strategy of monocentric development and have started to emphasize coordination with surrounding areas and polycentric development in order to achieve sustainable development of the whole city region.For example，the Greater Sydney 2056 plan puts forward the vision of “a Metropolis of three cities”，plans a interactive among the green city in the west，the river city in the middle，and the harbor city in the east under a holistic view.
4.“Development in quality not quantity” became the new tournament among Chinese Cities
The new round of tournament among Chinese cities has gradually abandoned simply competing on the scale of GDP.The focus has been put more on “quality”.
Considering the drastic changes in the international economic and trade environment and the nationwide impact of COVID-19，cities will start to compete on new core fields，such as the overall level of sustainability and governance effectiveness of the city；the ability to recover socially and economically under the concept of “resilient cities”；and the environment livability.
5.“Reshuffle of SMEs” will become the focus of a new round of economic competition
The impact of COVID-19 will inevitably resulte a drastic reshuffle of SMEs due to capital chain breaks.Forming an environment conducive to the development of a new round of SMEs，gathering and cultivating a group of competitive local SMEs with potential to further develop will become the key to build a new vibrant urban economy.Global cities are increasingly paying attention to the diversity of urban economies and competing for SMEs is an important strategy to cultivate urban diversity.