Developing Sustainable Urbanization Index: Case of China

Urbanization in China is considered an important force for global sustainable development. In particular, China’s urbanization is of great significance to achieve the Millennium Goals of the UN. Hence, an in-depth understanding of China’s urbanization sustainable development process and model of sustainable development is urgently needed. As a result, this study examines the sustainable development of urbanization using China as an example through a survey method. Specifically, sustainable development of urbanization is examined from the following five perspectives: economic development, basic public service quality, ecological environment development, urban–rural heterogeneity, and population urbanization. Differences in the sustainable development quality of different urbanization models and regional urbanization were analyzed. Findings showed that the difference in urbanization quality between different models is not obvious, while the difference in urbanization quality between regions is more obvious. Furthermore, the quality of urbanization development in the eastern region is better than that in the central and western regions, and the level of urbanization development with high administrative levels is superior to regions with low administrative levels.