The CCF EconCS annual gathering is taking place at Nanjing University this year. The Associate Head of Jing’an District delivered an opening talk on how big data and related technologies are driving economic growth.
About Jing’an District 静安
JingAn district is in central Shanghai. It is the most fancy commercial area — aka shopping heaven. Like, it is the place I take my friends to if they’re visiting Shanghai everytime (like I’ve been there too many times during my undergrad). Population around 250k, Annual GDP 248603000000 RMB (2023)
Shanghai is known for its fashionable and forward-thinking leadership. The city has a young, innovative mindset and actually gets things done. (The urban maintenance is impeccable.) So, having the Deputy Head of Jing’an District, 胡勇, give a talk today really symbolizes the city’s leading role in building a data-driven government with the help of academia. While leveraging data to boost consumerism is a national goal, Jing’an — and Shanghai as a whole — has taken the lead in applying big data and EconCS methods to improve markets and boost growth.
Beyond Digitalization: LV Cruise and the Shopping Boom
Source: LV official website.
This goes beyond mere “digital transformation.” For example, at the heart of Jing’an District, there are about 15 shopping malls. Around June, the district hosted the Louis Vuitton Cruise exhibition — a wild idea that was approved and implemented in just three months. On opening day, roughly 160,000 people visited the area, leading to up to a 70% increase in nearby malls’ sales and a 30% boost in the closest Starbucks’ revenue.
On the day LV cruise opened, the subway popu of 南京西路 reached 16w, also leading to increase in nearby mall’s sales
These patterns weren’t accidental — they were predicted. Official data streams, such as subway footfall counts and aggregated sales reports, allowed the economic impact be well anticipate so as to manage resources effectively.
Data Access and Research Opportunities
Access to high-quality data is an undeniable catalyst for good research. And JingAn is fully aware of it. The district is actively promoting collaborations between industry, academia, and public institutions to unlock data-driven insights and foster economic innovation.
An amazing assembly of exclusive data.
I guess, as that old saying goes “和气生财” — harmony brings prosperity. Jing’an is proving itself worthy of its reputation as one of the most vibrant, stylish, and economically dynamic districts in China.
3 Open Questions in Mechanism Design
Deputy District Head 胡勇 holds a Master’s in Economics. Impressive.
Integrating Institutional Design and Algorithmic Mechanisms
How can we design institutional frameworks and algorithmic rules for data allocation that simultaneously balance fairness, efficiency, innovation, and security?Robusty of Industrial Chains and Economic Fluctuation Assessment
In data-driven production networks, how can we quantify the resilience (robusty) of industrial supply chains and assess system vulnerability to economic shocks?Coordinated Validation of Macro Policies and Micro Models
How can we build a synergistic validation framework that links macro-level policy interventions with micro-level economic models to improve predictive accuracy and policy effectiveness?