#QUALITY OF LIFE COMPARE CITIES HOW TO#

1987 Bosman and de Smidt 1993 Johnson and Rasker 1995). Some studies have indicated that, besides such traditional factors as location, industrial structure, capital and technology, high quality of life, which is characterised by excellent physical environment, ideal working and living conditions and good amenities, becomes a crucial factor influencing local economic growth, as it helps sustain local business and attract inbound investment (Hall et al. One of the key research topics in quality of life is the relationship between urban economic growth and competitiveness and quality of life. After the development over the last five decades, quality of life has become an important interface between many disciplines, such as economics, sociology, geography and medical science. The modern research into quality of life originate from the social indicator movement, and the basic functions of social indicators could be regarded as the instrument of monitoring social change and measuring individual and societal welfare (Noll 2002). Thus, to improve urban life quality is a new agenda in China’s urbanization. Meanwhile, “New-type Urbanization” strategy, with emphasis on improving people’s living standards and promoting the personal development and wellbeing of individuals (State Council 2014), has been proposed and implemented by the State Council since 2014.

#QUALITY OF LIFE COMPARE CITIES HOW TO#

How to maintain growth and restructure its economy has been a core issue for Chinese local governments (Office of the Central Leading Group on Financial and Economic Affairs 2015).

This is also the case for China, which is in the late stage of accelerated industrialization and urbanization. Many local governments have also taken quality of life as an important method of city marketing in the urban development practice (Hall 1995). Some studies show that cities with high quality of life can attract creative classes and high-tech enterprises, which are key factors to maintaining urban growth (Rogerson 1999 Florida 2014).

The topic also draws extensive scholarly attention. With the acceleration of globalization, the new reconstruction of areal division of labour, and the transformation of urban governance from managerialism to entrepreneurialism (Harvey 1989 Sassen 2013), how to achieve sustainable urban growth and maintain urban competitiveness are key issues facing state and local governments. It is suggested that future urban development focus on high value-added and environmental-friendly industries, which can improve both local economic development and quality of life. Quality of life is related more to the economic structure. This study also shows that local economic development can promote quality of life, though they do not merely stand in a quantitative relation. The quality of life is generally better than local economic development in large cities across Western China and different cities display various spatial mismatch features. The results point to the significant differences in QoL among large Chinese cities and unlock the spatial mismatch between QoL and LED in these cities. By constructing the index system of QoL of large cities, this study analyses the spatial pattern of QoL in 39 largest cities across China and then introduces the spatial mismatch method to analyse the relationship between QoL and LED. The study aims to evaluate the quality of life in large Chinese cities and explore the relationship between life quality and local economic development.

Quality of life (QoL) is an important factor which influences local economic development (LED).

Quality of life compare cities