The Study On Assessment Of The Livability Of Lanzhou, China

This paper is a case study of livability assessment in Lanzhou. Livability is defined as'quality of life'as experienced by the residents within a city or region. The motive of study and assessment of livability is to ensure cities' long-term development and lead a continuable way of the planning.In view of reasons stated above, the paper poses two central questions: What key factors affect the livability of a city and how to assess the livability of a city? The main contents can be summarized as follows:First, this paper makes an analysis on definitions of Livability and Principles of a Livable City. Livability refers to an urban system that contributes to the physical, social and mental well being and personal development of all its inhabitants.Moreover, based on domestic and oversea human settlements theories and practices, using the statistical data, this paper makes an assessment of the Lanzhou's livability. The livability indicator system, which is composed of the grade system, the grade of subsystem and the grade of indicator, is put forward from following angles: economic growth, social progress, environment preservation and infrastructure construction. This method reflects the livability of Lanzhou as a whole.Then, to look at it in another way, the livability assessment made by residents in this city by utilizing the method of social survey. The answers of questionnaire are quantified by applying formulas. Based upon above works, the result shows that resident's will about the livability of Lanzhou.Previous analysis shows that the method using the statistical data and the method using the survey both only could reflect one aspect of the livability. A new way to assess the livability should be explored. So the paper attempts the use of GIS and RS data in assessment of livability. The livability in Lanzhou is quantitatively evaluated by integrating principal component analysis and geographic information system overlay of ranked data layers.Finally, this paper summarizes of the study and takes some suggestion of building livable cities.