With the completion of the Yangtze and Chongqi Bridges, it is now connected to both the rest of Shanghai and southeastern Jiangsu province along the Hushan Expressway.

Further development is now proceeding according to an urban and agricultural master-plan led by Philip Enquist of SOM, although ambitious plans for an ecocity named Dongtan have been shelved since the 2006 ouster of mayor Chen Liangyu and other neighborhoods have swelled with immigration from people relocated from central China following the completion of the Three Gorges Dam.

[2] The number, size, and shapes of the islands fluctuated repeatedly over time and with the floods of the Yangtze River.

These immigrants introduced cotton cultivation, which spread widely prior to China's opening to international trade in the later Qing.

[4] In the 2nd year of Hongwu (1396) under the Ming, the prefecture was elevated to a county[2] but, shortly afterwards, a major subsidence provoked a mass emigration back to the mainland.

[2] Reclamation, particularly large-scale work on the island's northern and eastern tidal flats in the 1960s and '90s, doubled the size of Chongming between 1950 and 2010.

[2] With its unspoiled environment, Chongming Island is one-of-a-kind destination great for eco-tours and restorative vacations.

West Chongming offers Mingzhu Lake Park, Xiling Resort, Xisha Wetland and agritainment at Lugang Village.

Other town-level divisions of Chongming include (from northwest to southeast): Xinhai, Lühua, Sanxing, Miao, Dongping, Gangxi, Jianshe, Xinhe, Shuxin, Gangyan, Bu, Xianghua, Zhongxing, Chenjia.

The other township-level division of Chongming are Qianwei Farm, Dongping Forestry Zone, and Shangshi Contemporary Agricultural Park.

On Chongming, Chengqiao's Nanmen Port offers service to Shidongkou and Baoyang Rd in Baoshan and to Liuhegang in southern Jiangsu; Xinhai's Niupeng Harbor to Qinglonggang in Haimen;[12] and other ports offer connections with Wusong and the two other islands of the county.