Concerning the economic level, the high urban density generates high cost of living among residents. Currently many citizens live in relative proximity in cities which have an abundance of infrastructure and facilities. However, it comes with the living cost higher that is than in 96% of cities in the world. 

Finally on the environmental level, the high urban density sacrificed natural resources for urban development. In Hong Kong, districts are separated by mountains, raising a need for faster public transport. Therefore, MTR and tunnel highways are constructed with forest clearing and reclamation being common. 

On the other hand, Hong Kong’s urban density also facilitates the transportation of citizens. To illustrate, it is more economical and convenient for Hong Kong people to travel around the city in a blink of an eye with the use of public transport such as bus, minibus, MTR and so on so forth. Moreover, the limited land can be used in a more efficient way for different purposes such as residential, commercial etc. In a nutshell, there are both upsides and downsides for Hong Kong’s urban density and that’s why to a small extent has Hong Kong’s urban density determined its level of sustainability.

 

In terms of economic viability, a high urban density has a positive effect on the economic development of Hong Kong, as a high urban density would result in a higher productivity as there are more labour available, resulting in a greater economic growth. Moreover, with a high urban density, there would be more shops and stores catering to the needs of a higher population density, increasing the ease for people to spend and consume, promoting the economic growth. 

 

In terms of social equity, a high urban density is likely to result in an increased level of inequality, as it facilitates economic growth which would make things more expensive, along with housing becoming more expensive, it would be less affordable by poor people. However, the government has found ways to mitigate the problem by introducing public housings and developing more public transports, as well as establishing an extensive network of public services and community facilities, which would increase the quality of life of residents. 

 

In terms of environmental protection, with a higher urban density, Hong Kong tends to have a lot of different types of public transports catering to the needs of different citizens, such as minibus and MTR, which could effectively reduce the carbon emissions. However, a higher urban density also leads to more severe problem of pollution, as there is a high energy consumption, resulting in poor air and water quality. 

On the positive side, a compact urbanscape means that the infrastructure can effectively service a large number of people. For instance, the MTR in Hong Kong services over 4.6 million of passenger per day before the pandemic in 2019, that’s over half of Hong Kong’s total population. This would be hard to achieve in sparely spaces suburbs. 

In Hong Kong, the proximity to daily necessities like markets, business centres, institution services, recreational activities, means that travelling distance can be greatly reduced hence air pollution. In addition, the use of low-carbon mass transit transport like MTR, can results in a lower carbon footprint as compared to private car driving.

Nevertheless, some aspects of sustainability is still sacrificed, like the environmental aspect, a too-dense urban area like the Yau Tsim Mong District, will cause hygiene, ventilation and fire hazards. And the process of reclaiming large area of for development will also heavily pollutes the ocean.

A compact urbanscape means that the infrastructure can effectively service a large number of people. For instance, the MTR in Hong Kong services over 4.6 million of passenger per day before the pandemic in 2019, that’s over half of Hong Kong’s total population. This would be hard to achieve in sparely spaces suburbs. 

In Hong Kong, the proximity to daily necessities like markets, business centres, institution services, recreational activities, means that travelling distance can be greatly reduced hence air pollution. In addition, the use of low-carbon mass transit transport like MTR, can results in a lower carbon footprint as compared to private car driving.

Nevertheless, some aspects of sustainability is still sacrificed, like the environmental aspect, a too-dense urban area like the Yau Tsim Mong District, will cause hygiene, ventilation and fire hazards. And the process of reclaiming large area of for development will also heavily pollutes the ocean.

 

Hong Kong is regarded as one of the most densely populated countries in the world, in which it determines the structure of public housing. From the H-blocks from 1950s to the Massive block in 1960s, the buildings were becoming much taller than ever before, thereby, a large population can be picked into a small area. This may sacrifice a fraction of land which is used for housing and commercial building. Yet, at the same time, it preserves a large percentage of green space. For social aspect, necessities are undoubtedly attainable by all citizen in Hong Kong as most population is centralized in certain area while most of the universal rights are ensured.  

 

Although Hong Kong may arguably reach environmental and social sustainability, I don’t think it achieves the remaining. For economic aspect, Hong Kong is extremely depended on other country’s resources due to the lack of agriculture and industry.  

