"The city, which is a window for the world to observe China, is a pioneer in promoting urban digital transformation. It is also attempting to integrate social resources with the government's administrative resources to facilitate digital urban management, which helps improve governance capability in big cities and ultimately benefits residents," Xu said.

The Shanghai authorities have announced that 100 "innovative scenarios" involving the use of smart systems will be created in the near future to help urban management in office buildings, large supermarkets and commercial complexes.

Fan, the security worker, said that traditionally he and his colleagues had to patrol the Nanjing Building regularly to detect problems, such as bikes being left in front of the gates, boxes blocking fire rescue routes and people smoking outside designated areas.

However, the smart system, along with technological support from Huawei, now plays a big role in such work.

When a problem is detected, a warning signal flashes on a large screen in the district urban operations management center. After a security worker goes to the scene and deals with the incident, the warning is removed.

Wei said traditional manual patrols are not very efficient and cover a relatively small area, while the new approach offers more scientific and refined management.

He said the Nanjing Building has more than 80 sets of internet of things sensing facilities equipped to collect data in various areas to ensure safe operations.

For example, when the flow of pedestrians on Nanjing Road reaches a medium-risk level, the district urban operation management center issues a "large passenger flow warning" to retail outlets and the building's smart system sends a dispersal notice to the security manager.

A plan to control passenger flow is then activated. This includes setting up notice boards at store entrances and exits, limiting the number of people in a store, and only allowing them to enter or exit through specific doors, in order to ensure safety.