URBAN AND

REGIONAL PLANNING
ASSIGNMENT 2
HONG KONG

MITAKSHI CHOUHAN
M.ARCH
20MAR1001
HONG KONG
● Hong kong also known as ‘Pearl
of the East’ because of its
prosperity and the energetic
citizen.
● Hong Kong Special
Administrative Region of the
People's Republic of China
(HKSAR), is a metropolitan area
and special administrative region
of China on the eastern Pearl
River Delta in South China.
 HISTORY TIMELINE OF HONG KONG

JAPANESE SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE

IMPERIAL QING REGION (SAR) OF CHINA FOR
DYNASTY OCCUPATION
1800s-1930s 1950 s - 1997 50 YEAR

221 BC- 1940s - 3 years 1997- Present

1800s BRITISH COLONIAL 8 months MODERN HONG KONG .
HONG KONG
AFTER OPIUM WAR
110 YEARS OF
HONG KONG
HISTORY
GEOGRAPHY
● Hong Kong is on China's southern coast, 60 km
(37 mi) east of Macau, on the east side of the
mouth of the Pearl River estuary.
● It is surrounded by the South China Sea on all
sides except the north, which neighbours the
Guangdong city of Shenzhen along the Sham
Chun River.
● The territory's 1,110.18 km2 (428.64 sq mi)
area (2754.97 km2
● Urban development is concentrated on the
Kowloon Peninsula, Hong Kong Island, and in
new towns throughout the New Territories.
DEMOGRAPHY
● The Census and Statistics Department
estimated Hong Kong's population at 7,482,500
in mid-2019.
● The overwhelming majority (92%) is Han
Chinese,most of whom are Taishanese,
Teochew, Hakka, and other Cantonese peoples
● The remaining 8% are non-ethnic Chinese
minorities, primarily Filipinos, Indonesians, and
South Asians.
● About half the population have some form of
British nationality, a legacy of colonial rule; 3.4
million residents have British National
(Overseas) status, and 260,000 British citizens
live in the territory.
● Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated countries in the world, and has a population
density of 17,311 people per square mile (6,659 people per square kilometer), which ranks
between 2nd and 3rd in the world for population density
PREDOMINANT LANGUAGE IN HONG KONG
RELIGIOUS POPULATION OF HONG KONG
ECONOMY
● Hong kong depends on imports for its ● Innovation and technology
requirement including raw material, ● Testing and certification services
food and other consumer goods, capital ● Environmental industries
goods and fuel
● FOUR MAJOR INDUSTRIES IN HONG
KONG ECONOMY
1. Trading and logistic
2. Financial services
3. Professional and producer service
4. Tourism
● Cultural and creative industries
● Medical services
● Educational services
LAND USE DISTRIBUTION
● The land area of Hong Kong is about
1,110 sq km , and its usages distribution
is as follows-
● Among the developed area of
268 square kilometres, the land
used for infrastructure and
supporting facilities covers 100
square kilometres (about 37%),
which is more than that of 77
square kilometres for residential
use (about 29%), while the land
for “government, institution and
community facilities" and "open
space" uses covers 50 square
kilometres(about 19%).
● To meet the public aspiration
for improving the quality of life,
more land will be required for
provision of more open space
and supporting facilities.

https://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.e/interactive/html5-video-media/20
17/06/16/hongkong_930.webm
● there are 24 country parks and 11
special areas outside country parks in
Hong Kong with a total area of 443
square kilometres, accounting for about
40% of the total land area in Hong Kong
HONG KONG
LAND USE
THROUGH
DECADES
1940-2000
URBAN PROBLEMS IN HONG KONG POOR URBAN
PLANNING

UNEVENLY
DISTRIBUTED

AREA 1,104 CONCRETE

sqkm JUNGLES

HILLY
DEMOGRAPHIC
HIGH
POPULATION HOUSING CRISIS
DENSITY

POLLUTION

ROADS AND
6.9 MILLION
TRANSPORTATION
PEOPLE

ECONOMIC HOUSING NEAR

GROWTH FACTORIES

CONGESTION
CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICTS
CENTRAL (中環)

