Is Tianjin REALLY China’s most liveable city?

Jun 8, 2009

UPDATE: I just learned (via ChinaHopeLive) that BusinessWeek declared Tianjin the 2nd worst place in China for an expatriate to live (and 13th worst in the world). Clearly BusinessWeek and The Economist were not working together on this!

The Economist today released their annual list of world city liveability. As someone who has lived in more than 8 cities and spent substantial amounts of time in many more, I always enjoy seeing how regions and cities stack up in The Economist’s view.

Number 1: Vancouver
Number 140: Harare, Zimbabwe

A few highlights:
Hong Kong: Tied for 39.
Dublin: 49
The World’s Capital (New York): 56
Bangkok: 100

This year, I disagree with their placing Asia so low on the list of live-ability. Bangkok, one of my favorite places to live, must have been punished in the rankings by the political instability.

I also take issue with Beijing (76) not being the best city in mainland China, beaten by Tianjin (72) and Suzhou(74). Sorry, Shanghai they ranked you 84.

For those interested in such lists, like me, please note that Munich, which topped the Monocle liveability index, ranks 28 according to The Economist

Some points highlighted by The Economist:

Vancouver remains top with a rating of 98%. Only petty crime and the availability of good-quality housing present any challenges.
There is little real difference within the top ten. Sydney and Zurich, in joint ninth, each have a score only around 2% lower than that for Vancouver.
64 cities achieve scores of more than 80%, while 13 cities occupy the very bottom tier of liveability, where ratings fall below 50%.

Any further thoughts?

Discussion

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View Comments for “Is Tianjin REALLY China’s most liveable city?”

TJ ren

Well, as a Tianjin resident, I think I live quite a comfortable life here. The article didn't say the survey is targeted at expats, did it?
mehreena

Less people speaking english in Tianjin than BJ & SH, a bit inconvenient...but people there are nice n quiet warm hearted, the city s not that indifferent as BJ & SH as i c. Maybe it reflects the lower pressure and more satifsaction of local people. I dont think it dirtier than bj or sh, maybe same level, though an industry city, but i think more blue sky days than bj. Winter is much more comfortable than SH!!! Feel as safe as in SH, good~~Shopping s fine, but less convenience stores than SH. And one good thing is i find more churches n temples n mosques n other religious places open in the city than bj & sh, dont know if it shows the city gives more respect for people who have religious believers.
TJ s not as crowded as bj n sh, but traffic a bit sucks, too many one-way roads n not enough clear signs...but public trans like metros sound good, but did not have much chance to try till now....generally i like the city better than bj n sh.
mehreena

Less people speaking english in Tianjin than BJ & SH, a bit inconvenient...but people there are nice n quiet warm hearted, the city s not that indifferent as BJ & SH as i c. Maybe it reflects the lower pressure and more satifsaction of local people. I dont think it dirtier than bj or sh, though an industry city, but i think more blue sky days than bj. Winter is much more comfortable than SH!!! Feel as safe as in SH, good~~Shopping s fine, but less convenience stores than SH. And one good thing is i find more churches n temples n mosques n other religious places open in the city than bj & sh, dont know if it shows the city gives more respect for people who have religious believers.
TJ s not as crowded as bj n sh, but traffic a bit sucks, too many one-way roads n not enough clear signs...but public trans like metros sound good, but did not have much chance to try till now....Generally i like the city better than bj n sh...
notny

Who says New York is the world's capital? The arrogance!
facebook-677125468

I hate these lists. Vancouver #1, no way. Tianjin, Beijing above Shanghai ? Not a chance. Basically, this list only seems to cover "absence of negative points", but not really the presence of positive ones (live in Vancouver or Zurich and sure, it's safe, but you'll get bored pretty darn fast, same applies for Tianjin being #1 in China). BusinessWeek's list seemed to go the other way by piling up a list of bad points.

I think neither mag is doing it right; this stuff is so subjective anyways... it's excellent for quoting in news and blog posts though, and therefore, excellent free publicity (for the cities, too).
Joel

Having lived in Tianjin the last two years, I've always liked Tianjin better than Beijing: Tianjin rated #1 Most Livable City in China; Beijing & Shanghai exposed as overrated gong shows

But to be fair, Business Week rated Tianjin the #2 worst place in China to work as an expat.
Aaron Jensen

Having lived in Tianjin for most of the last decade i can see the reasoning behind it gaining over BJ and SH. The cost of living here is about half that in the 'modern' cities, the transportation is reasonable, and the people are friendlier (though dirtier and less educated) than the competition. We have been getting regular blue skies this summer, not the one or two each year we saw previously. We have a few excellent international schools and the expat community is strong and vibrant.

That all said and done, tianjin still sucks. The whole city smells of sewerage and rotten rubbish, the place is chaos for doing business, the good and the clever escape at first opportunity, the workforce is slow and lazy, the government and graft is still operating on the 'good old' feudal system, education is low, health care facilities are so dirty they actually transmit diseases, hygiene is non-existent, crime is on the increase, and and and...

the main point is, what is the criteria for 'liveability'? Clearly raw sewerage flowing around the olympic park after each rainfall is preferable to the traffic nightmares of BJ.
China Blows

Tianjin sucks a fat donkey dick. And I'm actually being kind when I say that.

In fact, "livable" is not an adjective I would EVER use to describe ANY city in China.
Featheast

Definitely not. Neither the prosperity part for people's connvenicen nor the environment part for the climate, Tianjin will not top the Chinese cities list. I am not sure how does this list turns out especially for cities in China.
Jean-François Amadei

I saw that Taipei is ranked 62 ! Not bad
thomascrampton

@Han Wei: Yes, it is pricey! They were kind enough, however, to send me the full list on condition that I only share a small selection of it that is relevant to my readers. (As they do with many journalists)

Wait a minute, do I need to make a disclosure about that? (I never would as a journalist, since journalists get access to so much information in advance and for free)

Just in case, here goes:

DISCLOSURE: The Economist has not only provided me with access to this report, but recently started sending me a subscription to the magazine.

They also send me an email with a handy summary of the contents so that I can easily blog it.

On another note, I also really need to update my bio information about my new job at Ogilvy.
Han Wei

Thanks Thomas! I just found that the Economist survey cost $250 to review the full list, that is really an expensive one!
Thomas Crampton

Han Wei: Good idea! I just added the link above.
Han Wei

Hey, Thomas, is there a link of the monocle and economist's livability list? Quite interested for the whole idea behind the link, thanks.
Piperbasher

39th??? How can it be??? We are "Asia's World City"!!!

Wait a sec....may be not.