Evaluation Method for Urban Public Service Carrying Capacity (UPSCC): A Qualitative–Quantitative Bi-Dimensional Perspective

Abstract

Urban Public Service Carrying Capacity plays an essential role in urban social and economic development. However, existing study has been focused on the evaluation of UPSCC from a quantitative perspective. It is necessary to evaluate UPSCC from a qualitative–quantitative bi-dimensional perspective. This paper establishes an innovative evaluation method for UPSCC based on a qualitative–quantitative bi-dimensional (QQBD) perspective. The proposed QQBD-based UPSCC evaluation method can help identify the weak areas of public services. The conclusions of this study are as follows. Firstly, public services are people-oriented social resources, which should be evaluated from both quantitative and qualitative perspectives. Secondly, the quantitative measurement of public service carrying capacity needs to consider both UPSCC load and carrier, while the qualitative measurement needs to consider the satisfaction among stakeholders. Thirdly, the demonstration of the case study cities shows the effectiveness of the qualitative–quantitative bi-dimensional UPSCC evaluation method. By applying the QQBD-based UPSCC evaluation method introduced in this study, decision makers can identify the specific areas that affect the UPSCC performance, and thus tailor-made policy can be designed for improving UPSCC performance by adjusting UPSCC quantity and quality.