Runoff samples were collected from four functional areas (traffic, residential, commercial and industrial) and four roof types (old con-crete, new concrete, old clay and new clay) in central Shanghai, China, during rain events. The event mean concentrations (EMCs) of three forms of nitrogen (NH4+-N,NO3--N,NO2--N) and the temporal variations of total phosphorus (TP) were then measured to evaluate the effects of runoff from different areas on water quality management. The results revealed that the TP levels varied significantly in the samples collected from different functional areas and roof types during rain events. In addition, although the NO3--N and NO2--N concentrations in runoff remained well below the fifth class values of the national surface water quality standards, the NH4+-N levels were 1.36, 1.17, 1.10 and 0.85 times higher than the standard value in samples collected from commercial, traffic, indus-trial, and residential areas, respectively. Similarly, the concentrations of NH4+-N in samples collected from old concrete, new concrete, old clay and new clay roofs exceeded the fifth class standard by 6.66, 5.72, 4.32 and 3.32 times, respectively. And the NO3--N levels were 1.86 and 1.53 times higher than the standard values in runoff samples collected from new and old concrete roofs, respectively.