Environmental livability index of Chinese cites on the rise

The overall environmental livability index of Chinese cities has been rising in recent years, according to the latest evaluation of Chinese cities conducted by the Asian Development Bank.

Fuzhou, Ningbo, Nanjing took the top-three spots among the 31 provincial capital cities and 36 cities evaluated, which included cities such as Dalian, Qingdao, Ningbo, Xiamen and Shenzhen. The environmental livable index of cities such as Guangzhou, Wuhan, Beijing, Shenyang, Shanghai and Lanzhou increased more than 15 percent from 2000 to 2007, and Guangzhou's index even increased more than 45 percent.

The evaluation report was released during the "Environmental Change and Responsibilities of Cities" Forum at the Shanghai World Expo on June 5. According to sources, the evaluation system included eight indices, such as water environment, water resources, atmospheric environment, soil environment, acoustic environment, ecological environment, livability of life and the overall performance of environmental management, with each first class index setting several indices.

The research shows that there are three features in the environmental livability index of Chinese cities. First, the environmental livability indices of southern cities are generally higher than that of northern cities. Second, the indices of cities in eastern coastal areas and developed areas are higher than that of cities in the northwest and underdeveloped regions. Third, the indices of cities that have a good natural environment and larger environmental capacity such as Kunming, Xiamen, Hangzhou, Nanning and Haikou are higher than those of other cities.

By People's Daily Online