Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

City Health Examination in China: A Methodology and Empirical Study

  • Published:
Chinese Geographical Science Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

National urban planning, construction, and management levels have undergone qualitative changes in China since 2000. Nonetheless, problems caused by rapid urbanization are becoming increasingly prominent. The concept of the city health examination appears to tackle these problems and is being gradually implemented, starting from the implementation of a national strategy and leading to the concrete practice of high-quality urban development. This paper elaborates on the basic philosophy and theory of the city health examination, briefly explains indicator selection and aims, and comprehensively illustrates examination methods. It then describes the empirical research that operationalized the dataset collected from a satisfaction survey administered during the 2020 city health examination. It aims to provide a reference for the standardization, specialization, analysis, and application of the results of the city health examination in China; this may help promote a smooth elimination of ‘urban diseases’ and allow for the development of high-quality livable cities. This research shows that city residents are generally more satisfied with the landscape features, ecological livability, and security resilience; it also shows that residents are generally more dissatisfied with traffic issues. Residents with different characteristics showed different satisfaction levels toward different indicators. Residents were also shown to be more sensitive to innovation vitality, ecological livability, and health and comfort in considering whether to stay in their current city.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Adetokunbo I, Emeka M, 2015. Urbanization, housing, homelessness and climate change. Journal of Design and BuiltEnvironment, 5(2): 15–28. doi: https://doi.org/10.22452/jdbe.vol15no2.3

    Google Scholar 

  • Amin A, 2006. The good city. Urban Studies, 43(5–6): 1009–1023. doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/00420980600676717

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Banzhaf H S, Walsh R P, 2008. Do people vote with their feet? An empirical test of tiebout. American Economic Review, 98(3): 843–863. doi: https://doi.org/10.1257/aer.98.3.843

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bjarnason T, 2014. Adolescent migration intentions and population change: a 20-year follow-up of Icelandic communities. Sociologia Ruralis, 54(4): 500–515. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/soru.12050

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen Zhe, Liu Xuemin, 2012. Research progress and comment on ‘Urban Problems Journal of Capital University of Economics and Business, (1): 101–108. (in Chinese)

  • China Association of Mayors, 2003. The Report on China’s Urban Development 2001–2002. Beijing: Xiyuan Press. (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen S, 2018. The Sustainable City. New York: Columbia University Press. doi: https://doi.org/10.7312/cohe18204

    Google Scholar 

  • CPC Central Committee and State Council of China, 2014. The National New Urbanization Plan (2014–2020). Beijing: People’s Publishing House. (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Crookston M, O’Brien P, Purser E, 2006. State of the English Cities: Liveability in English Cities. Wetherby: Communities and Local Government Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • De Franco A, 2021. Abandonment as an ‘Urban’ problem? Critical implications and challenges for urban studies. In: New Metropolitan Perspectives: Smart Innovation, Systems and Technologies, vol. 178. Reggio Calabria, Italy: Springer, 878–885. doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-48279-4_82

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Douglass M, 2016. From good city to progressive city: reclaiming the urban future in Asia. In: Insurgencies and Revolutions. New York: Routledge, 193–204.

    Google Scholar 

  • Duan X Y, Xu J W, Chen Y M et al., 2020. Analysis of influencing factors on urban traffic congestion and prediction of congestion time based on spatiotemporal big data. In: 2020 International Conference on Big Data, Artificial Intelligence and Internet of Things Engineering. Fuzhou, China: IEEE, 75–78. doi: https://doi.org/10.1109/ICBAIE49996.2020.00022

    Google Scholar 

  • Egami S, Kawamura T, Kozaki K et al., 2019. Construction of urban problem LOD using crowdsourcing. International Journal of Smart Computing and Artificial Intelligence, 3(1): 71–86. doi: https://doi.org/10.52731/ijscai.v3.i1.321

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fang Chuanglin, 2019. Basic rules and key paths for high-quality development of the new urbanization in China. Geographical Research, 38(1): 13–22. (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Feldmann B, 2008. The Urban Audit-measuring the quality of life in European cities. Eurostat, Statistics in Focus, 82: 1–7.

    Google Scholar 

  • Friedmann J, 1987. Planning in the Public Domain: from Knowledge to Action. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Friedmann J, 2000. The good city: in defense of utopian thinking. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 24(2): 460–472. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2427.00258

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gu Caolin, Cai Jianming, Zhang Wei et al., 1999. A study on the patterns of migration in Chinese large and medium cities. Acta Geographica Sinica, 54(3): 204–212. (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Haarstad H, 2017. Constructing the sustainable city: examining the role of sustainability in the ‘smart city’ discourse. Journal of Environmental Policy&Planning, 19(4): 423–437. doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/1523908X.2016.1245610

    Google Scholar 

  • Hara M, Nagao T, Hannoe S et al., 2016. New key performance indicators for a smart sustainable city. Sustainability, 8(3): 206. doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/su8030206

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hatuka T, Rosen-Zvi I, Birnhack M et al., 2018. The political premises of contemporary urban concepts: the global city, the sustainable city, the resilient city, the creative city, and the smart city. Planning Theory&Practice, 19(2): 160–179. doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/14649357.2018.1455216

