
Hong Kong needs urban green lungs to be a more liveable city
- Hong Kong has world-class country parks and hiking trails but nothing in the city that offers a true escape, like New York’s Central Park or Hyde Park in London, and proposals to build a dedicated cycle path have been to no avail. This must change
Why this is so depends on who you talk to. Some speak of Hong Kong’s favourable business environment, unique geographical advantages or low taxes. Others commend its efficiency, high energy or simply the good vibes. However, we rarely hear praise for Hong Kong’s living environment.
Yet, this is one of the most critical factors in defining quality of life, and measurable by “hardware” such as homes, public spaces, transport and infrastructure, and by “software” such as social services, reliable utilities, entertainment, clean water and food. While such “software” is generally readily available, there is room for improvement in the hardware.
In terms of public space, green areas are key to providing a healthy environment. With more than 7,000 people per square kilometre, Hong Kong has a higher population density than most other economies in the world.

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Tiny 290sq ft temporary housing a welcome upgrade for some low-income Hong Kong families
Hong Kong has taken French master architect Le Corbusier’s “City of Tomorrow” urbanisation ideas to the extreme, where inhabitants are concentrated and open spaces and parks are maximised around them.
Some public housing estates have reasonable-size outdoor parks on the ground floor. But these are mostly underutilised, with hard landscape materials that are easy to maintain but unpleasant to use. Private developments have better-designed outdoor areas but these are often on top of podiums and off-limits to the general public.

While the country parks and hiking trails outside the city are world class, Hong Kong really needs a large “green lung” like New York’s Central Park or London’s Hyde Park in the middle of the city. Yet, such a project is unimaginable.

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Hong Kong’s last authentic Chinese sailing junk struggles to stay afloat during Covid-19 pandemic
Quality public spaces invite people to slow down. City planners and designers just need to provide sizeable fields for people to walk around, and places for food and drink, retail and other small businesses to operate.
A much-needed designated cycling trail would take up no more than 6 metres in width to accommodate two-way traffic; architects have tried to promote cross-harbour cycling lanes before, to no avail.
Imagine if one could cycle from Kennedy Town to Chai Wan, from Tsing Yi to Kwun Tong, or Quarry Bay to Lam Tin. Imagine if the Tourism Board could host the annual Hong Kong Cyclothon around our beautiful harbour. Imagine if we didn’t have to worry about traffic delays. Good transport is about moving people efficiently, not cars.

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Road test: cycling Hong Kong’s scenic New Territories route after new section completes 60km track
The government should start integrating cycling as a means of transport, instead of considering it an exclusive leisure activity for the New Territories. Some argue that the city is too developed to start transforming the roads. But if historic European cities can integrate cycling lanes, why not Hong Kong?
Visionary thinking requires a collective sense of purpose and common good. It might require a complete change in habits and thinking. To improve our living environment with well-balanced public green spaces requires collaboration and belief among all the community to bring the vision to reality.
Dennis Lee is a Hong Kong-born, American-licensed architect with 22 years of design experience in the US and China