What is urban density? For me, I will simply define it as population density, the number of human persons per unit area. Which means if the city has a bunch of taller buildings, it can already say that the city is having a high urban density. 

The first impression of a tall building is crowded, with no greening, and depression. Yet, I do think that it can be solved by better land planning and building design. Whether the city has a high urban density or a low urban density, it can be sustainable, as long as it is environmentally friendly, energy-efficient, and comfortable to live in.

To begin with, even though the sudden burst of the population in the early 19s might have caused a drop in Hong Kong’s level of sustainability, the city has adopted a densely populated living system throughout the past century. For instance, the city is equipped with a mature community system including mass transportation, structured urban planning, and the formation of shared communities. The scale of the community allows the city to manage resources efficiently,  thus result in the rise of communal benefits in all social, economical and environmental aspects. 

First of all, social, economic and environmental are the three crucial aspects when considering a city to be sustainable.

I would like to address the social issues. With the growth of population, it is important to make balance to the supply of resources like enough housings, food and even convenient transportation so as to increase people's quality of life. When the urban density is higher, different sectors may put efforts in it. For example, chapter 4 told us that within 15 years, crossing between Victoria and Sha Tin new town without the immediate experience of ridge pass or harbour by private and public vehicles becomes possible. It shows that the  high-rise urban density induced numbers of infrastructure which improved both citizens in present and future.

Talking about infrastructure, it also triggered numerous economic opportunities such as investment from large corporations and job creation for the citizens. A large scale of workforce is necessary. Regardless of which industries like construction, architecture and urban planning, they contributed much to the sustainability in Hong Kong.

In Hong Kong, urban density is high with scarce land endowment, which intensifies the housing problem in HK, several problems like low housing affordability, uneven housing quality, housing exclusion, homelessness, etc. in turn arise. 

However, from transport aspect, high density in HK has some positive impacts. Higher density may encourage higher public traffic rate and leads to lower CO2 emission. In HK, there is a mixed-use residential or commercial designed to maximize access to public transport called transit-oriented development(TOD). A TOD neighborhood is always located within a radius of 400-800 m from a transit, as this is considered to be an appropriate scale for pedestrians, which contributes to environmental sustainability.

Aside from this, Hong Kong may not be socially sustainable due to its dense population, which is further emphasised in the housing crisis Hong Kong has been suffering from. Less fortunate people have to live in subdivided flats with unsatisfactory living conditions and a hazard-prone environment. However, the government launches programs which are shown to be useful to their people, for instance, free education up to senior high school, consumption vouchers, and reduced healthcare fees for elders. 

Moreover, although Hong Kong is home to many corporations and is considered to be a major financial centre, it is classed as one of the most expensive cities to live in. This may be economically unsustainable for those who live in there. This is exacerbated further by increasing inflation rates and is shown in the financial hub’s falling GDP. On the bright side, Hong Kong’s labour market has improved, thus reducing the unemployment rates.

In short, the multifaceted layers of Hong Kong make it difficult to determine whether or not the city is sustainable. However, seeing the many problems in Hong Kong’s environmental, social and economic sustainability, there is still much work to be done, despite it being relatively more sustainable than other cities.

Firstly, In terms of environment, Hong Kong's high urban density hinders its environmental sustainability. Due to insufficient land, a large number of land reclamation projects and vertical development of high-rise buildings cause air pollution and heat island effect.  Even so, Hong Kong has tried its best to improve, such as building green belts between high-rise buildings to reduce the emissions of carbon dioxide.

second, in terms of social sustainability, Higher effectiveness in terms of transportation and logistics is demonstrated by well-connected infrastructure and a high level of use of public transportation. For instance, having well-developed infrastructure that makes it easier to transport patients to nearby hospitals could contribute to having the highest life expectancy in the world.

On one hand, Hong Kong can be deemed as a sustainable city because the city is compact and accessible. Public transport is encouraged due to a lack of space for private vehicles. From an environmental standpoint, its accessibility decreases potential excessive carbon footprints and its environmental impact. 

