TABLE OF CONTENTS - The Professional Green Building Council

Theme B: Creating a livable, healthy and environmentally viable citiesdevelopment projects and of course the city as a whole are so complex and involvesuch large orders of magnitude that it is difficult to act with a properly coordinatedview of the two without the to grasp a total model which takes into account theissues both of transportation and urban development and the complex processes oftheir interaction. It was the aim of the research project to explore methods fordoing so, and arrives the results as a resolution, not simply an analytical report.Our research shows that HK is operating one of the most efficient, high qualityrail transport systems in the world with a strong potential for its own sustainablecontinuation as well as significant contribution to the well being and sustainabledevelopment of Hong Kong. This operation has been created and continues toprosper with the support of government policies and full recognition of its role. “.The new transport strategy entitled “Hong Kong Moving Ahead” promulgated inOctober 1999 has reaffirmed the need to rely on railways as the backbone of HongKong’s transport system. Railways are essential to Hong Kong’s continuedeconomic, social and land development, and will be given priority inGovernment’s plans for infrastructure development...”{Policy on RailwayDevelopment. HKSAR Railway Policy, Oct. 1999}But the pre-requisites for such sustainability are adaptability in developmentpolicies and more importantly change and adaptability in the conditions for itsoperational environment. These conditions lie mainly beyond the reach of KCRCand are vested in Government ordinances and policies.The network is markedly compact with fewer stops and therefore greater efficiencycompared to rail transport systems in other major cities such as Tokyo, London,Paris, and New York.437