Chinese surprise at ‘livable’ Beijing
Print Edition
THE UK-based Economist Intelligence Unit is been criticized in China for naming Beijing as the top city on the mainland in its “livability index.”
According to the think tank, Melbourne in Australia tops the chart based on 30 factors that include safety, health care, educational resources, infrastructure and the environment.
Making up the top 10 are Adelaide, Sydney, Perth, Vancouver, Toronto, Calgary, Vienna, Helsinki and Auckland.
However, Chinese citizens have expressed surprise at finding the capital named as the best place to live on the mainland, followed by Tianjin, Suzhou, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Dalian, Guangzhou and Qingdao, and an online post by the People’s Daily newspaper on the story has attracted more than 150,000 comments.
One stated: “Isn’t it ironic? Perhaps the news should be published on April 1.”
Another said: “Beijing the most livable city? It’s the funniest joke this year!”
Some even suggested the list might be of China’s most polluted cities.
Air quality has long been an issue for the capital and its neighboring cities, a topic also picked up by The Economist in a previous report that once quoted Berkeley Earth’s scientific director, Richard Muller, as saying that breathing Beijing’s air was the equivalent of smoking almost 40 cigarettes a day.
Beijing was one of the 10 Chinese cities with the worst air quality last month, according to a ranking released by the Ministry of Environment Protection.
However, people supporting the EIU’s list said that if Beijing was not the most livable city, why were tens of thousands of people coming to the metropolis every year?
Tianjin beating Suzhou to become the second most livable city in the Chinese mainland also stirred controversy because of the massive explosions last week that had killed 114 people in the northern port.
“You can’t deny Tianjin just because of the blasts,” was one comment. “The blasts do not necessarily mean that the city is not safe.”
The EIU’s livability index stands in contrast to a similar list compiled by the China Institute of City Competitiveness based on seven major indexes including environmental health, urban safety, economy strength, civilization and reputation.
The Chinese institute’s list of “best livable cities in China 2015” ranks Shenzhen as the No. 1 urban area in which to settle down, followed by Zhuhai. Both cities are in south China’s Guangdong Province.
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