Most livable Chinese Cities

[Quest]

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2006-01/03/content_508828.htm

Beijing dropped out of Top 10 in 2005, did you feel the difference in Beijing this past year?

[gato]

My biggest gripe with Beijing is that takes at least thirty minutes to get anywhere if you were to take public transportation, even some place that's just two miles away. If you wanted to go to some place four or miles away, which is most places because the city is spread out, it would take at least an hour. Related to that is the difficulty of being a pedestrian here. You have to constantly watch out for oncoming cars, either in front or behind, even on sidewalks because they are driving on it or parked there..

Shanghai is a much more liveable city. It's easier to get around for those without cars and is less polluted (though still more polluted than most Western cities). The food is also better and more diverse in Shanghai. In Beijing, the most common restaurants are Sichuanese, followed by Hunanese, then Dongbei, plus the many hot pot places. It's hard to find anything else unless you're willing to make that laborious trip around the city mentioned above.

[roddy]

I think I find Beijing liveable mainly because I can usually work from home (or whereever my laptop is) and when I do need to go somewhere I can do it in the middle of the day or the evening and avoid rush hour. If I had to do any significant rush-hour commute in this city, or couldn't afford to opt out of public transport and take taxis, I'm not sure I'd last very long.

I can't say I've noticed any particular changes over the last year, but I don't go around measuring traffic flow or pollution.

Surprised by a few of the cities on that list. Never heard of Mianyang, anyone been there?

Roddy

[wushijiao]

I think these rankings are good because it gives city planners a goal other than just generating raw GDP. Instead, the environment, prices, and other factors are taken into consideration.

In Beijing, the most common restaurants are Sichuanese, followed by Hunanese, then Dongbei, plus the many hot pot places.

My four most favorite Chinese types of foods!

[roddy]

I've been thinking about this lately, partly because I've just moved to a new apartment (sofa is huge ) and I got given a fairly large translation to do on urban planning / public space.

There are three places near where I live that I've seen people gathering. One is a corner of the xiaoqu I used to live in, where the old men used to gather and play chess. You get a bit of shelter between the bins and the bike shed.

Second is a fairly wide sidewalk near the subway station. There's a fan dancing group meets there at the weekends.

Third is an unlit space under an overpass where you get fan dancing and ballroom dancing.

None of those spaces has been designed for public use. People are just making do with odds and ends of leftover space. I cannot think of one public space in walking distance which has been designed for people to go and meet, gather, talk, dance, whatever - not a park, not a square (does Beijing have a single square outside of Tiananmen? I can't think of any). That, for my money, is a real failing in urban design.

Roddy

[wushijiao]

None of those spaces has been designed for public use. People are just making do with odds and ends of leftover space.

Interesting. I've now lived in three places in Shanghai- Xujiahui, Zhabei, and Jiading. In the first two cases, there were great public parks within a ten minute walk. Jiading also has one. In the Zhabei Park old folks used to perform opera in a pavillion. I used to sit at a nearby bench and read the paper while eavesdropping on free 沪剧. So, the public park system is certainly one thing Shanghai has going for it.

From the article below, it seems that Beijing has not incorporated "green spaces" into urban life in a very functional manner, but rather seeks to fill certain macro afforestation objectives.

A total of three large-scale green belts have taken shape from the downtown area to the outskirts of the city, leading to an obvious improvement of the capital's ecological environment, said Song.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2006-01/04/content_508941.htm

[roddy]

Beijing does have some great parks, but they tend (I think) to be large and few, rather than scattered around communities. When they are available, people really do make great use of them.

I'm quite willing to be told I'm being overly negative here, it's not as if I've done a comprehensive survey or anything.

[gato]

Most parks in Beijing were built for the emperors and court officials, and not for the masses. Today it seems many private condo complex try to build park-like green areas inside their walls, but there is still not much public green space. I don't know if there is a book about the urban development history of Beijing. If there is, I'd like to see it. I've heard that before the 1980s, most Beijingers, save those working with the universities, lived either within the third ring. Most of the residential development outside the third ring have been built in the rush of the last 20 years. It seems that they were designed with mostly utilitarian goals in mind, with not much thought for public spaces and amenities.

