ABSTRACT
The colonial history of Hong Kong has produced three spatial forms: ultra-dense urban areas on two sides of Victoria Harbour, with stark socio-economic disparities; new towns mostly built through reclamation on the fringes of the former leased New Territories, facing serious home–job imbalance problems; and ‘rural New Territories’ with haphazard rural settlements intermingled with brownfield sites, agricultural fields, industrial developments, etc. Recent territorial development strategies focus on integrating Hong Kong with mainland China and building new development nodes at key cross-boundary areas to facilitate high-tech developments and innovation. This chapter applies the New Urban Agenda (NUA) principles to analyse the city's spatial forms and recent development strategies. It argues that the recent development approach may not transform the current ’fate’ of the three spatial forms. Therefore, it advocates a strategy that is more aligned with the NUA, to change the three spatial forms into settlements that can optimise their cultural and natural heritages and lead to more sustainable communities. This would require government leadership, collaboration among different administrative departments, business sectors, and civil society, with a conviction to build a city that ‘leaves no one, no place and no ecology behind’.
