China Core Cities & Metropolitan Area Development Index 2019 released

9. Life quality

In the ranking of life quality, Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou take the first three spots, followed by Hangzhou, Chengdu, Chongqing, Nanjing, Wuhan, Tianjin and Shenzhen. Compared with the 2018 ranking, Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou have remained the top three, while Hangzhou, Chengdu, Chongqing and Wuhan have moved up slightly.

The quality of life is one of a city’s attractions for high-end professionals, and the service industry for sustaining the quality of life is a pillar of a city’s development. The major item of life quality puts safety and livability first, and also assesses living consumption level, as well availability of medical resources.

Therefore, the major item is divided into three indexes, namely safety and livability, living consumption, and medical welfare. The sub-indexes are made up of 14 data sets, including livable cities, clean cities, safe cities, happy cities, transportation safety, retail sales of social consumer goods per 10,000 people, international top brands, revenue of accommodation and catering per 10,000 people, telecommunication consumption per 10,000 people, water consumption per 10,000 residents, average life expectancy, the number of licensed (assistant) doctors, top hospitals, and the number of nursing homes at the end of the year.

(1) Safety and livability.

Shanghai top the ranking and Chengdu come in at No. 2. Other cities in the top 10 are Hangzhou, Beijing, Ningbo, Nanjing, Xi'an, and Changsha. Compared with the 2018 ranking, the top four cities have remained the same, while many cities among the 36 core cities have improved their rankings, especially Xi'an, Guangzhou, Zhengzhou, Kunming, Jinan, Fuzhou, Lhasa, Guiyang, Harbin, Nanchang, Hohhot, Lanzhou, Taiyuan, and Xining.

(2) Living consumption

Beijing and Shanghai take the top two spots, followed by Guangzhou, Haikou, Lhasa, Xiamen, Shenzhen and Nanjing. Compared with 2018, Beijing and Shanghai have remained their places, while Haikou, Lhasa and Xiamen have moved up slightly.

(3) Medical welfare

Beijing, Shanghai and Chongqing rank top three, followed by Guangzhou, Chengdu, Tianjin, Hangzhou, Wuhan, Jinan and Nanjing. Compared with 2018, Chongqing, Chengdu and Jinan have better performance.