SHENZHEN ranks No. 1 in terms of urban health index following a comprehensive evaluation of the development of 288 Chinese cities above the prefecture level.

Shenzhen is followed by Beijing, Shanghai, Zhuhai, Guangzhou, Nanjing, Ningbo, Hangzhou, Suzhou and Xiamen, according to a report jointly released by the Institute of Urban Development and Environment of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the Social Science Literature Publishing House yesterday.

Five indicators related to economy, culture, society, environment and management were used in the evaluation process, according to Wu Zhanyun, an associate researcher of the Institute of Urban Development and Environment of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. If a city's five evaluation indicators are higher than the median of all cities, then the city is considered to be undergoing relatively healthy development and thereby is a “healthy city.” Otherwise, it is regarded as a “sub-healthy city.”

Based on this evaluation standard, the study pointed out that in 2018, 35 cities across the country were considered to be “healthy cities,” accounting for only 12.15 percent of the total.

The number of “healthy cities” in China has shown steady growth, increasing from 26 in 2015 to 35 in 2018.

“It can be said that the ‘sub-health’ status of Chinese cities has improved,” Wu said.

Among them, the number of “healthy cities” in the central region increased significantly, with the proportion of “healthy cities” in the region increasing by 10 percentage points in three years.

In addition, the study found that even the cities ranked high on the list have uneven scores in various indicators, showing that the healthy development of these cities has a shortfall of varying degrees.

In the Pearl River Delta region, the healthy development index of several core cities is significantly higher than other cities in Guangdong Province, according to Wu. In particular, the healthy development of the culture sector in the cities of the Pearl River Delta region has recorded huge differences, and the phenomenon of unequal public cultural services among these cities is more prominent.

Therefore, Wu suggested that in the future, focus should be put on accelerating the improvement of the public cultural service system and improving the coverage and adaptability of basic public cultural services in Pearl River Delta cities.      (SD News)