无论是从中国还是从外国的角度看,上海长期以来一直被视为一个“特别市”。自1843年上海开埠以后的半个世纪,新辟外国租界的发展确是如此,此后这种看法不断扩展,至1927～1937年民国政府时期华界也被纳入其中。从1949年至今,被统为一体的整个上海地区都被 Shanghai has long been regarded as a “special city”, both from China and from a foreign perspective. Since half a century after the opening of Shanghai in 1843, the development of the new foreign settlements has indeed been the case. Since then, this view has been constantly expanded to include the Chinese community during the period of the Republic of China from 1927 to 1937. From 1949 to the present, the entire area of ​​Shanghai, which is integrated as a whole, has been