Abstract:

With the transformation of urban economy to new knowledge economy, urban amenities are considered as one of the most important factors influencing the flow of high-end talents and urban economic growth. Based on previous research of urban amenities at home and abroad, in addition to the consideration of the access to data, the article develops an indicator system for the assessment of urban amenities in China. This system includes 6 categories of urban amenities and 34 indicators. On the basis of the amenity indicator system, the research gives the evaluation on the development level of urban amenities of 26 major cities in China. It finds out that: (1) The four cities, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen rank top four in overall amenity level among the 26 cities; (2) Business amenity, transportation and speed are most important decisive factors that have impact on overall urban amenity level. Compared to Western developed countries, at the current stage Chinese big cities are paying more attention to the "built/material environment" of the city rather than "soft" ones, such as natural environment and social amenities; (3) Because there exists a gap in overall level of urban amenities among 26 Chinese major cities, there are both similarities and differences in their respective development model in terms of interior urban amenities composition and structure. The developed urban-amenity indicator system and its empirical research among the 26 Chinese major cities in this paper can help to understand the disparity in urban amenities development level in different cities. Urban amenity index can be further used for other urban development variables, such as economic development level and talent flow.

Key words: urban amenities, indicator system, index, structure, Chinese major cities