Assessment and key factors of urban liveability in underdeveloped regions: A case study of the Loess Plateau, China

Urban liveability is an important index to measure the sustainable development of urban socioeconomic. Based on the deconstruction of urban sustainable development goals (SDGs), a new-comprehensive and scientific evaluation index system was constructed to evaluate the urban liveability of underdeveloped regions, entropy weight TOPSIS model and Tobit model were used to investigate the urban liveability and key factors in underdeveloped regions. The evaluation index system was divided into seven aspects in this study, involving economic development, urban construction, public service, social progress, living standard, ecological environment, and resource utilization. To explore the key factors of urban liveability and the application of the index system in underdeveloped regions, the Loess Plateau was chosen for this investigation. The empirical results indicates that there are six significant key factors affecting urban liveability in the Loess Plateau. Among them, urbanization rate, natural population growth rate, and population density play a negative role in urban liveability. For another, per capita local fiscal revenue, per capita green area, and GDP growth rate play a positive role in urban liveability. The index system can evaluate the urban liveability scientifically of underdeveloped regions, it can be used for Livable city construction for other underdeveloped regions or developing countries.