Here is something the Beijing government's plan to encourage suburbanization in Beijing. Don't they know that Beijing roads won't be able to take the automobile traffic that suburbanization would create?

http://english.people.com.cn/200111/30/eng20011130_85721.shtml

According to city development plan, Beijing is to keep its urban population at 6.5 million by 2010 and 250,000 people will be moved out of old urban areas to the outskirts in the years to come.

Now Beijing is speeding up construction of 10 areas in the suburbs in an effort to attract urban inhabitants to move out.

Of the 6.5 million urban populations, 4.5 million will be living in central city and 2 million in the surrounding areas. While people living in the old urban area will be gradually moved out to lower their number to under 1.5 million by 2010 from 1990's 1.75 million.

Population History

According to the changes in population numbers by natural growth and social movement such as migration, floating population and administrative border expansion, the population of Beijing has gone through five periods as follows:

The first period, 1949-1960, was characterized as the highest growth period. The city's population was increased to 3.18 million people mainly due to the expansion of city boundaries. The total population has grown rapidly with the annual growth rate being 5.3 percent in the 11 year period, i.e. growing from 4.14 million in 1949 to 7.32 million in 1960.

The fourth period, 1979-1990, was influenced by high growth caused by population momentum and the tide of migrants flowing into the city since China¡¯s opening and reforms. The population growth rates were expressed as cyclic changes, with the yearly average increasing by 1.6 percent. About 1.83 million people were added to the Beijing population in this period.

The present period, from 1991 to date, could be characterized by low natural growth rates and large increments in population numbers. Even with a low population growth rate, with a base population of more than 10 million persons, the size of the increments in Beijing cannot be ignored.

[roddy]

The documents I worked on recently say that up until 1980, Beijing pretty much stopped at the second ring road and beyond that was fields, and people in Haidian would talk about 进城. I'm not sure how accurate that is, but there's no doubt the city has expanded massively.

Actually, I did Beijing a disservice earlier, as there's a strip of land by the canal near me where they've put in benches, and there's always a few people hanging out there. So don't listen to me, it ain't that bad.

I'm not sure how different this is from any other city in the world, or from any other city in China, it's just impressions based on having lived here for a few years.

Roddy

[hakkaboy]

1. I wonder if Kunming made the list?

2. Liveability for foreigners would include different criteria, including availability of jobs (not just in teaching English), the number of foreigners resident and the quality of Western food available. These points might bump Beijing and Shanghai much higher up the ratings for foreigners. Climate, price levels and other factors would influence foreign choices too.

[Panglei]

Hi,

Firstly, although I've never been to Mianyang (well i passed through on a train once), I do know a little bit about it. It's just north of Chengdu in Sichuan and famous for producing Changhong televisions.

see this piece from the NYtimes from last year

http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F60B1FFE3E5D0C728CDDA80894DD404482

Secondly, just on the topic of public spaces in Beijing, although this point could be taken to include China at large. One of the things that my parents noticed when they visited me when living in Chongqing is the presence of 'playgrounds' for adults, and especially it seems for older citizens. You probably know the kind of thing I'm talking about; the multi-coloured gym equipment/ massage machines. Any way they don't exist in Australia, i'm not sure about other countries but I know that Beijing has them too. There is one just below my apartment and everynight at about 7pm it also serves to accomodate the 'ladies with fans'

[ala]

Interesting. I've now lived in three places in Shanghai- Xujiahui' date=' Zhabei, and Jiading. In the first two cases, there were great public parks within a ten minute walk. Jiading also has one. In the Zhabei Park old folks used to perform opera in a pavillion. I used to sit at a nearby bench and read the paper while eavesdropping on free 沪剧. So, the public park system is certainly one thing Shanghai has going for it.

[/quote']

Jing'an-qu, Luwan-qu, Putuo-qu are great for convenient parks too. Zhabei-qu and Jiading (is Jiading now a district "qu" too?) used to be the more slummy districts, but a lot of development in past years.

