Many Hong Kong designers, Lau said, have opened studios in Nantou after learning about its history and environment. Shared history and cultural heritage have formed a solid bond for the joint development of cross-border cultural and creative industries, he said.

Like Nantou City, may other places in the Greater Bay Area are waiting to be explored, including Chung Ying Street, which is wedged between Shenzhen and Hong Kong, Lau said.

Hong Kong-born Frankie Lui, founder of Atelier Global, has spent his whole working life in the Greater Bay Area carving out a path for his career as an architect.

"Architecture is a special form of medium. It's a kind of culture in itself and the carrier of culture at one and the same time," he said.

Citing two of his projects - Shenzhen Longhua Book City and the Master's Art Museum located between Shenzhen and Dongguan - as vivid examples, Lui demonstrated how traditional cultural and human elements can be weaved into modern architecture.

Xing Lili, founder of gambiered Guangdong silk brand Jancho, shared her experience in applying traditional crafts in modern times.

Gambiered Guangdong silk is a national intangible cultural heritage, using handmade, natural materials and complex techniques, but it's gradually fading away from the global fashion stage. "We've tried to preserve Chinese culture and weave in contemporary elements," she said.

Within five years, the brand has become a leading couture label that has won a string of awards, including the Shenzhen Global Design Award.

Patrick Mok Kin-wai, an assistant professor in the Department of Art and Design at the Hang Seng University of Hong Kong, said kung fu is also a significant element of Cantonese culture, citing how martial arts has integrated with Chinese dance to create a modern performance.

"We also make use of virtual reality to capture the fast motions in a show named Converge," said Mok, adding that the Greater Bay Area should encourage diversified development of multiple domains, like the special market of dancing performance.

Over the decades, the Pearl River Delta has seen the most rapid urban expansion in human history - a predominantly agricultural region being transformed into the world's "largest continuous city".

As the Greater Bay Area is seen as one of the country's most notable urbanization initiatives, Chin-Ee Ong, associate professor at the School of Tourism Management of Sun Yat-sen University, said it's important to strike a balance between development, innovation and cultural preservation.