Chinese surprise at 鈥榣ivable鈥 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 鈥渓ivability index.鈥
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鈥檚 Daily newspaper on the story has attracted more than 150,000 comments.
One stated: 鈥淚sn鈥檛 it ironic? Perhaps the news should be published on April 1.鈥
Another said: 鈥淏eijing the most livable city? It鈥檚 the funniest joke this year!鈥
Some even suggested the list might be of China鈥檚 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鈥檚 scientific director, Richard Muller, as saying that breathing Beijing鈥檚 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鈥檚 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.
鈥淵ou can鈥檛 deny Tianjin just because of the blasts,鈥 was one comment. 鈥淭he blasts do not necessarily mean that the city is not safe.鈥
The EIU鈥檚 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鈥檚 list of 鈥渂est livable cities in China 2015鈥 ranks Shenzhen as the No. 1 urban area in which to settle down, followed by Zhuhai. Both cities are in south China鈥檚 Guangdong Province.
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