Abstract: Water, energy and food are important resources in China. These resources are interdependent and play an important role in the process of urban development. In addition, they are important basic resources for sustainable urban development. Taking Shanghai as an example, a comprehensive evaluation index system of the Shanghai water-energy-food (W-E-F) system is constructed. The entropy and coefficient of variation methods are used to weight the index. Then, a coupling coordination model is established to analyse the coordinated development level of the Shanghai W-E-F system and its subsystems. Next, the grey GM (1, 1) model is applied to predict the coupling coordination development trend of the Shanghai W-E-F system during the period from 2018 to 2025. The results show that the development of the W-E-F system in Shanghai is divided into two stages. The first stage occurs from 2003 to 2013, during which the W-E-F system shows a downward trend; the second stage occurs from 2013 to 2017, during which the W-E-F system shows a stable upward trend. The coupling coordination degree shows a stable upward trend during the future period of 2018-2025 and a transition to a good coordinated development level by 2025. However, the results do not show a transition to a high-quality coordinated development level. Therefore, Shanghai should continue to develop its resource utilization efficiency and improve the coordinated development space of the city.