Multidimensional disparities in urban liveability across Chinese non-core cities: a typological exploration based on carbon emissions differences

Decarbonisation has increasingly become a major policy direction globally, deeply intertwined with urban socio-economic development. However, the connection between such a process and urban liveability remains underexplored. This oversight is particularly consequential for non-core cities, due to limited resources, institutional constraints, and weaker economic structures in these smaller cities. Thus, decarbonisation often places extra restrictions on their socio-economic progress, further affecting their liveability. Focusing on Chinese ordinary prefecture-level cities, this study sheds light on the structure of carbon emissions in Chinese non-core cities and their liveability performance. The typology exploration is employed to understand to what extent these non-core cities demonstrate different carbon emission characteristics and whether there are significant disparities in urban liveability among the different types. On this basis, the relationships between carbon emissions and liveability across different city types are further explored by applying correlation analysis and coupling analysis. The findings reveal a strong positive correlation between the two, indicating a prevalent reliance on carbon-intensive socio-economic activities for urban liveability. While economic strength, developmental space, and employment potential contribute most significantly to liveability, they are also tightly coupled with emissions. More importantly, four distinctive city types are defined, each revealing notable heterogeneity in liveability performance and exhibiting distinct patterns in their relationship with carbon emissions. This study contributes by highlighting the risks of decarbonisation trajectories on non-core cities and calls for targeted, context-sensitive strategies that balance emission reduction with liveability preservation.