Hong Kong should learn from Forbidden City, get denser to stay on top: Architect

Urban planners can rewrite the rule book on high density living by making Hong Kong even denser, and they can start by going back to 15th century China, says the co-creator of a new exhibition on urban sprawl.

Australian architect Ivan Rijavec said Beijing's Forbidden City was a leading example of high-density living and could provide the solution to Hong Kong's housing problems.

"High density has now become the catchcry for sustainability," Rijavec said at yesterday's opening of a two-part exhibition, Now and When: Australian Urbanism, at the Central Library in Causeway Bay.

"The Forbidden City had negative aspects of life in an urban environment, but one thing it did was to create the highest urban density that's ever been achieved," Rijavec said.

Built during the Ming Dynasty in the early 1400s, the imperial palace covered more than 720,000 sq metres and boasted more than 8,700 rooms.

"It could be a case of going back to the future," the Melbourne-based architect said.

He said Hong Kong's density could be increased even further, with urban blocks amalgamated into super developments. "I don't think that's a frightening imagination of the future," he said.