Planning for liveable cities across contexts: A comparative analysis of life satisfaction determinants in Hong Kong and Shenzhen

Abstract

Creating liveable cities is a central ambition of contemporary urban planning, yet the determinants of urban life satisfaction (a widely recognised indicator of urban liveability) remain contested, particularly across different urban and regional contexts. This study examines the determinants of life satisfaction through a comparative lens, focusing on Hong Kong and Shenzhen, two neighbouring cities that represent distinct urban typologies within China’s Greater Bay Area. Drawing on survey data from 3,066 residents, we employ partial proportional odds and restricted cubic spline models to assess how built environment features, individual and household characteristics, subjective perceptions, and regional mobility each contribute to life satisfaction. The findings reveal both universal principles and context-specific mechanisms shaping life satisfaction. While factors such as greater living space and participation in cross-border leisure are positively associated with life satisfaction in both cities, effects of variables like gender, marital status, and homeownership are significant only in Shenzhen. Preferences for the built environment also diverge: Hong Kong residents place greater emphasis on urban form and access to green and blue spaces, whereas Shenzhen residents value functional diversity, transport accessibility, and lower development intensity. Analysis of non-linear relationships further shows that planning-related associations vary across intensity ranges, with distinct saturation points and trade-offs emerging in each city. Together, these findings highlight the importance of planning strategies that are sensitive to local context and attentive to both social and physical dimensions of urban life. The positive association between cross-border leisure and life satisfaction also underscores the growing relevance of regional connectivity for well-being in increasingly networked urban regions.

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