Also organic cities (Shanghai, Paris, parts of NYC) are just so much better than grid-locked cities (Beijing, Chicago) in general haha; makes the city feel alive, unique and more integrated together.

[wushijiao]

Zhabei used to be a fairly working class qu, and certainly wasn't the type of place one thinks of when one thinks of the glitz of the Bund, Huaihai, or Gubei. But, because they extended Metro Line 1 into Zhabei, investment has increased dramatically, and, for better or for worse, they are putting in tons of malls and high rise 小区. My guess is that this will price out a lot of the migrant workers or working class Shanghaiese that live there now, and they'll have to move further out to the outskirts of the city.

Jiading actually has a lot of "villas" (别墅), in which people live in big houses and then drive in to work in the center of the city. It also has the new F1 track. I actually like Jiading itself. The old town has an ancient feel to it without being touristy. But Jiading is really far away if you want to do something in the city center.

I wonder if Kunming made the list?

Now it didn't, but I think it would make any top 10 based on laowai's criteria.

[gato]

The documents I worked on recently say that up until 1980, Beijing pretty much stopped at the second ring road and beyond that was fields, and people in Haidian would talk about 进城. I'm not sure how accurate that is, but there's no doubt the city has expanded massively.

That may be true, which could partly explain why the subway, which opened in the 1970s, was built around the 2nd ring.

The 3rd ring was built in the early 1990s according to Wikipedia:

北京三环路全长48公里，共建有41座立交桥，是北京市城区的一条的环形城市快速路。

北京三环路于1994年全线按快速路标准建成通车，设计时速80公里。

[gato]

Here is a good anonymously authored article about some reasons for Beijing's traffic. The author suggests two main reasons, both related to the ring system: (1) Lack of subway lines linking northeast Beijing to southwest and northwest to southeast; and (2) Too few good roads outside out of ring system, leading to an over-reliance and traffic jams on the few ring roads.

http://www.people.com.cn/GB/guandian/1036/2201479.html

解决北京交通拥堵必须走出两个“误区”

[pop=from on4/cóng]从[/pop][pop=macro/hóngguān]宏观[/pop][pop=arrangement/bùjú]布局[/pop][pop=on4/shàng]上[/pop][pop=talks/jiǎng]讲[/pop]，[pop=creating/zàochéng]造成[/pop][pop=Beijing/běijīng]北京[/pop][pop=traffic/jiāotōng]交通[/pop][pop=congestion/yōngdǔ]拥堵[/pop][pop=/de]的[/pop][pop=basic cause/gēnběnyuányīn]根本原因[/pop]，[pop=to be/shì]是[/pop][pop=since/yóuyú]由于[/pop][pop=urban planning/chéngshìguīhuá]城市规划[/pop][pop=department/bùmén]部门[/pop][pop=to fall into/xiànrù]陷入[/pop][pop=2/liǎng]两[/pop][pop=things/ge]个[/pop]“[pop=to miss/wù]误[/pop][pop=region/district/qū]区[/pop]”[pop=to cause/zàochéng]造成[/pop][pop=/de]的[/pop]。[pop=1st/dì yī]第一[/pop][pop=/ge]个[/pop][pop=mistake/wù]误[/pop][pop=region/district/qū]区[/pop][pop=is/shì]是[/pop]，[pop=subway/dìtiě]地铁[/pop][pop=landline network/xiànwǎng]线网[/pop][pop=long-term plan/guīhuà]规划[/pop][pop=to continue/jìxù]继续[/pop][pop=localization/júxiàn]局限[/pop][pop=within/yú]于[/pop][pop=floor/dìmiàn]地面[/pop][pop=traffic/jiāotōng]交通[/pop][pop=/de]的[/pop][pop=chessboard/qípán]棋盘[/pop][pop=every bureau/géjú]格局[/pop]，[pop=lacking/quēfá]缺乏[/pop][pop=northeast/dōngběi]东北[/pop][pop=southwestward/xiàngxīnán]向西南[/pop][pop=or/huò]或[/pop][pop=northwest/xīběi]西北[/pop][pop=towards the east/xiàngdōng]向东[/pop][pop=south/nán]南[/pop][pop=/de]的[/pop][pop=cross/jiāochā]交叉[/pop][pop=line/xiàn]线[/pop]，[pop=falling into/xiànrù]陷入[/pop]“[pop=chessboard/qípán]棋盘[/pop][pop=to miss/wù]误[/pop][pop=region/district/qū]区[/pop]”；[pop=2nd/dì èr]第二[/pop][pop=/ge]个[/pop][pop=mistake/wù]误[/pop][pop=region/district/qū]区[/pop][pop=to be/shì]是[/pop]，[pop=ring road/huánlù]环路[/pop][pop=construction/jiànshè]建设[/pop][pop=to get/jiāng]将[/pop][pop=ring road/huánlù]环路[/pop][pop=both inside and out/nèiwài]内外[/pop][pop=/de]的[/pop][pop=road network/lùwǎng]路网[/pop][pop=to cut up/fēngē]分割[/pop]，[pop=only/zhǐ]只[/pop][pop=to leave behind/liúxià]留下[/pop][pop=small number/shǎoshù]少数[/pop][pop=to stand/lì]立[/pop][pop=traffic/jiāotōng]交通[/pop][pop=direction/dào]道[/pop]，[pop=falling into/xiànrù]陷入[/pop]“[pop=city gate/chéngmén]城门[/pop][pop=to miss/wù]误[/pop][pop=region/district/qū]区[/pop]”。

