ABSTRACT
The history of city growth in Hong Kong is epitomized by a relentless quest for developable land. The rather rugged topography has some 80% of the terrain as steep hillslopes not easily convertible to urban usage. The location of the harbor around which flat land is particularly limited has reinforced the problem of land shortage. The consequent urban form has been dictated by this rather immutable geographical reality. In its 150 years or so of history, land for buildings, roads, and the plethora of infrastructural needs has had to be acquired at considerable cost via two laborious means (Tregear and Berry, 1959). On the one hand, platforms have had to be carved out of the hills in an upslope sprawl; on the other, land has had to be reclaimed from the sea. The valuable land parcels thus obtained have been by necessity put to high-intensity uses. The urban morphology of Hong Kong, being of extremely high-density and high-rise from the city core up to its periphery, including some of its suburban outliers, is therefore a faithful reflection of the inherent physical constraints.