On another hand, due to the topography in Hong Kong, the population is concentrated in the Hong Kong Island and Kowloon area. Although from a map view, Hong Kong is relatively green, nature is mostly concentrated in the New Territories. Since nature can be inaccessible in the densely populated in the Hong Kong Island and Kowloon area, the lack of leisure and green area can affect the resident’s mental health and causes societal problems in the long run. 

1.     Hong Kong has lots of schools and higher education institutions which most likely able to provide enough high-quality education to every resident, and it is met the sustainable development goal. 

2.     Hong Kong is quite a sustainable city due to its well-developed infrastructure such as a great traffic system, hospitals, sports centers, and schools that provide quality living condition and ensures economic, social, and environmental sustainability over the infrastructure life cycle. For example, most Hongkongers would choose to transport by MTR and buses which could greatly reduce carbon emissions that slow global warming, thus, meeting the sustainable development goal.

Apart from taking public transportation, from social aspect, Hong Kong people also do not need to worry about the basic needs, like access to clean water, quality education etc. Since Hong Kong is the high level of urbanization, thus, the GDP of Hong Kong is also very high, the average living quality of Hong Kong people is also ranked high. Stable access to the basic needs already met the sustainable development goals. Hence, I think in general, Hong Kong’s urban density has determined its level of sustainability. 

Moreover, some of the urban developing projects may have affected the sustainable development of the environment and different species. For instance, the Lantau Tomorrow project is planned to be reclaimed to provide more living environments and job opportunities.  Of course, Hong Kong also attaches great importance to the planting of green plants in the urban area, leaving some relaxing space in high-density housing.

From the environmental aspect, Hong Kong has a well-development on transportation. The public transport accounts for 50% of all trips in Hong Kong. We can see that people have a lot of transportation options in Hong Kong, such as bus, tram, light rail, rail rapid transit, taxi and more. Its leads Hong Kong with high public transport rates and gives it the greenest modal split of Urban Age cities in the developed world. 

From the economics perspective, Hong Kong’s urban density increased GDP and GVA. Hong Kong’s central area density is 22,193 people per km, and the GDP per capita is US$45,090. Moreover, the average annual growth of GVA in Hong Kong of 1993-2010 is 3.6. Comparing to Mexico City, it has 12,880 people per km density in central area which brings US$18,321 of GDP per capita and 2.9 of average annual growth of GVA in 1993-2010. It indicates that Hong Kong’s urban density can improve Hong Kong economic development.  

Take a look at the past of Hong Kong,public housing scheme is implemented due to growing population and high urban density.The Government started emphasising the living space of citizens and provide a more comfortable shelter for the grassroots.Moreover,the design of building also became more modern.H-block and L-shaped block building are just a few illustrations on advanced building structure for accommodating more people and saving spaces.In addition,Small spaced home inspires furniture manufacturer to produce products with smaller volumes such as fold up chairs.

As a result,people will pursue improvements and use resources more efficiently as a consequence of a high urban density,leading to a more sustainable city.

 

By 1947, Hong Kong population reached 1.8 million from less than a million in 1936. With rapid population influx, the problems of squatter cities and occupation of many illegal buildings indicated a compelling housing problem. 

 

With increasing population and limited land, the development blueprint should be foresightful. 

However, the government released temporary solution on long-term issue that lead to other social impact, and a denser living space.

 

Constructing building with more storeys to pack more citizens inside is not a sustainable development towards the hyper-densities’ issues.  

With its high proximity, infrastructure is built exceptionally coherently to connect the city. People are able to travel around with ease to complete their tasks, and that reduction in time helps to boost the economy. However, Hong Kong has a complicated terrain which leaves little usable land. Most buildings are packed in a confined space, creating what we call concrete jungles. While this makes travelling convenient, the lack of greenery within the community also takes away from environmental sustainability, directly affecting people’s mental health as well.

 

In terms of environmental sustainability, I think high urban density hinders it largely as the high plot ratio will destroy ridgelines in Hong Kong and worsen air circulation, it is one of the main factors that cause the serious air pollution problems in Hong Kong (especially in inner city areas such as Kowloon City, Mong Kok etc...) , lowering our environemntal sustainability. 

