Beijing Ranks as China's Least Livable City

By Justine Lopez, June 16, 2016

Beijing tops the list as China’s least livable city, according to a recent report conducted by the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

The report surveyed Chinese cities and analyzed safety, availability of public services, environmental health and public transport, China.cn.org reports. Findings revealed that 40 Chinese cities scored an average of 59.92 points out of 100. However, the bar for a ‘livable’ city is set at 60 points.

Following Beijing as China’s least livable city were Guangzhou, Harbin, Taiyuan and Nanchang. The five most livable cities were Qingdao, Kunming, Sanya, Dalian and Weihai.

According to the main researcher, Zhang Wenzhong, major factors for low ranking were safety, environmental health hazards and issues with public transport. Beijing’s notorious air pollution and traffic jams were two major reasons why the capital was ranked the least livable Chinese city.

In other studies conducted in 2005, 2009, 2013 and 2015, environmental health hazards caused Beijing to have a low livability ranking.

There is some good news, however. Beijing did rank above average in safety, social environment and transportation.

[Image via uscnpm.org]