Where to live in China ?

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Andreas
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Joined: Feb 27, 2004
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Location: 31 N 121 E

Posted: Jan 04, 2006 - 11:02 AM
Post subject: Where to live in China ?

From SCMP. Seems the big cities are out...

http://www.scmp.com/topnews/ZZZU23RJRGE.html

Wednesday, January 4, 2006
Gridlocked in Beijing? Why not try Dalian

ELAINE WU
Worsening traffic congestion and rising home prices pushed Beijing off a list of the top 10 most liveable cities on the mainland last year, leaving room for smaller coastal cities to advance up the ladder.

A survey conducted by Beijing-based market research firm Horizon Group and Business Watch Magazine found that coastal cities such as Dalian , Xiamen and Qingdao were among the most habitable.

Beijing fell from third place in 2004 to 15th place, while Shanghai lost its top slot to Dalian, coming in seventh, one place behind neighbouring Hangzhou .

The results were based on a survey of 3,434 residents in 31 cities and 1,607 telephone interviews with investors in 15 cities.

The concept of liveability was based on factors including air quality, size of living space, job opportunities, availability of community facilities and safety.

The term was first used in Beijing's urban plan for 2004 to 2020, which called for the capital to be transformed into a "world city, cultural city and habitable city". That could be a tough target to reach. With a more prosperous population abandoning bicycles for cars, Beijing has seen some of the worst traffic congestion on the mainland in recent years.

The problem is being made worse by booming property prices that have forced inner-city residents to move to the capital's outskirts. Most have to commute into the city every day by bus.

The Beijing city government has named congestion a top challenge as it prepares to host the Olympics in 2008. It spent 35 billion yuan in 2004 to improve traffic conditions and will invest another 180 billion yuan to build subway and light rail lines, highways and other transport systems before the Games.

The new lines will come as a relief to Wang Anqin , a domestic helper who commutes to the city every day from her home near the airport. Until then, she will continue to ride two buses each morning to get to work.

"I've been late to work four times in one week," she said. "One traffic accident can hold up traffic for two hours."

And a careless shove of an elbow could easily trigger arguments among commuters hanging on to straps on packed buses, she added.

One common theme in the survey was that richer residents gave their cities higher marks than poor residents, the report said.

The study also found that a city with a higher habitability rating was more attractive to investors.

Chris Law Kin-chung, director of Hong Kong-based architectural firm The Oval Partnership, said investors were drawn to the more liveable cities because of a larger talent pool.

This was especially important for creative and service industries, which depended largely on manpower.

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