Keep eyes open - what the people of Kunming (and, I think, of the province as well - and there may be some contradiction here as to where resources go) expect/want are indeed to the point. Important to see where the money goes, and where it doesn't, and why, and what the effects are, on whom, and to remember that Kunming isn't becoming civilized or whatever separately from what goes on outside of Kunming.
In the meantime, better driving and less spitting are fine.
Original big four ranked:
1. Beijing
2. Shanghai
3. Guangzhou
4. Shenzhen
New first-tier ranking:
1. Chengdu
2. Hangzhou
3. Chongqing
4. Wuhan
5. Xi’an
6. Suzhou
7. Tianjin
8. Nanjing
9. Changsha
10, Zhengzhou
11. Dongguan
12. Qingdao
13. Shenyang
14. Ningbo
15. Kunming
Followed by "30 second-tier cities, 70 third-tier cities, 90 fourth-tier cities, and 128 fifth-tier cities."
Economic Attraction Index, based on five main indicators:
"- Concentration of commercial resources, including e-commerce and the retail industry
- The city as a hub i.e. the ease of transportation, logistics, and the location of commercial resources
- Citizen activity evaluated via the data of food delivery and online shopping
- Diversity of lifestyle as pulled from travel data, personal expenditure, and entertainment activities available
- City development, which emphasizes the city's level of innovation, how attractive it is to outside talent, and the city's consumption potential."
[Translated by Huang Chenkuang, thebeijinger.com blog]
Xiamen is considered 2nd tier while Kunming is 1st tier. Anybody who's been to XM will tell you that's a load of hogwash.
Last couple of posts takes us to another method of improving the "civilized" status of a city:
Reducing the influx of less civilized people into the city.
For that there are various ways.
Historically China has relied on hukou restrictions, but putting cities like Kunming into the tier 1 category is a softer mean to the same end.
The goal obviously is that some people will not want to move to Beijing or Shanghai, because Kunming is now tier 1 as well.
For me, this attempt to control human migration is an obvious goal of these new tier rankings.
So if someone put a plate of turd in front of you and called it a steak, you would nod in happy agreement and say smells good?
If anything this is more of a face thing, trying to show how much China has improved throughout.
Well, don't mistake me ("you" in your comment) to the people whose behaviour I'm speculating about.
People in level of populations or mobs behave differently from any individual person.
The face thing does not come without a purpose, and the purpose is to increase people's satisfaction with where they are, instead of motivating them to find it elsewhere.
That elsewhere could be in another city, another country, or under different government. All bad options for the Chinese government, most of the time.
@JanJal: So you think it's 'civilized' to discourage 'less civilized' people from the city? Well, maybe it is, but here you're not dealing with a moral definition of 'civilized'. Fair enough.
Ancient Athens was a 'civilized' city-state - had intellectual life, all that good stuff - Plato, Aristotle, etc. The work was carried out by slaves.
Please note that I am not indicating support for any of this, only speculating what or how the Chinese state or other entities here may or may not want to pursue.
Understanding does not equal agreeing.