SPECIAL REPORT CITIES - The Asiawee

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ASIA WEEK (5 December 1997)
SPECIAL REPORT CITIES
The Asiaweek Quality of Life Index


The Asiaweek Quality of Life Index
Where is the best place to live in Asia? We crunched the numbers on 40 of
the region's key centers. Our results.

HOW WE DID IT
The 40 cities selected in the Asiaweek survey include all the major Asian
capitals east of Kabul and west of Port Moresby, with some exceptions
(our apologies to Ulan Bator, Pyongyang, Thimphu and the seats of smaller
Pacific islands again this year). For some larger nations we ranked
additional major centers as well. New to this year's poll are Chongqing
and Fukuoka.

The city ranking was based on 24 statistical indicators that carried
different weightings:

n average life expectancy

n hospital beds per 1,000 people

n per-capita state expenditure for 

education

n average class size in primary school

n university-educated people as a percentage of total population 

n sulfur dioxide in the air (ppm)

n dust/suspended particles in the air -- micrograms per cubic meter
(ug/m3)

n average monthly rental per sq meter

n ratio of housing price to income

n sq meter of parks and fields per capita

n vehicles per km of city road

n the existence of a mass transit rail 

system

n number of movie theaters per 100,000

n unemployment rate

n GDP growth

n annual urban inflation rate

n average vacation and public holidays per year

n criminal cases for every 10,000 persons

n number of telephones per 1,000 people

n average time taken to commute to work

n number of TV sets per 1,000 people

n percentage of population with sewerage

n percentage of population with piped water

n average income

To reach the final score, we awarded points for each indicator. For
instance, a city loses points for high housing costs, but gains for high
incomes. The major category groups and their weightings: economic
opportunity (15 possible points), quality of education (15), environment
and sanitation (15), health care (15), transportation (10), personal
security (10), housing cost (10), and leisure (10). 




RANK CITY POPULATION  SCORE HOSPITAL BEDS AVERAGE  STATE EDU. RATIO OF
HOUSEb % POP. WITH  DUST/SUSPENDED  VEHICLES PER  CRIMINAL CASES  
    PER 1,000 INCOME US$  SPENDING/CAP/$ PRICE TO INCOME SEWERAGE
PARTICLES (UG/M3) KM CITY ROADS PER 10,000  
 
