Study on the relationship between urban quality of life and sustainability in China’s rust belt

Abstract "Rust belts" are special areas that exist worldwide. With traditional manufacturing as the core, these areas experienced a polarization transition from a prosperous industrial period to a depressed post-industrial period during the development and change of the world economy. As the nation’s rust belt, northeast China has also experienced the corresponding development dilemma. To provide theoretical support for balancing the relationship between regional sustainability and quality of life (QOL), this research is carried out using northeast China as a case study. An evaluation index system is constructed and used to explore the relationship between urban QOL and sustainability in 34 prefecture-level cities in the region in 2010 and 2020. Moreover, the change trends and characteristics of QOL and sustainability in the study area are explored against the background of population contraction. Through a comprehensive analysis, it is quantitatively analyzed whether the overall city sustainability index (CSI), socioeconomic sustainability index (SSI), and environmental sustainability index (ESI) contribute to a city’s QOL index exceeding an average level. The results reveal significant positive correlations between QOL and all three sustainability indexes. Moreover, from 2010 to 2020, the effect of the SSI gradually decreased, while the effect of the ESI gradually increased. From the perspective of spatial effects, no spatial correlation is found between QOL and sustainability in the 34 prefecture-level cities. This study provides theoretical support for high-quality sustainable development in northeast China, and offers a valuable research paradigm for related investigations in rust belt regions worldwide.