The Urban Age Hong Kong Conference offered in-depth insights into city planning

Living in a metropolitan city as compact as Hong Kong, density – with its pros and cons – has certainly become part of our daily lives. Being so used to such a high density doesn’t necessarily mean that every inhabitant – me included – understands its impacts on numeours social aspects.

An opportunity for us all to reflect on this matter was the recent Urban Age Hong Kong Conference, a two-day event with international and local representatives discussing issues on ‘cities, health and well-being’. One particular session I found very intriguing was the conference on ‘Space and Design’.

As Ricky Burdett, director of LSE Cities and Urban Age, noted at the session, growing up in a city is usually better (more likely to live longer, get better education and have access to resources) then outside the city – this is certainly one of motives driving people to the cities. When looking at Hong Kong specifically, he observed that despite its high density, it is one of the most sustainable and liveable places in the world, as our public transport system – a by-product of the high density – makes it an extremely convenient environment to live in.

Sharing similar opinions was Anthony Yeh from the University of Hong Kong, who emphasised that the key to make Hong Kong a liveable city is to change the way we feel about ‘crowding’. As long as our urban fabric is well-planned and managed to reduce the negative impact – by introducing shared open spaces, mass-transit systems, clean environment, etc – everyone could enjoy quality life in this dense city.

Jackie Kwok from Hong Kong Polytechnic University and Jørgen Eskemose Andersen from Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts both explained their viewpoints via case studies. Citing Tseung Kwan O’s Duckling Hill cultural garden, Kwok explained how the elderly actively participated in social activities by designing and constructing the facilities in public open spaces. Meanwhile, Andersen shared with us his experience at Mozambique – inhabited by 2.5million people with informal settlements and poor facilities before proper planning – drawing a conclusion that urban planning must be ahead of informal urbanisation process.

All these clearly reflect on the situation we have here in Hong Kong, especially when our government has put a focus on redevelopments in recent years. Let’s see if we could make it right in future urban planning – everything is easier said than done!

Check out the Urban Age Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/#!/lsecities for more info and watch the conference online at http://urban-age.net/