Advancing Sustainability and Livability in a high density city: a Hong Kong and PolyU perspective.

Brief and rundown:

Sustainability and Livability are different. Low-density urban forms are often considered more livable than compact ones.  But ‘high density’ was recently included as one of the principles in UN-habitat issued report to guide sustainable neighborhood planning. In Asia, many cities are becoming denser as ongoing urbanization and 6 out of 9 most dense cities worldwide are from Asia. Like other metropolitan cities in China, Hong Kong is absolutely a typical one and challenged by sustainability and livability problems.
The HK government and industry had issued many incentives and tools to promote urban sustainability but the recent effect is not that significant.  Given the public are more concerned about livability and less motivated than governors, businessmen and experts in promoting sustainability, how can we get breakthrough in better interacting with the public to build sustainable neighborhood and city? It is the time to have a reflection on the big picture before moving forward.
The participants are expected to discuss and learn

1. Given high density is inevitable and advocated in many cities like Hong Kong, how is the relationship between sustainability and livability there? Is high livability achievable?

2. Promoting sustainability is a societal transformation, which is very profound and wide-ranging. A technical solution is less difficult than changing people’s mind and behavior into a more sustainable way. What and how can University contribute in this process?

from introduction (15 minutes), group activity and results presenting (30 minutes) and final discussion (15 minutes).

Guest organizer and coordinator: 

Qi Zhang (Kelly), International Observer of ‘Urban China’ Magazine

Visiting Scholar at Department of City and Regional Planning, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill ​

PhD candidate from Building and Real Estate Department, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Sponsor Organization:

The Urban China Magazine

Department of City and Regional Planning, UNC Chapel Hill

Department of Building and Real Estate, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University