Hangzhou's urban status has experienced remarkable growth. Designated as one of the first batch of famous historical and cultural cities in 1982, it was upgraded to a sub-provincial city in 1994, became a megacity for the first time in 2015, and joined the ranks of China's ten supercities in 2023.

Significant improvements have been made in transportation infrastructure, with 12 operational metro lines, bus lines increasing from 8 in 1949 to 1,371 in 2023, and expressways covering all districts and counties (cities). Hangzhou International Airport ranks tenth nationwide in passenger throughput.

Environmentally, Hangzhou excels as the first national ecological garden city among sub-provincial cities, with an urban air quality excellence rate of 84.4% and a 100% compliance rate for surface water quality for three consecutive years.