Based on the daily maximum and minimum temperature in meteorological stations of Shanghai, the temporal characteristics of extreme temperature variation during 1873-2007 and the response of extreme temperature to urbanization during 1960-2007 were studied.The results show that, as a whole, the extreme high temperature and high temperature days varied without significant tendency, but the extreme low temperature varied significantly with a rate of linear increasing tendency of 0.27 ℃ per 10 years, and the low temperature days varied significantly with a rate of linear decreasing tendency of 1.14 d per 10 years from 1873 to 2007.In the period from 2001 to 2007, Shanghai had the most high temperature days and the least low temperature days in the past 135 years.The extreme high temperature was mainly negative anomaly in the periods from 1876 to 1884 and from 1960 to 1989, but it was mainly positive anomaly in the periods from 1885 to 1955 and from 1990 to 2007.The extreme low temperature was mainly negative anomaly before 1994, then, in the continuous 14 years from 1994 to 2007, it was positive anomaly.High temperature days were mainly positive anomaly in the periods from 1891 to 1898, from 1920 to 1953, and from 2000 to 2007, but they were mainly negative anomaly in the periods from 1874 to 1888 and from 1961 to 1989.Low temperature days were mainly positive anomaly before 1988, then, in the continuous 20 years from 1988 to 2007, they were negative anomaly.From 1960 to 2007, the extreme high temperature and the high temperature days increased more in urban areas, and less in suburbs and exurbs of Shanghai.The extreme low temperature and the low temperature days decreased more in urban areas and suburbs, and less in exurbs.The difference of extreme high temperature between urban areas and suburbs increased significantly with a rate of linear tendency of 0.26 ℃ per 10 years, but that difference between suburbs and exurbs varied insignificantly.The difference of high temperature days between urban areas and suburbs increased significantly with a rate of linear tendency of 1.95 d per 10 years, and the difference between suburbs and exurbs increased significantly with a rate of linear tendency of 0.77 d per 10 years.From the 1980s, extreme high temperature in urban areas was higher than that in suburbs and exurbs, and the high temperature days in urban areas was more than that in suburbs and exurbs in Shanghai obviously.From the 1990s, extreme high temperature in suburbs was higher obviously than that in exurbs, and at the beginning of the 21st century, the high temperature days in suburbs were more obviously than those in exurbs in Shanghai.The difference of extreme low temperature between urban areas and suburbs varied insignificantly, but that between suburbs and exurbs increased significantly with a rate of linear tendency of 0.31 ℃ per 10 years.From the 1960s, the extreme low temperature in urban areas was higher than that in suburbs and exurbs, and from the 1980s, the extreme low temperature in suburbs was higher than that in exurbs in Shanghai.The difference of low temperature days between urban areas and suburbs varied insignificantly, but that difference between exurbs and suburbs increased significantly with a rate of linear tendency of 0.79 d per 10 years.The low temperature days in urban areas and suburbs were nearly same from 1960 to 2007, and from the 1980s, they were less than that in exurbs in Shanghai obviously.