 

With lower environmental sustainability, social sustainability may as well drop with poorer living environment, affecting the quality of living of citizens.  

 

However, I believe Hong Kong’s high urban density have in fact done a great job in maintaining our economic sustainability as with a more focused area of economic activities, agglomeration economics may be achieved, boostening our economic efficiency by minimising and conveniencing the geographical mobilisation of people and goods. 

Advantage:

City in high density will encourage more restaurants and supermarket to move into the districts, and residents do not need to travel a long distance to shop for daily necessities. Without the high demand for long transportation journey travelling by trains or vehicles, carbon emission is reduced. Therefore, high density living may be beneficial to the environmentally sustainable development of the city. 

Disadvantage:

On the other hand, city in high density may face the shortage of land and it is required to cut down trees for the development of housing estate, which is against the environmental protection. 

In terms of social sustainability, the high population raised demands for social infrastructures, benefitting the development of social infrastructures. For example, HK is well known for its high quality education system. HK students have consistently ranked highly in international assessments, the education is so efficient that even the UK has attempted to model it. 

In terms of economic sustainability, the high urban density led to the development of commercial activities. Tourists often see HK as a shopping paradise due to its amount of shopping malls, which is often highly accessible in every district. The retail in HK does not only allow citizens to obtain their daily necessities conveniently, it also encourages consumerism, boosting HK’s economy.

However, in terms of the environment, the high urban density in HK led to the depletion of natural resources. For example, to tackle the problem of land shortage, the government would reclaim land from the sea, and convert parks and landscapes into housing estates. This led to the loss of precious resources that would be crucial for the future generations.

Hence, I believe that urban density determines the sustainability of HK to a very large extent, affecting HK both positively and negatively.

In terms of social sustainability, the high population raised demands for social infrastructures, benefitting the development of social infrastructures. For example, HK is well known for its high quality education system. HK students have consistently ranked highly in international assessments, the education is so efficient that even the UK has attempted to model it. 

In terms of economic sustainability, the high urban density led to the development of commercial activities. Tourists often see HK as a shopping paradise due to its amount of shopping malls, which is often highly accessible in every district. The retail in HK does not only allow citizens to obtain their daily necessities conveniently, it also encourages consumerism, boosting HK’s economy.

However, in terms of the environment, the high urban density in HK led to the depletion of natural resources. For example, to tackle the problem of land shortage, the government would reclaim land from the sea, and convert parks and landscapes into housing estates. This led to the loss of precious resources that would be crucial for the future generations.

Hence, I believe that urban density determines the sustainability of HK to a very large extent, affecting HK both positively and negatively.

In order to accommodate  the booming population in post war Hong Kong, unregulated squatter areas sprawled across the city. These dense urban areas were unsafe, often posing safety hazards to the inhabitants. At the same time, such timber used to construct these squatter areas are often illegally acquired, harvested from local forests, damaging the ecosystem. Moreover, the development of squatter areas correlated to the lack of sufficient  finances for proper housing. 

After the shek kip Mei fire, in the 1960s despite gradually improving housing conditions, natural resources and infrastructure could not support the dense concentrated urban population. There were frequent water shortages and water rationing was required. As a result, in the past, Hong Kong’s urban density led to poor sustainability. 

Nevertheless in the present, with improved regulations and development of new technologies and infrastructure, areas with high urban density can also be sustainable. Newly built housing estates are often constructed with sustainability in mind, providing sufficient open space and green belts for residents. At the same time, high urban density provides incentive for the government to build adequate infrastructure to accommodate the population, resulting in a world class public transportation system. The convenience of public transport reduces the need for private vehicles, in turn reducing greenhouse gas emissions, which positively impacts the environmental sustainability of Hong Kong. 

As we all know, Hong Kong is one of the most highly urbanised city, with nearly 100% of urban population. And with limited space due to its special terrain, which is hilly and mountainous with steep slopes, people has to force to construct the city more densely.

It is beneficial when we see convenience as our top concern. As the city planning is dense, the residential areas are close to the CBD. People can enjoy close access to different service. Which enhanced peoples efficiency.

It also favours the operation of mass transit system due to its abundant users in a small area.