● Located on the north shore of Hong Kong

Island, this area was originally known as
Victoria.
● Numerous financial and commercial
enterprises have made Hong Kong Central
business district their home since its
foundation as a centre of commerce in the
1800s.
● The area boasts some of the city’s most
recognisable buildings including The Bank
of China Tower, AIG Tower, Citibank Tower
and International Finance Centre
ADMIRALTY (金鐘)

● A former British military area and now

home to numerous financial institutions
and business centres, the Admiralty
district offers a fine mix of prestige and
affordability.
● Noteworthy buildings include the Lippo
Center Towers, the Far East Financial
Center, and the CITIC Tower.
● The Admiralty MTR station provides easy
access to the rest of the city and the
international airport.
SHEUNG WAN (上环)

● This district sits close to Central, just to the

west, and yet the two districts are worlds
apart.
● Sheung Wan sits just hundreds of meters
away from Central’s key financial buildings
but it lacks the array of towering
skyscrapers which are so prominent in the
skyline of its eastern neighbour.
● This area is home to a very traditional style
Hong Kong.
● There are merchants selling rice, tea,
traditional Chinese herbs and medicines.
● It is home to the well-known Ladder Street,
which features original wide, stone steps
used to carry sedan chairs up the steep
sloping hills in the nineteenth century.
WAN CHAI (灣仔)

● This bustling metropolitan area of Wan

Chai and Causeway Bay sits on the
island’s north shore, east of Central and
Admiralty.
● As both home to an array of small and
medium sized businesses and also with
a large residential population, Wan Chai
has something of a buzz about it, also
boasting a waterfront location and
access to the Hong Kong Convention
and Exhibition Center.
TSIM SHA TSUI

● Tsim Sha Tsui, or TST is a cosmopolitan

district of south Kowloon with easy
access to both mainland China and the
rest of Hong Kong.
● It hosts numerous buses, ferries and
MRT routes as well as the main
Kowloon-Canton Railway line station.
● Office rates in this part of Hong Kong
can be as much as 50% less than Central
areas making it a very attractive
prospect especially for those doing
business in mainland China
ISLAND EAST

● Island East is an district of Eastern Hong

Kong developed and managed by Swire
Properties for residential, recreational
and most importantly commercial use.
● The area plays host to some world
renowned business centres including
Taikoo Place and Cityplaza which make
up a small proportion of the 8 million
sq/ft of commercial office space
available.
● The business hubs of Quarry Bay and
North Point are also situated here.
CBD OF HONG KONG
WHY HONG KONG IS EXPENSIVE ?
● Less than one quarter is built out and
only 3.7% is zoned for highly density
living area
● The city of hong kong was designed to
be a low tax , business friendly hub, and
that model continues today
● 1947, only british ex- patriots were
allowed to live on the hills overlooking
hong kong
● Today land are mostly owned by the
government , who sells it to private use,
mostly to business moguls and
billionaires
● About 78% of the hong
kong housing is held in as
assets for
multimillionaires
● The government in hong
kong has made an effort
to solve the housing
problem by developing a
series of artificial islands
built for reclaimed land
called lantau tomorrow
vision
● Coupled with an
increase of 150 new
immigrants entering
Hong Kong every
day, i.e 4500
population
increment a month,
from mainland
China, this 5% of
remaining land
automatically
become assets in
demand within the
next 3-5 years.
● Hong Kong is facing
severe housing
shortage for the
next 20 years.
 ● The project has drawn
considerable criticism
from environmental
groups and more than half
of hong kongers object to
the development
● In hong kong the public
housing program was
developed and
implemented by
HOUSING DEPARTMENT
OF HKHA
1. Private ( government
budget)
2. Public ( selling and
leasing of properties,
premium and
investment income )

LANTAU TOMORROW VISION

AVERAGE
LIVING
SPACE IN
HONG
KONG
2007-20
21
CAUSES FOR HOUSING SHORTAGE
● More people live alone in their homes EFFECTS OF LACK OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING
● Fewer people marry than centuries ago
● Population growth ● Development of slums
● Cost of land increased
● Land speculation ● People can no longer afford rent
● Construction costs increased significantly ● People may no longer afford electricity
● Permission for construction projects take quite a ● Homelessness
long time
● It takes quite long to finish a construction project
● Hard to find a home for people who
● Good job opportunities want to move to big cities
● More people want to live in the city ● Lack of affordable housing for students
Cheap money
●
● High property prices
● Local shortages in construction workers
● Land is simply a scarce resource ● Overall risk of poverty increases
● Minimum green space requirements have to be met ● Pollution
● Many housing projects focus on the luxury segment ● Unhygienic conditions
● Migration
● Competing land use
● Health problems
KOWLOON THE WALLED CITY , HOUSING CRISIS , CAGED HOUSING
SOLUTION

