Geography study notes (1st term)

1. Urban areas
 Places that have been developed
 Located in the northern part of Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and
the new towns in the new territories.
 Takes up a quarter of land in Hong Kong
 Buildings in Urban areas are usually tall and dense with high
population density. There are various facilities, housing jobs
provided.
 Have more people living in a unit of land and have more
facilities

2. Rural areas
Places that are not developed
Located in the new territories and the outlying islands
Have shorter buildings, lower population density, less people living
in a unit of land and have less facilities

3. Land use
There are seven types of land use.
1. Transport land use : for people to travel. (e.g : airport)
2. Residential land use : for people to live (e.g :housing estates)
3. Industrial land use : for industrial activities/manufacturing (e.g :
industrial estates)
4. Recreational land use : for people to have leisure activities (e,g
parks)
5. Insitutional land use : for public services (e.g schools)
 6. Commercial land use : for business activities (e.g commercial
building)
7. Mixed land use : more than one type of land use in a building (e.g
a building which has both residential and commercial land use at
the same time)

The distribution of land use is :

28%= Residential land use
24%=Transport land use
11%= Others
10%=Industrial
10%=Recreational
9%=Institutional
6%= Vacant
2%=Commercial

Residential = widely distributed

Industrial = in old urban areas, new towns
Commercial = in city centres
Recreational, Institutional, Transport =scattered all over the territory

4. Residential areas
 High-income residential area : low population density, flats
are spacious with beautiful scenery,away from urban areas
  Middle-income residential area : flat are smaller, flats are
comfortable with sufficient facilities
 Low-income residential areas : squatter areas, public housing
and old urban areas, squatter areas are illegal houses built in
the urban fringes and hillsides. Public housing is affordable
housing for poor families. Old urban areas are developed in
the old days. The living environment is bad.
5. Industrial areas :
 Before the 1970s : muti-storey buildings manufacturing
textile and toys. They are usually in old urban areas.
 The mid 1970s to 1990s : there are industrial estates
built in new towns.
 After the late 1990s : they started to develop high-tech
industries.

Old factory buildings are near old urban areas and residential
areas, as the labour supply is abundant and they need to find
workers to work in the factories that they built. It can reduce the
commuting time for the workers to work. However, it can bring in
pollution problems.

Industrial estates are separated from residential areas by green

belts, recreational areas and community facilities. This can reduce
the pollution brought to the residential areas.

High-tech industries factories are now near universities and high-

income residential areas because they want to attract people to
work there.

6. CBD
 CBD, also known as Central Business District, is from Sheung
Wan in the west to Admiralty in the east .

Five characteristics of CBDs in HK :

 Commercial centres : There are financial companies, transnational
corporations, professional services, mall that sell luxury goods .
 Tall buildings with high rents : there are a lot of competition for
flats in the CBD
 Administrative centre : a lot of government buildings are in the
CBD
 Cultural venues : There are places for cultural and recreational
activities to take place, there are also some revitalized buildings.
 Heavy traffic : As a lot of people need to use the CBD, there will
be traffic congestion during peak hours

Four reasons why Central is the CBD :

1. Costal location : Central is near the sea, it means that they can
develop and reclaim land.
2. Symbol of status : There are a lot of government offices and finical
offices at the CBD, which can help the business
3. High Accessibility : They can go to Central easily.
4. Long history of development : Central has been developed since
the 19th century.