中国城市生活质量报告（2018）：生活质量指数相对稳定，城市居民获得感增强

In 2018, the Quality of Urban Life Research Center (“the Center”) under the National Institute for Economic Experimentation (NIEE) continued with its survey of the quality of life (QOL) in 35 Chinese cities, and obtained related subjective (satisfaction) and objective (social and economic data) indices. The subjective indices came from random digit dialing (RDD) and online survey of urban residents’ opinions on their quality of life. 12,878 effective random samples were collected. Based on statistical analysis of the survey results, the four subjective sub-indices produced were: consumer sentiment, education quality, health conditions and medical services, each representing a different aspect of the urban life quality in China. Among them, consumer sentiment sub-indices were calculated in the same way as the Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index (MCSI), and are comparable internationally. Since the developers of the questionnaire set the US results for Q1 1966 at 100, a score higher than 100 would therefore indicate a stronger consumer con.dence than that of US in Q1 1966.
Accordi ng to the survey results, the weighted mean of consumer sentiment sub-indices was 115.48 in 2018 – the scores of all the 35 cities exceeded 100. The US MCSI was 98.8 in late April and early May, lower than the weighted mean of the Chinese indices. The wei ghted mean of education quality sub-indices was 69.37 – between “acceptable” (50) and “good” (75). The weighted mean of health conditions sub-indices was 64.48 – between “good” (50) and “excellent” (75). And the weighted mean of medical services sub-indices was
65.31 – between “acceptable” (50) and “good” (75).
The objective (social and economic data) indices, on the other hand, were calculated based on the social and economic data of the 35 cities released by the authorities, which ensured both the objectivity and the authority of the indices. To be consistent with the subjective index, the objective index a lso consisted of .ve sub-indices: living standard, living cost, human capital, social security and living experience. And the .ve objective sub-indices were in turn made up of 20 social and economic data indicators which represented basically all aspects of the current quality of urban life in China.
In 2018, the mean of th e objective indices was 54.85, slightly lower than that of 2017 (54.98). Over the past three years, this value had been quite stable. 31 cities scored over 50 this time, while the scores of Xining, Chongqing, Fuzhou and Zhengzhou were below 50. As a whole, eastern cities still performed better than central/western cities, although contrast existed between the subjective and the objective indices of some cities. The mean values of the five objective sub-indices were, respectively: living standard 54.30, living cost 52.53, human capital 57.03, social security 52.62 and living experience 57.77. Compared with those of 2017, objective living standard and living cost sub-indices continued to rise, while human capital, social security and living experience sub-indices were generally even.
At present, China’s economic development has entered a new era. The domestic and international environment has gone through tremendous changes. Effects of the economic structure adjustment and high-quality development have started to appear: operation of the Chinese macro-economy remains stable, so are the QOL indices, and the residents have Abstract a strong sense of gain. At the same time, however, we are still faced with some problems, such as further increases in the cost of living, big gaps in the quality of life among different regions and cities, and relative shortage of high-quality educational resources. As point out in the 1 9th CPC National Congress, the principal contradiction facing Chinese society now is the contradiction between unbalanced and inadequate development and the people’s ever-growing needs for a better life. All this demands, in accordance with the requirements of high-quality development, the promotion of economic transformation and upgrading as well as the sustainable and healthy development of the economy. Besides, there is also a need to constantly improve our public services such as education and healthcare to guarantee the realization of such a better life.
Keywords: Quality of Urban Life (QOUL); Consumer Sentiment Sub-index; Education Quality Sub-index; Health Conditions Sub-index; Medical Services Sub-index