HK risks becoming a concrete world unsuitable for children
In January the government published a document online entitled 'Hong Kong; The Facts - Town Planning'.
It reminds us, in case we had forgotten, that town planning aims at 'providing a quality living environment, facilitating economic development, and promoting the health, safety, convenience and general welfare of the community'.
It is well known that Hong Kong and Macau are two of the most densely populated regions in the world (ranking fourth and first respectively on Wikipedia, with Hong Kong also No.1 in Russell Ashe's list of the most densely populated cities in The Top Ten of Everything). Shenzhen also ranks in his top 10.
With unprecedentedly aggressive development continuing either side of the soon to be non-existent Lo Wu border, and with the two regional planning agencies (Shenzhen's and Hong Kong's) oblivious to each other's programmes, the Hong Kong-Shenzhen conurbation risks becoming an urban monster of unprecedented proportions.
Hong Kong lacks the foresight and sustainable development ethos of conurbations such as the Randstad in the Netherlands that incorporates only seven million people in the cities of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht and that yet surrounds a green heart of woods and lakes.
With no 'green heart' either geographically or politically, Hong Kong will soon become a polluted, concrete world unsuitable for children.