[gato]

An article about the increase in number of automobiles in Beijing.

http://www.people.com.cn/GB/qiche/1050/2151145.html

北京城市交通拥堵症结何在

李家杰

　　与过去相比，目前北京道路交通早、晚流量高峰时间增长，白天“平峰不平”，夜间流量增大，双休日与工作日的交通流量差距明显缩小。相当多的路段处于拥堵状态，经常发生严重拥堵的地方多达65处。市民上班一般都要花1个小时，不少人甚至要花一个半小时。记者在采访过程中，处处可闻乘客、司机行路难的抱怨声。

　　专家认为，造成北京交通拥堵的首要原因是，机动车增长过快。

　　统计表明，20年前北京每增加10万辆汽车，大约需用4年；10年前，每增加10万辆汽车，仅需要2年。2002年一年就新增汽车27.6万辆。今年前8个月新增汽车就超过24万辆。现在，北京市机动车总数已经超过200万辆。

　　与国内外其他大城市不同，北京城市道路是以皇城为中心发展起来的，呈棋盘状格局，在中心地区很容易形成交通拥堵。

　　北京市政府察觉到这个问题后，于20世纪80年代做出“打开两厢，缓解中央”的决策。东、西两厢的交通量由此提高一倍以上，市中心20％左右的交通量分流到了市区外围。

　　但实际情况却不是这样。近年来，北京公共交通发展迟缓，不仅公共电、汽车的线网结构不完善，缺乏大容量快速干线，支线网通达深度不到位，而且乘客换乘车辆很不方便，平均换乘车辆距离长达350米以上，不少地方甚至超过1公里。在上下班高峰时段，无论春夏秋冬，运营的公共汽车里都挤得如同沙丁鱼罐头。

　　与20年前相比，公共交通承担的运量从35％下降到26.5％；小轿车承担的运量从6％上升到23.2％；轨道交通承担的运量不到总量的5％。交通专家认为，在一个多数市民居住地点与工作地点相距很远的城市，不能用载量很大的交通工具及时地将行人疏导开，路上必然出现千军万马争先恐后过独木桥的拥堵状况。

　　北京已率先进入小康社会。从贫穷进入小康，深刻地改变了一部分先富起来的北京人的生活方式，其中一个重要标志就是私家车的增长。现在，私家车已发展到129万辆，超过北京市机动车总数的一半以上。

Another article about districting and zoning in Beijing and the concern about preserving the traditional imperial architecture in the city center, an apparent dominant factor in city's urban planning.

http://www.bjdi.pku.edu.cn/news/news.asp?id=1321

　　据了解，北京市由于行政中心、商贸中心等主要集中在位于城中心的旧城，造成人口密度大、交通拥堵和旧城历史文化风貌保护困难等问题。

为此，近年许多修改北京市城市总体规划的建议被一一提出，如将行政中心、商贸中心外移，形成多中心的城市格局等。有的还提出了在大兴魏善庄一带建设新城，或是在通县东北、顺义西部建设两个新城的具体方案。

　　黄鸿翔是中国农业科学院研究员，一直十分关注北京的城市建设。他认为，“不管这些方案的可行性如何，调整北京旧城的功能看来势在必行”他说。为此，他提交了《关于调整北京市城区及近郊区行政区划的建议》提案。在黄鸿翔的心目中，北京的旧城应以居住和旅游为主，应保持“古朴、清幽”的风貌，而不能 “建成灯红酒绿的闹市”。

　　他认为，在旧城以外建设多个新的中心，分散旧城原来承担的大部分功能，将人口和交通流量向外转移，这是今后北京在城市规划建设上应采取的主要措施。但是，如果不进行相应的行政区划调整，旧城功能的调整、旧城风貌的保护是难以实现的。

　　据分析，由于东城、西城、崇文、宣武4区的范围基本局限于旧城之中，农业没有，工厂不能建，为了本区的财政收入，商贸业几乎是惟一的选择，于是各区都大拆旧楼，大建大商场和写字楼。北京市东城区和崇文区都在建大型商业区，西城区除商业区外还有金融区，宣武区则在建传媒大道。

　　尽管这几个区也都在外迁常驻人口，但是居民们迁到城市外围的新居住区后，还要回到旧城工作。户籍人口减少了，工作人口并没有减少，反而增加了交通压力。原居民迁出后新建的商贸区，又吸引更多的人来到旧城工作、生活与消费，使得旧城的环境与交通更加不堪重负。“这样就出现了一个怪现象：负有保护古城任务的各区政府一方面在努力保护古城，另一方面也在大力破坏古城。”

[amandagmu]

Wow -- I never thought this much about public space before. Of the two cities I've lived in a long time (most of my life right outside Washington, D.C. and four years in Paris) I certainly noticed a big difference when I went to Beijing this summer for just two months. As someone who appreciates the outdoors greatly, I was semi-depressed in Beijing given the lack of green public spaces to escape to. Paris has the Bois de Boulogne (huge!), Bois de Vincennes (I think that's the correct name?), Parc Monceau, Jardin de Luxembourg, Tuileries, Champs de mars... I know I'm forgetting some. There are also terrific plazas and benches just about everywhere. Washington has the national mall, Hains Point, Rockcreek, and numerous plazas and benches everywhere. I was in NYC last week, I don't think it has a huge amount of these outside of Central Park, but I've never spent much time there so I guess it's hard to compare.

A major part of my reason for not wanting live in Beijing, however, is what the article noted: air pollution. Paris and DC aren't great but they sure beat the hell out of Beijing, where I saw blue sky 4 days total out of my nearly 8 weeks there this summer. If I move back to Beijing the first thing I'm doing is getting a fancy-schmancy gym membership and leaving town every weekend for a hike, run, and/or bike ride.

~Amanda

[roddy]

numerous plazas and benches everywhere.

That's what Beijing lacks, I think. Not the vast open spaces like Tiananmen (which should be carved up into bite-sized chunks and scattered around residential areas), but small-scale, humane spaces with a fountain or a nice bit of art in the middle and benches round the side. And more pedestrianized areas.

Roddy

[andrewfz]

I would like to put forward Fuzhou as the most livable city in China. I was there for almost 4 years and loved it. Nice people, livable climate, just the right size (everything you need is there, and not too big), and traffic that moves quite well.

Ontop of that some great local cuisine I never saw outside Fujian. If you visit, try guobian...锅边, or their nice Haru...I think thats xia bing 虾饼 in mandarin。

Andrew