Urban Problems of Hong Kong
Transport problems…
Housing Problems…
Environmental Problems…
Content
Introduction
P. 3
Housing Problems
P.4 – P.8
Transport Problems
P.9 – P.12
Environmental Problems
Own Opinions
P.13 – P.16
P.17
Introduction
Hong Kong is named as ‘Pearl of the East’ because of its prosperity and
the energetic citizen. But behind this good reputation, it also bears a lot of problems
on account of the prosperity. These problems include housing problems, transport
problems and environmental problems.
Housing problems are very serious in Hong Kong due to large population
but small area of land in proportion. The government has carried out a certain of
measures and policy to relief the problems.
Another troublesome problems in Hong Kong are environmental problems,
for instance, air, solid waste and water pollutions. Environmental problems are not
only the responsibility of Hong Kong Government, the Pearl River Delta have to
bear some.
The last main urban problems of Hong Kong are transport problems, it
tormented Hong Kong for a long time. To relief the problems, many overpasses and
subway were built or will be built.
The land use development of Hong Kong will also be analyzed in this
report.
Housing problems
Housing problems
Since the 1940s, more and more immigrants moved to Hong Kong
from Mainland China. The urban planning at that time was not
comprehensive enough to settle down the people with good living
environment. Hong Kong people who cannot pay for private housing were
forced to live in the public estates.
There are also some old buildings in the inner cities, which were
developed long time ago, such as Mong Kok and Sham Shui Po. The living
environment of those buildings and public estates were poor. The
population density was high, little open spaces were available for citizen to
take rest.
To accommodate the large number of immigrants moved to Hong
Kong, the government constructed a lot of poor quality buildings and public
estates. Up to now, those buildings and estates are ageing, the living
environment are more uncomfortable. On one hand Hong Kong is
developed in a fast rate, on the other hand the number of old buildings and
estates increase. Many policies are carried out to renew urban area or
revitalize it.
Housing Problems
There are different types of housing problems :
- Poor living conditions
-
Lack of open spaces
Poor hygiene
High population density
-
Hinder the development of the city
-
Because of emotional problems among people who live in the district
The cost of urban renewal is high
Time-consuming to arrange the development
Difficult to identify the real owner of those old buildings
-
Lack of recreational land use
-
The government did not concern residents’ need when they construct those buildings
or village
Land were arranged to other land uses. e.g. Institutional land use
Little land was available
-
Housing Problems
Measures to resolve or solve the housing problems :
-
‘4R’ strategy
4R strategy include redevelopment, preservation, revitalization and
rehabilitation. They are carried out by The Urban Renewal Authority, the aim is to
assist setting the policy of urban renewal and to try the best to attain sustainable
development.
-
Urban planning
Good urban planning can help a city to attain sustainable development. If the
plan is good, urban renewal can be arranged smoothly and efficiently. Better living
condition can be obtained when a good urban planning is carried out.
-
Civil education
The elder generation always insists to live in the old villages and buildings no
matter how uncomfortable and dangerous they are. It is because of their affections on
them. The government should publicize them with the concepts of safety and comfort
are more important than anything.
-
Building new towns
In the New Territory, many new towns were built to resolve the housing
problems of the urban area. New towns are usually located on the reclaimed land.
They had good urban planning before construction, facilities and recreational land
uses are desirable.
Housing Problems
---->
many immigrants moved to
Hong Kong
---->
Many low quality buildings
were built
poor living condition
---->
<---Better living
environment
<---New towns are built to
resolve housing problems
4R strategy carry out by
the government
Transport Problems
Hong Kong, as a city of prosperity, has a very comprehensive transport
network. It extends to all directions. As it has a comprehensive network, the
traffic is busy on and under ground.
The most serious transport problem is traffic congestion. Roads in Hong
Kong are narrow, number of cars are many. There are too many cars
compare to the road capacity. The situation is even worse during peak
hours.
Another transport problem is the uneven distribution of traffic. For example,
most of the cars use the Hung Hum Cross Harbour Tunnel instead of the
Western Harbour Tunnel. It is because of the price variance between them.
The government did a lot of things to resolve the problems. Such as
construct some overpasses, subways and bypasses.
