The Urban Hong Kong

This week, I was involved in a paper on why an urbanised area has specific risks and how contents from the conference can be translated into the built environment. More than half of the world’s population live in an urban setting, and the numbers are only going to increase. This requires careful planning and the input of scientific evidence in coordinating solutions specific for an urban setting.

Hong Kong is not particularly susceptible to natural disasters, but according to the Sustainable Cities Index, we are the third highest in the world for risk of natural disasters. Hong Kong is an urbanised area where impacts of climate change and other naturalised events are starting to take a toll. Hong Kong is a very typical urban heat island, frequent victim to typhoons, and perhaps more severely affected, heatwaves. With an urban migration to Hong Kong, there is no doubt that the high density of residents will ultimately exacerbate urban disasters.

In Hong Kong, Hung Shui Kiu is currently the only development that will be following a sustainable plan where urban spaces and low carbon lifestyles will be considered. However its resistance towards natural disasters have been little mentioned, with only typhoons taken into account. Climate change is happening and the future risks are unpredictable. The government must act fast in order to establish more sustainable and resilient developments.