ancient cities

above the 14th floor than anywhere else on Earth,
making it the world’s most vertical city. The inevitable
consequence of vertical urban development is
that few older low-rise buildings remain. The city
has become a showcase for modern, high-rise
architecture.
A distinctive feature of Hong Kong’s vertical
urbanity is its large-scale, high-rise public housing.
As with Singapore, about half of Hong Kong’s
population live in high-rise public housing. In the
initial years, these were built to resettle fire victims
and squatters. The construction of the Shek Kip
Mei Estate following the Shek Kip Mei fire, which
left 53,000 people homeless in 1953, marked the
beginning of Hong Kong’s public housing program
and the government’s role as financier, contractor,
and landlord of housing. Designed and built as
emergency housing, each apartment block could
house 2,000 people, 340 people including children
per floor. These early buildings were generally
seven stories tall with an average space allocation
of 3.25 square meters per person (the lowest is
0.85 square meter). Cooking was done outdoors
along the common corridor, immediately in front
of residents’ apartment doors. Residents shared
communal bathing and toilet facilities, and there
were no elevators.
Over time, public-housing space standards and
facilities have improved in response to consumers’
needs and demands for better quality housing.
With technology advancements, taller buildings
were constructed. Residents are increasingly consulted
to find out what they want and what works
for them best before a new design is introduced.
There is consideration beyond the utilitarian
approach to domestic comfort and lifestyle. New
estates are planned as neighborhoods, with such
urban amenities as kindergartens, playgrounds,
wet markets, sports facilities, clinics, and shopping
malls. Old estates are upgraded. In 1997, the government
introduced its aim to increase home ownership
to 70 percent, giving further impetus to
public housing improvement.
A Green Environment
Although Hong Kong is intensely urbanized,
in recent years it has made much effort to promote
a green environment. Since 2004, the government
has started to develop greening master
Hotel, Motel
371
plans for its urban districts. Community forums
are held to gather public feedback on the contents
of these master plans, which are due for
completion by 2009. The government has also
started a green Hong Kong campaign to promote
and enhance public awareness of greening in the
community, including greening activities among
school children.
Hong Kong suffers from increasing pollution,
compounded by its geography, proximity to the
Pearl River Delta, and high-density urbanization.
About 80 percent of the city’s smog originates from
nearby industrial areas in south China. On the
transportation front, Hong Kong introduced strong
car-restraint and bus-priority measures early in its
development. Hong Kong has a well-developed
transportation network that encompasses bus,
tram, rail, and ferry, both public and private. More
than 90 percent of daily trips (11 million) are on
public transport, one of the highest usages in the
world. The development of Hong Kong provides
important lessons in planning creative solutions for
a number of urban challenges, including urban
expansion, economic development, housing redevelopment,
and participatory planning at the city
level.
See also Social Housing; Urban Planning
Further readings
Belinda Yuen
Ngo, Tak-Wing, ed. 1999. Hong Kong’s History: State
and Society under Colonial Rule. London: Routledge.
Tsang, Steve. 2007. A Modern History of Hong Kong.
London: I. B. Tauris.
Yeung, Y. M., ed. 2007. The First Decade: The Hong
Kong SAR in Retrospective and Introspective
Perspectives. Hong Kong: The Chinese University
Press.
Yeung, Y. M. and T. K. Y. Wong, eds. 2003. Fifty Years
of Public Housing in Hong Kong. Hong Kong: The
Chinese University Press.
Ho t e l , mo t e l
Contemporary urban theorists have explored how
cities are profoundly defined by the nature of their