Table of contents:

About the author(s):

Description:

In 2011, the Urban Quality of Life Research Centre under National Institute for Economic Experimentation (NIEE) of China released for the first time the urban quality of life quality index for 30 Chinese cities on the Fifth Forum on China's Economic Growth and Business Cycle. The release received great repercussions in the country, drawing the attention from its international counterparts, the World Bank and other international institutions, and was reported with in-depth coverage and interpretation by multiple domestic Medias. A followed-up survey on the quality of urban life has been continued to carry out by the Centre in 2012, and its results will be demonstrated in this report.

The Chinese City Life Quality Index (CCLQI) System consists of two parts: the subjective satisfaction index system and the objective index (social and economic data) system, in which each system contains five detailed indexes respectively: living standard, living costs, human capital, feelings of livelihood security(or social security) and feelings of life. Each of the five elements above reflects a particular aspect of the quality of urban life. As for the subjective satisfaction index for living standard, one of the five indexes, it is divided into income status and income expectation; feelings of livelihood security(or social security ) is composed of two aspects: health care and safety condition; while the index regarding feelings of life is divided in detail into the pace of life and living convenience. The structure of the objective system maintains consistency with the subjective system, in which the five objective indexes consist of a total of 20 social and economic secondary indexes, basically covering all domains of urban life in China. All indexes are obtained from authoritative data released by the government, and therefore the objectivity and authority of the index could be guaranteed.

The survey results show that: compared with figures in 2011, the overall level of the subjective satisfaction with urban quality of life has increased; yet there still exist two "contrasts"; progress in the urban quality of life satisfaction is encumbered by high cost of living; increasing expectation in housing price has become a potential concern for the rising urban living cost; oversized cities may not be conducive to improving the quality of life; the overall objective index of urban life quality in the eastern region is higher than that in the central and western regions. The government should effectively curb the rising urban living cost, stabilize housing price and price level, manage inflation expectations and control the scale of large cities. These actions above are the keys to enhancing the quality of life.

For a considerably long period of time, the government needs to make progress in the following aspects: controlling and reducing living costs and increasing household income; earnestly safeguarding and enhancing people's livelihood; optimizing the size of the cities; reforming and improving the income distribution system.