Analyzing Urban Competitiveness Changes in Major Chinese Cities 1995-2008

In this study, a city's competitiveness is measured by economic, social, environmental and external connectivity components using a sustainable development perspective. The study focuses on the dynamic changes of urban competitiveness of 24 major Chinese cities in the period 1995-2008. A total of 59 indicators are used to measure urban competitiveness consistently in this period. It is found that the overall ranks of the top and bottom cities in terms of economic, social, environmental and external connection competitiveness in 2008 were largely consistent with a few exceptions. In the period 1995 to 2008, the urban competitiveness score was increased by over 98 % in all cities. Although the weak cities have enhanced their urban competitiveness scores faster than the strong cities, it will take a long time for them to raise their ranks among Chinese cities due to their low scores of initial urban competitiveness. Excepting for 7 cities with significant changes in the rank of urban competitiveness, the ranks of other cities changed only slightly, ranging from -3 to +3, showing stable hierarchy among 24 major Chinese cities in the period 1995-2008.