No Chinese city appears on the annual lists of the most liveable cities in the world. Is this due to ignorance or to a pervasive anti-China bias?

What does one look for in a liveable city? According to three main annual global city surveys, factors include stability, culture and the environment, infrastructure, education standards and healthcare. The Australian press trumpeted success this year when the Economist Intelligence Unit placed Melbourne fourth, with Copenhagen in top place. The _Monocle_ survey put Paris first. The latest Mercer survey, released in 2024, oriented to company considerations regarding expatriate staff, favoured Zurich, although it also mentioned Singapore, coming in at number 30.

None of the three surveys rated any city in China. To me, Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Tianjin, Chengdu and many other cities more than qualify for consideration, even according to the published criteria and, in addition, they have special qualities of their own. Mercer, Monocle and the EIU may have overlooked China through ignorance and lack of familiarity. It is more likely that their editors suffer from an unfortunate anti-China bias.

Some people would never entertain the idea of living in China, believing it to be a police state, demanding total subservience to the government, monitoring its citizens every day, censoring communications, and definitely anti-foreign. There is probably not much I could say to convince them. My best advice would be to recommend a visit to check out the situation and not simply to believe what they read in the mainstream media.

The urbanisation of China was one of the greatest and most successful social shifts of the last century. When the People’s Republic of China was founded in 1949, more than 90% of the population was rural. Seventy-five years later, 70% is urban. The change came about without major social upheaval. Families moved from farms and villages into high-rise apartment buildings without the problems evident in many Western cities (including Monocle’s top-ranked Paris).

Take Wuhan, where COVID was first identified in December 2019. It is famous as a “furnace”, where summer temperatures may exceed 40 degrees, but with innovative city planning including extensive greening, heat is no longer a major concern for residents. Flooding used to be a problem also, but Wuhan developed a “sponge city” where lakes soak up heavy rain. They reduce the temperature and provide abundant parks and recreation spaces.

The Yangzi River Beach Park, more than seven kilometres long, includes a green buffer strip of trees and water gardens. Many of the city residents used to be housed in apartment blocks related to or owned by their employment. This had the advantage of convenient transport to and from work and promoted social cohesion, but when these older buildings were sold or demolished for redevelopment in the economic reform era, city planners maintained the community amenities by developing good public transport networks and providing parks and open paces that allow for free and open activities such as dance and exercise, and services such as public massage and haircuts. There are even foreign language classes and dating centres. Retirees and older citizens are encouraged to meet and mingle in these public spaces in line with government policies to promote healthy ageing.

Beijing is my favourite city in China. I spent nearly seven years there as a diplomat and I have visited many times for business and pleasure. Laid out like a chessboard and planned to conform with geomantic and Confucian religious principles, Beijing’s structure has been preserved, although the city walls have gone and the central spine has been desecrated with modern political eyesores like the mausoleum of Mao Zedong. A splendid introduction to Beijing is Geremie Barmé’s _The Forbidden City_. I love the historic monuments and residential districts, and I marvel at its efficient metro system. It is totally safe to walk around the city if one chooses, even at night. Street crime hardly exists. Local universities such as Peking University and Qinghua rank among the top in the world, and leading artists, performance companies and exhibitions contribute to the vibrant cultural scene.

Once, we diplomats needed to go to Hong Kong for shopping, but now the latest fashions and consumer goods from around the world are available, can be ordered on the phone and delivered to the door. At weekends and for the many public holidays, one can escape into the Western Hills or travel further afield on the network of expressways.

Shanghai is China’s most cosmopolitan city. Some Australians have happily settled there for life. Although it has less than 200 years of urban history, Shanghai pays great attention to preserving its heritage. The city planners made a vital decision 40 years ago when they decided to develop a modern city centre on old industrial sites on the other side of the Huangpu, rather than demolish the old central business district. Few cities in the world now have such well-preserved 1920s-30s architecture. I recommend Anne Warr’s guidebook to old Shanghai, _Shanghai Architecture__._ Lynn Pan is also a great chronicler of the city. Her work describes the quintessential Shanghai quality of “chic”. Shanghai has fast rail and public electric vehicle transport. The streets are quiet. Much of the city’s energy comes from offshore wind and solar plants and more are under development. Parks and open spaces abound, and even the rail corridor doubles as green space. Best of all, in Shanghai, as in other cities, foreigners are welcomed with smiles and greetings.

As mentioned above, the generally recognised necessary qualities of a liveable global city are stability, culture and the environment, infrastructure, education standards and healthcare. The political system in China is stable and its cities have low crime rates; Chinese culture is unique and well-preserved and heritage is cherished; China is doing more to mitigate climate change than many other countries; the urban infrastructure is technically advanced; education standards are amongst the highest in the world; and all cities have good public healthcare, modern hospitals and traditional Chinese medicine clinics. Besides this, Chinese cities have a unique cultural attribute in their policies designed to build community, and they welcome foreigners to visit, live and work.

So there you have it. Why do surveys of liveable cities not include Wuhan, Beijing or Shanghai?

The views expressed in this article may or may not reflect those of Pearls and Irritations.