is Shanghai here referring to the city limits or something akin to what the US calls a Metropolitan Statistical Area? From a recent visit there it seemed to me

is Shanghai here referring to the city limits or something akin to what the US calls a Metropolitan Statistical Area? From a recent visit there it seemed to me that the hinterlands of Shanghai are endlessly expanding with insta-exurb developments centered around cores of flashy* high-rise districts. * literally. the complex full-wrap digital illumination effects on many of these buildings would turn heads even in Vegas