Study on Residents' Quality of Life in the Context of Urban Shrinkage: Analysis Based on Subjective and Objective Data

Abstract

Urban shrinkage has become a global phenomenon. However, the impact of urban shrinkage on residents' lives has not received enough attention from scholars and urban policymakers. This paper explores the extent to which urban shrinkage has an impact on residents' quality of life, and the ways in which it does so. Taking a typical shrinking city, Yichun, as an example, the statistical data and microblog data are used to quantitatively assess the impact of urban shrinkage on residents' objective and subjective quality of life and analyze the spatial–temporal evolution of residents' objective and subjective quality of life. The results indicate that urban shrinkage affects residents' quality of life, but the variation trend of objective quality of life is not necessarily consistent with that of subjective quality of life. In addition, the degree of urban shrinkage has a significant effect on residents' quality of life. The more severe the urban shrinkage, the more significant the impact on residents' quality of life.