● Social and public housing

● Building smaller homes
● Rent control DESIGNED BY AR.
● Governments have to buy land and real JAMES LAW
estate OPOD HOUSING
● Focus on the construction of affordable
housing instead of luxury homes
● Limitation of land speculation
● Higher taxes on returns from real estate
investments
● Government support for renters in case
of financial crisis
● More efficient use of space
● Living in rural areas has to become
more attractive
GOVERNMENT STRATEGY FOR HOUSING CRISIS
● In June 2018, the Hong Kong
government proposed another lodging
strategy — collecting an opening
assessment on new private units — to
urge land engineers to carry finished
private properties to the market as
ahead of schedule as could be expected.
● But the draft was aborted in june 2020
● “Hong Kong’s land problem is a
political problem, not an economic
one,” Ronnie Chichung Chan,
president of developer Hang Lung
Properties, said at a forum on May 31.
● the government has announced plans to ● In October 2019, the government
provide more affordable homes in the proposed to redevelop about 700
next decade. hectares of unused private land for
● It plans to add 280,000 public homes public housing in Hong Kong’s northern
and 180,000 private homes by 2027. New Territories region.
● The straightforward solution that the
government proposed is to increase
land supply.
● There is a plan for land reclamation to
build 4,200 acres of artificial islands to
meet the housing demands.
● The first island would create space for
260,000 flats, of which 70 percent would
be public housing.
URBAN DATA
● Hong Kong’s infrastructure challenges are
also due to the mountainous and coastal
nature of the city.
● Evidence of an Upper Paleolithic settlement
in Hong Kong was found at Wong Tei Tung in
Sham Chung beside the Three Fathoms Cove
in Sai Kung Peninsula.
● Hong Kong was loosely part of China during the
Qin dynasty (221–206 BC), and the area was
part of the ancient kingdom of Nam Viet
(203–111 BC)
● During the Mongol period, Hong Kong saw its
first population boom as Chinese refugees
entered the area.
● Before the British government colonised the
New Territories and New Kowloon in 1898,
Punti, Hakka, Tanka and Hokkien people
had migrated to and stayed in Hong Kong for
many years.
● British introduced Victorian and Edwardian
architectural styles from the mid-19th
century onwards.
● Most high rise buildings to be built afterwards
were for business purposes; the first true
skyscraper in Hong Kong was built for Hong
kong Bank in 1935.
● The private housing estate began in 1965
with Mei Foo Sun Chuen.
EVOLUTION OF SKYLINE OF HONG KONG ( 1890-1910-1950)
1960-1970-1979-1900-2000
REFERENCES
● Census and Statistics Department
● UN World Population Prospects (2019 Revision) - United Nations population estimates and projections.
● GeoNames Gazetteer
● Planning Department’s Website (www.pland.gov.hk)
● AFCD’s Website (www.afcd.gov.hk) >
● Country and Marine Parks Visiting Country and Marine Parks PlanD’s Website
● (www.pland.gov.hk) >
● technical documents > Hong Kong Planning Standards
● Conservation Hong Kong 2030+ Study Website (www.hk2030plus.hk)
● https://www.pland.gov.hk/pland_en/info_serv/statistic/landu.html
● http://hongwrong.com/hong-kong-skyline-through-the-years/
● https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Architecture_of_Hong_Kong
● https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Hong_Kong#
● https://policy.asiapacificenergy.org/node/2944
● http://www.maps-of-the-world.net/maps-of-asia/maps-of-hong-kong/
● The Four Key Industries in the Hong Kong Economy
● https://borgenproject.org/hong-kongs-housing-crisis/
● https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_sprawl
● https://urbact.eu/planning-and-urban-sprawl
● https://www.oecd.org/publications/rethinking-urban-sprawl-9789264189881-en.htm
●