Projects

Land Development and Conservation in Hong Kong

Given Hong Kong's unremitting development pressures, both pro-development and pro-conservation groups are now calling for ways to evaluate sites for development based on environmental metrics and new conservation agreements. However, for the built-environment disciplines in Hong Kong, sustainability discourse is predominantly aligned with economic and urban sustainability, rather than the new forms of conservation that contend to use environmental modelling to justify the conversion of conservation uses. There are compounding reasons for this, including, at the very least, Hong Kong's uniquely dense and contradictory urban and rural landscapes, with characteristics of customary or indigenous rights, largely artificial yet ecologically rich habitats, and hybrid and ad hoc colonial planning legacies that result in unique forms of environmental governance. At the end of 2016, Hong Kong detailed its commitments to the Convention on Biological Diversity through its Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan, a document that is largely descriptive of ongoing efforts with little effective action. For urban and landscape resilience, we must ensure the critical and innovative deployment of conservation and impact assessment instruments and tools, including the analytical measure of biodiversity, vulnerability, and ecosystem services, while fully aware of the territory's increasing politics of sustainability.

HKILA Land Supply Forum Hong Kong.
HKILA Land Supply Forum Hong Kong.
WWF Hong Kong Brownfield Study.
WWF Hong Kong Brownfield Study.
WWF Hong Kong Brownfield Study.
WWF Hong Kong Brownfield Study.
WWF Hong Kong Brownfield Study.
WWF Hong Kong Brownfield Study.
Teams play Land Development vs Conservation Hong Kong, a landscape planning game, at Storefront IS Hong Kong.
Teams play Land Development vs Conservation Hong Kong, a landscape planning game, at Storefront IS Hong Kong.
Landscape planning game uses one of HK Development Bureau's planned housing development sites.
Landscape planning game uses one of HK Development Bureau's planned housing development sites.
Game participants consider landscape character, vegetation and species richness, land cover, zoning, land vacancy, and features such as landslide risk and slope maintenance.
Game participants consider landscape character, vegetation and species richness, land cover, zoning, land vacancy, and features such as landslide risk and slope maintenance.
Event poster for Land Development and Conservation in Hong Kong forum, 2016.
Event poster for Land Development and Conservation in Hong Kong forum, 2016.
Land Development and Conservation in Hong Kong forum, 2016.
Land Development and Conservation in Hong Kong forum, 2016.
Land Development and Conservation in Hong Kong forum, 2016.
Land Development and Conservation in Hong Kong forum, 2016.
Development and Conservation Awareness Map (DCAM) for Hong Kong case study, 2016.
Development and Conservation Awareness Map (DCAM) for Hong Kong case study, 2016.
Development and Conservation Awareness Map (DCAM) for Hong Kong.
Development and Conservation Awareness Map (DCAM) for Hong Kong.
Development and Conservation Awareness Map (DCAM) for Hong Kong.
Development and Conservation Awareness Map (DCAM) for Hong Kong.
Development and Conservation Awareness Map (DCAM) for Hong Kong.
Development and Conservation Awareness Map (DCAM) for Hong Kong.