Hong Kong gets low ranking for security in greater China city survey
Hong Kong - often acclaimed by its own officials as one of the safest cities in the world - ranked 79th among 100 cities in greater China for public satisfaction with security and stability.
Hong Kong - often acclaimed by its own officials as one of the safest cities in the world - ranked 79th among 100 cities in greater China for public satisfaction with security and stability, according to a study compiled by the National University of Singapore.
It also put Hong Kong behind Macau as the third-most-liveable city in the region in its overall ranking.
The study, compiled by the Asia Competitiveness Institute, researched 95 mainland cities and three cities in Taiwan, as well as Hong Kong and Macau.
It looked at five major categories of indicators - including economic competitiveness, environment and sustainability, social and cultural conditions, security and stability and public governance - in July.
Dr Tan Khee Giap, a leading researcher in the study, said the findings reflected the degree of public satisfaction on each of the five major categories.
The surprisingly low ranking for Hong Kong's security and stability might reflect residents' worries over the Occupy Central movement, he added.
"It's particularly interesting that while Hong Kong does well in the other four categories, its ranking in the security and stability section was surprisingly low," Tan said.
"The finding reflects that Hong Kong residents were really concerned about the city's security and stability [in July]," Tan said. He noted that respondents were randomly selected, without distinguishing their stance on the Occupy movement.
The security rating was based both on statistics - such as crime and accident rates - and random telephone surveys of 300 residents in each city. The survey also asked respondents about their satisfaction with police service, the sense of security and the degree of social harmony, Tan said.
Some of the mainland's major cities, such as Beijing and Shanghai, ranked above Hong Kong at 71st and 53rd respectively, while Hohhot in Inner Mongolia, Maoming in Guangdong and Yulin in Shaanxi province had the lowest security and stability rankings.
Chung Kim-wah, an assistant professor in applied social sciences at Polytechnic University, said public satisfaction could be fluid due to various factors. He also pointed to a different "baseline" of perceptions among residents of different cities.
"For example, Hong Kong has been very safe and stable, therefore its residents have high expectations on the city's security and stability," he said
"However, the residents in mainland cities - who might have experienced turmoil in the past - might be very satisfied when they see improvements.
"We can't say the study was wrong in methodology, but it's about the respondents' subjective perceptions, after all."
In the overall ranking, Macau was the most-liveable city. It also topped the list for economic competitiveness, socio-cultural conditions and governance.
Hong Kong won out for its environment and sustainability.
Four major mainland cities - Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen - all ranked below 30th place, with Guangzhou the lowest of the four at 67.
Shandong province's Weihai , Yantai and Weifang , Jiangsu's Nantong , Changzhou and Nanjing , Xiamen in Fujian province and Taipei were also among the top 10 most-liveable cities.