1 FUKUOKA 1,295,832  80 16.2 (1) 34,150 (3)  461 (8) 9.2 (16) 97.9 (9)
	40* (2) 141*(25) 93* (28)  
2 TOKYO 11,598,634  75 12.3 (3) 59,504 (1)  756 (1) 8.0 (13) 99 (6)
	46.7 (3) 202* (29) 202.89 (35)  
3 SINGAPORE 3,100,000  71 3.5 (13) 18,407 (4)  628 (4) 4.6 (6) 100 (2)
	30 (1) 217.5 (30) 159 (33)  
4 OSAKA 2,599,642  67 14.7 (2) 51,671 (2)  685 (2) 4.5 (5) 99.9 (3) 55*
	(6) 238 (32) 307.7 (38)  
5 GEORGETOWN 400,000  66 2 (24) 10,483 (11)  31a (16) 3 (3) 96 (10)
	120* (17) 78* (15) 3.9* (1)  
6 HK 6,500,000  63 4.66 (10) 15,503 (7)  668 (3) 25 (25) 90 (12) 94 (15)
	305.7 (36) 125.5 (32)  
7 SEOUL 10,229,262  63 4.89 (9) 15,000 (8)  484 (7) 7* (10) 98.1 (7) 85
	(11) 266 (33) 330 (39)  
8 BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN 80,000  60 3.2 (15) 18,000 (5)  327 (10)
	7.5 (11) 87.5 (15) 60* (9) 81.8 (16) 89.15 (27)  
9 KUALA LUMPUR 1,295,300  59 2.2 (22) 17,323 (6)  31a (15) 2.2 (1)
	98* (8) 130* (19) 121* (21) 188* (34)  
10 TAIPEI 2,633,000  58 7.8 (4) 13,287 (9)  582 (5) 27.6 (27) 99.45 (5)
	51 (4) 435 (37) 123.5 (31)  
11 KAOHSIUNG 1,435,000  57 7 (5) 11,000* (10)  500* (6) 13.6* (22)
	90* (13) 92 (13) 450* (39) 98.81 (30)  
12 SHANGHAI 14,150,000  57 5.23 (7) 1,275 (19)  80.86 (13) 2.8* (2)
	90* (11) 229* (32) 149.6* (27) 40* (18)  
13 BEIJING 12,510,000  56 6.02 (6) 1,152 (21)  33.24 (14) e 85* (16)
	380* (37) 217.8* (31) 12.13* (7)  
14 CEBU CITY 662,299  56 3.3 (14) 327 (35)  3.81 (32) 6 (9) 88.7 (14)
	86.3 (12) 137.12 (24) 43.2 (19)  
15 CHIANG MAI 414,971  55 3.5 (12) 860 (23)  23* (19) 5* (7) 5* (40)
	140* (21) 294 (35) 80 (25)  
16 DAVAO CITY 1,006,840  55 2 (23) 800* (25)  8.92 (26) 4 (4) 76*
	(21) 55* (7) 27 (7) 47.07 (20)  
17 PUSAN 3,813,814  55 5.2 (8) 10,000 (12)  254 (11) 6* (8) 100 (1) 94
	(14) 283 (34) 290 (37)  
18 METRO MANILA 10,800,000  54 1.46 (29) 5,158 (14)  109 (12) 8.6
	(15) 11* (36) 164 (13) 135 (23) 32.37 (16)  
19 BANDUNG 1,809,964  53 1.18* (32) 750* (26)  5* (28) 12.8 (21)
	52* (29) 56.1 (8) 35.5 (11) 31.53 (15)  
20 JAKARTA 9,700,000  53 1.93* (26) 1,300 (18)  9.52 (24) 21 (24) 10*
	(37) 121.7 (18) 446 (38) 47.9* (21)  
21 KUCHING 312,900  52 1.42 (30) 3,822 (16)  12.50 (20) 14.4 (23) 80
	(19) 189.9 (27) 100* (19) 6.8 (3)  
22 MACAU 410,531  52 2.3 (21) 7,476 (13)  443 (9) 12* (20) 99.5c (4)
	209 (31) 130.3 (22) 206.4 (36)  
23 COLOMBO 615,000  50 3* (16) 252 (37)  0.16 (39) 133.3 (33) 75
	(22) 475* (39) 15* (3) 72 (24)  
24 SURABAYA 2,987,997  49 1.64 (28) 623 (29)  0.14 (40) 25.7 (26)
	44.1 (31) 52* (5) 30* (9) 21.6 (12)  
25 BANGALORE 4,130,000  48 0.3* (40) 400* (33)  6.92 (27) 7.6* (12)
	55* (27) 200* (30) 95 (18) 35 (17)  
26 BANGKOK 9,100,000  48 1.8 (27) 4,130 (15)  25.20* (18) 8* (14) 5*
	(39) 300 (34) 502 (40) 95* (29)  
27 GUANGZHOU 7,160,000  48 4.53 (11) 1,425 (17)  26.83 (17) 27.9*
	(28) 85* (17) 300* (33) 58.1* (13) 81.1 (26)  
28 HANOI 3,056,146  48 2.6* (18) 630* (27)  2.55* (35) d 20* (34)
	130* (20) 22* (5) 13.5* (9)  
29 HO CHI MINH 3,924,435  46 2.8* (17) 850* (24)  2.60* (34) d 25*
	(33) 140* (22) 28* (8) 26* (13)  
30 KARACHI 5,180,562  46 0.65* (37) 940 (22)  10* (23) 52.5 (29) 60
	(24) 300 (35) 22* (6) 30 (14)  
31 CHITTAGONG 3,300,000  45 0.79* (36) 210 (39)  4.17* (31) 85.8
	(31) 53* (28) 178* (25) 100* (20) 7.67 (5)  
32 CHONGQING 15,000,000  45 1.95 (25) 412 (31)  9.31 25) e 80* (18)
	310* (36) 72.5* (14) 50* (22)  
33 DHAKA 8,000,000  45 0.97* (35) 220 (38)  4.17* (30) 98.1 (32) 56*
	(26) 198.8* (28) 85* (17) 9.55 (6)  
34 ISLAMABAD 350,364  45 2.5 (20) 1,225 (20)  12* (22) 60.5 (30) 80
	(20) 200* (29) 20* (4) 70 (23)  
35 PHNOM PENH 900,000  45 1 (33) 300* (36)  4.20 (29) d 13 (35)
	100* (16) 37* (12) 7* (4)  
36 KATHMANDU 500,000  44 0.4 (39) 195* (40)  12* (21) NA 50* (30)
	180* (26) 30* (10) 5* (2)  
37 DELHI 8,419,000  42 1 (34) 500* (30)  2.05 (37) 10 (18) 60* (25) 410
	(38) 145 (26) 19.8 (11)  
38 VIENTIANE 531,800  40 2.5* (19) 385 (34)  2.50 (36) 10 (17) 28 (32)
	150* (23) 10* (1) NA  
39 YANGON 3,000,000  38 0.62 (38) 400* (32)  1.06 (38) d 10* (38)
	75* (10) 15* (2) 13.38 (8)  
40 BOMBAY 9,925,891  34 1.4 (31) 625* (28)  3.05 (33) 11.2 (19) 62
	(23) 500* (40) 190 (28) 14.44 (10)  
FOOTNOTES: Bracketed figure represents ranking in category. * Estimates.
a National figures. b Average house price divided by average annual
income. 
c % of housing units. d Officially, land cannot be bought or sold. e No
private housing market.