    Google Scholar 

  • Ilum S, 2020. The good city: counterterrorism and the ethical work of transformation in Copenhagen. Journal of Extreme Anthropology, 4(1): 157–175. doi: https://doi.org/10.5617/jea.7359

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ivlevs A, 2014. Happiness and the emigration decision. IZA World of Labor, 96. doi: https://doi.org/10.15185/izawol.96

  • Ivlevs A, 2015. Happy moves? Assessing the link between life satisfaction and emigration intentions. Kyklos, 68(3): 335–356. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/kykl.12086

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leung H L, 2005. Smart growth. City Planning Review, 29(10): 65–69. (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Li Y J, López-Carr D, Chen W J, 2014. Factors affecting migration intentions in ecological restoration areas and their implications for the sustainability of ecological migration policy in arid Northwest China. Sustainability, 6(12): 8639–8660. doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/su6128639

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lin Sainan, Liang Qi, Li Zhigang et al., 2019. Family migration and settlement intention in China’s medium-sized city: a case study of Wenzhou. Geographical Research, 38(7): 1640–1650. (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Liu C, Ren L X, Wu L et al., 2020. Measuring the smart growth pattern for medium-sized cities. Journal of Urban Planningand Development, 146(3): 05020005. doi: https://doi.org/10.1061/(asce)up.1943-5444.0000569

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lundholm E, Garvill J, Malmberg G et al., 2004. Forced or free movers? The motives, voluntariness and selectivity of interregional migration in the Nordic countries. Population, Space and Place, 10(1): 59–72. doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/psp.315

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Major Cities Unit, 2010. State of Australian Cities 2010. Canberra: Major Cities Unit, Infrastructure Australia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Martin C J, Evans J, Karvonen A, 2018. Smart and sustainable? Five tensions in the visions and practices of the smart-sustainable city in Europe and North America. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 133: 269–278. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2018.01.005

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • National Bureau of Statistics, 2021. China Statistical Yearbook 2020. Beijing: China Statistics Press. (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Qin Jian, 2012. Research of urban disease in China: origin, present and future. Urbanization, (5): 58–64. (in Chinese)

  • Ravishankara A R, David L M, Pierce J R et al., 2020. Outdoor air pollution in India is not only an urban problem. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United Statesof America, 117(46): 28640–28644. doi: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2007236117

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rusk D, 1998. America’s urban problem/America’s race problem. Urban Geography, 19(8): 757–776. doi: https://doi.org/10.2747/02723638.19.8.757

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Safee F A, Yunos M Y M, Ismail S et al., 2015. Establishing elements of a good city planning: an analysis of city planning theories. Jurnal Teknologi, 75(9): 101–105. doi: https://doi.org/10.11113/jt.v75.5242

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smyth S J, Curran K, McKelvey N, 2018. Smart cities, smart grids, and smart grid analytics: how to solve an urban problem. In: Smart Grid Analytics for Sustainability and Urbanization. IGI Global, 103–137. doi: https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-5225-3996-4.ch004

  • Storper M, 2013. Keys to the City: How Economics, Institutions, Social Interaction, and Politics Shape Development. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • VanZerr M, Seskin S, 2011. Recommendations Memo #2 Livability and Quality of Life Indicators. Portland: CH2M Hill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vilhelmson B, Thulin E, 2013. Does the Internet encourage people to move? Investigating Swedish young adults’ internal migration experiences and plans. Geoforum, 47: 209–216. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2013.01.012

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang Dan, Wang Shijun, 2007. Understandings on development view of new urbanism and smart growth of the USA. Urban Planning International, 22(2): 61–66. (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Xinhuanet, 2017. Xi stresses preparation for Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. Available at: http://www.xinhuanet.com//english/2017-02/24/c_136083224.htm

  • Zhang Wenzhong, 2016a. The core framework of the livable city construction. Geographical Research, 35(2): 205–213. (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang Wenzhong, 2016b. Theoretical research of the livable city construction and its practice reflection in China. Urban Planning International, 31(5): 1–6. (in Chinese)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang Wenzhong, Xu Jingxue, Ma Renfeng et al., 2019. Basic connotation, current situation, and development orientation of high-quality development of Chinese cities: based on the survey of residents. City Planning Review, 43(11): 13–19. (in Chinese)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhao Hong, He Fen, 2016. Research on sustainable cities. Regional Economic Review, (3): 77–82. (in Chinese)

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Regional Sustainable Development Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China

    Wenzhong Zhang, Jing Cao & Ju He

  2. College of Resources and Environment, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China

    Wenzhong Zhang, Jing Cao & Ju He

  3. College of Applied Arts and Science, Beijing Union University, Beijing, 100191, China

    Li Chen

Authors
  1. Wenzhong Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jing Cao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Ju He
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Li Chen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Wenzhong Zhang or Jing Cao.

Additional information

Foundation item

Under the auspices of National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 41871170), Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. XDA23100302)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Zhang, W., Cao, J., He, J. et al. City Health Examination in China: A Methodology and Empirical Study. Chin. Geogr. Sci. 31, 951–965 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11769-021-1239-z

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11769-021-1239-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation