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An Analysis of Well-Being Determinants at the City Level in China Using Big Data

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Abstract

Prior research shows mixed results on the relationship between well-being and economic growth, and the relationship between well-being and population size, yet consistent associations between well-being and green space. This paper aims to analyse the relationship between city residents’ well-being and three established indicators: economic growth (as measured by GDP per capita), population size, and green space. A Big Data approach based on the lexica used on social media was proposed to develop well-being indicators. Using the 2016 data of Weibo (i.e. the Chinese version of Twitter), this study finds that the relationship between residents’ well-being and GDP per capita and the relationship between residents’ well-being and population size both form inverted U-shaped curves. Specifically, for poor cities, levels of well-being increase as GDP per capita increases. But after peaking at around the median GDP per capita point, levels of well-being drop as the city’s economy continues to increase. Similarly, levels of well-being increase with population size for small cities, but decrease for those cities whose population sizes rank in the top quarter. In contrast, there is a positive relationship between well-being and the percentage of green space for all cities. Implications and future directions are discussed.

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Acknowledgement

We thank Lillian Foote for English editing and proofreading.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China

    Yukun Zhao, Xiaomeng Hu & Kaiping Peng

  2. Institute of Social Psychology, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, 710049, Shaanxi, China

    Feng Yu

  3. Positive Psychology Research Center, Tsinghua University, Room 500, Weiqing Building, Beijing, 100084, China

    Bo Jing

  4. Data Center, Weibo Inc, Beijing, 100193, China

    Ang Luo

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  1. Yukun Zhao
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  4. Xiaomeng Hu
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  6. Kaiping Peng
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Correspondence to Feng Yu.

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Zhao, Y., Yu, F., Jing, B. et al. An Analysis of Well-Being Determinants at the City Level in China Using Big Data. Soc Indic Res 143, 973–994 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-018-2015-z

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