Transport Problems
There are certain kinds of transport problems :
- Traffic Congestion
-
Too many cars
Roads are narrow
Many traffic light
-
Uneven distribution
-
Price variance between different roads or tunnels
Convenience, most public transport would use that roads or tunnels
Transport problems
Measures to resolve or solve the transport problems :
-
Building overpasses, subways and bypasses
Because of the narrow roads, traffic congestion is always a problem in
urban area. To resolve this problem, the government constructed some
overpasses, subways and bypasses to dredge the traffic.
-
Take public transports instead of private cars
As roads in Hong Kong are narrow, road capacity is not enough to
accommodate all cars. If public take public transports instead of private car,
the pressure to roads are less.
I cannot think of any solutions to resolve or solve the uneven
distribution of traffic because tunnels are run by different companies.
Government cannot affect the prices they set under the Positive noninterventionist policy.
Transport problems
Bridges, subways and
bypasses are built to resolve
the transport problems
Many cars in Hong
Kong
Traffic congestion is resolved
Environmental problems
One of the most serious urban problem in Hong Kong is environmental
problem. During 1970s, industrial development was very vigorous,
pollutants emission was serious. The problem get worse in different aspect,
noise, air, water and solid waste.
Air pollution is one of the environmental problems, air pollutants are usually
emitted by cars and factories. It is very serious in Hong Kong. The
government carried out a action blue sky to resolve the problem.
Victoria Harbour is a precious asset of Hong Kong, but the water pollution is
serious in Hong Kong. Many voluntary group raised a harbour protection
action, they requested the government to concern more about the water
pollution in Hong Kong.
Noise pollution and solid waste problem are also the main environmental
problems in Hong Kong. It is because of the vigorous growth of economy,
people produce more waste as they purchase more. For the noise pollution,
population density is high, their activities would affect each other.
Environmental problems
There are different kinds of environmental problems :
- Air pollution
- Many cars on roads
- Many factories
- High population density
- High rise buildings are built alongside the road, pollutants cannot be blown away by
wind.
- Air conditioner are widely used in restaurants and public places
- Water pollution
- Many factories
- Restaurants emit wasted water improperly
- People throw rubbish to the harbour
- Noise pollution
- Too many cars
- High population density
- Many constructions are in progress
- Solid waste problem
- Industrial solid wastes are wasted improperly
- People purchase a lot
- Materials used to pack a product are too much
Environmental problems
Measures to resolve or solve the problems :
- Action Blue Sky
It is an action carried out by the government, the aim is to improve the
air quality of Hong Kong through a series of activities.
- Harbour Area Treatment Scheme
The Harbour Area Treatment Scheme is an overall sewage collection
and treatment scheme for areas on both sides of Victoria Harbour. It is
divided in several stages, stage 1 has already finished in 2001.
- Noise measures by government
If practicable, the government would set up retrofitting noise barriers
to lower the influence to residents. But in some district, they are not
practicable. The government introduces a non-engineering solution, a traffic
management scheme. The scheme is being implemented in four areas to
ban certain types of vehicles from using some streets at night to reduce
traffic noise.
- Solid waste measures
The government carries out a lot of programmes to monitor and
educate people to waste wastes properly.
Environmental problems


Environmental problems
are serious in Hong
Kong
Different measures
carried out by the
government
Better environment in Hong
Kong
Own opinions
The problems discussed in this report are major urban problems in Hong
Kong. In recent years, the Hong Kong government has already done a lot of
things to resolve those problems. I think that is not enough to resolve them
if residents do not cooperate with the government.
People is the basic unit of a society, if people do not follow and cooperate
with government’s policies, policies cannot be carried out effectively.
Education and publicity are important than any policy because the best
policy is to get residents’ support. If the government gets residents’ support,
she can carry out different policies easily and smoothly.
Not only can the government resolve those problems, we, as a resident, can
also do something to improve the situation. For example, people can lower
their volume during parties, it is a way to help reducing noise pollution.
By cooperation of residents and the government, urban problems of Hong
Kong can be resolved and Hong Kong will be a better place to live in.
Sources are from the following web sites :
• http://hk.search.yahoo.com/search/images
• http://www.epd.gov.hk/epd/eindex.html