Table 3.

Comparison of new regionalism in Hong Kong–Shenzhen/PRD region and the EU.

Items	The EU	Hong Kong–Shenzhen/PRD region
Institutional base	Multi-nations	One country, two system
Urban governance	Entrepreneurial state	Asymmetric urban governance (developmental state vs. entrepreneurial state)
Region-building process	Five levels of regionness	Informal regional society from below – transitional regional society – formal regional society
External forces	No strong impact	Strong impact
Degree of regionalization	Low-level regionalization	High-level of regionalization
Mechanism of regionalization	Market exchange induced institution re-alignment	Institution re-alignment induced by internal and external conditions, instead of the direct result of the first movement
Cross-boundary regional community	Mature development	Slow development
Regional identity	Relative strong	Weak or no regional identity
Actors	Business sector, state, residents, NGOs, academic organizations, etc.	Business sector, state, residents, NGOs, academic organizations, etc.

Source: compiled by authors.