This article explores the establishment of a City Governance Index to evaluate the levels of governance of cities. We identified seven key dimensions of governance and then divided each of them into four stages: input, mechanism, result and effect. Each dimension/stage mix is correlated with indicators that can be measured with both objective and perception data. Using this framework, we successfully conducted public opinion surveys in five major Chinese cities, including Beijing and Shanghai. We then used the 2,172 replies to compare the overall governance performance of the respective cities. This innovative approach holds considerable potential for measuring governance of cities in both China and other countries.