Abstract: In the development stage of ‘new urbanization’, the construction of livable small towns is the dual requirements of people's pursuit of livable living environment and the construction of beautiful China. Firstly, the paper systematically summarizes the research progress of livability evaluation at home and abroad. Then, on the basis of analyzing the applicability of the current livable city evaluation standards to the livability evaluation of small towns and the matching degree of the existing livable small towns' evaluation research and the development of small towns, combined with the development characteristics of small towns, this paper constructs a comprehensive evaluation system of livable small towns with six indicators, including infrastructure construction, public service supporting, public security, public space quality, characteristic cultural identity and urban development potential. Finally, based on the evaluation index system of livable small towns, this paper makes an empirical study on the construction of livable small towns in Xiangshui County, Jiangsu Province, discusses the applicability of the evaluation index system of livable small towns, and broadens the quantitative research ideas of the evaluation and construction of livable small towns.