With many of our cities today faced with a number of urban issues, there is an increasing need for cities to development sustainably. Urban Agriculture can play an important role in achieving environmental, social and economic sustainability for urban cities. The prospect of growing food locally will have profound benefits on the urban area. This study is conducted to look at how urban agriculture can be incorporated into the built environment of Hong Kong in order to contribute to its sustainability. Thorough extensive review of literature, overseas practices and interviews with various professionals, scholars, government officials, local bodies, etc., it is found that there are various development constraints inhibiting the development of urban agriculture in Hong Kong. Recommendations are made for enhancing urban agriculture from a planning policy and development framework perspective in hope that this study can spark interested from different members of the community in promoting local food production in urban cities. / published_or_final_version / Urban Planning and Design / Master / Master of Science in Urban Planning

Hong Kong’s agricultural sector has been declining since the 1980s with the reduction in area of arable lands and number of farmers. The trend of over-reliance on imported produce is likely to continue with population growth in the upcoming decades. The climbing imported to locally grown food ratio might aggravate climate change. Vertical farming, which is promoted in recent years as a more sustainable mode of farming than conventional cultivation, is investigated mainly in terms of life cycle Greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions of its produce. Assessment was carried out following the guidelines in two relevant sets of Publicly Available Specification (PAS). Lettuce variety “Heading European”, which is among the most popular leafy vegetables in Hong Kong, is chosen because of its significant share imported from Guangdong Province. Three sets of surveys have been conducted to find out if locally grown produce generates less GHG than imported one. The sustainability of vertical farming is also evaluated. It performs in a cradle-to-gate basis in which life cycle of the lettuce is assessed from the stage of farmland preparation to delivery of them to Vegetable Marketing Organization (VMO). The results of life cycle GHG evaluation show that produce of local farm generates fewer amounts of GHGs than the imported one. For lettuces imported from the conventional farm in Songyuancun, Guangdong Province, it generates approximately 1.57E+00kg of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2-e). It is about 132% higher than the one grown in local conventional farm at Tai Kong Po Tsuen, which is around 6.77E-01kg of CO2-e It seems the idea of replacing local conventional farming with vertical farming is not sustainable at this stage. Evaluation reveals the latter generates more amount of GHG which is 8.72E+00kg CO2-e/cup of Oak Leaf Lettuce. It is about 13 times higher than the locally grown in the conventional farm. The energy-hungry lighting system and the lack of renewable energy are among the major reasons for high GHG emission in vertical farming. Although the GHG emissions are higher than conventional farming in the designated lifecycle, vertical farming does contribute to sustainable development in terms of food stability and job opportunity. Uncertainties of this study could well be improved by developing a specific set of GHG emission factors for components in preparation stage and on-farm stage. More information could be collected for use and end-of-life stages, which is omitted in the study. Further comparison of wider variety of vegetables cultivated in different forms of farming should also be carried out. Carbon labelling scheme for agricultural products would brush up environmental awareness of both producers and consumers. With the trend of green consumption, it would provide an incentive for producers to adopt this scheme. It is especially important for local vertical farms to impose this scheme to increase its market competiveness. Moreover, government should play a significant role in promoting a more sustainable form of agriculture. Supportive policy like increasing investment in R&D for energy efficient technologies or even erecting a modern building for vertical farms would help achieve this goal. The lowered life cycle GHG emission would enhance sustainability of vertical farming. / published_or_final_version / Environmental Management / Master / Master of Science in Environmental Management

published_or_final_version / Geography and Geology / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Geography and Geology / Master / Master of Arts

Lau, Hoi Lung. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2013. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 156-172). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts also in Chinese; appendix I in Chinese.

Agricultural practices have altered natural wetland habitats for thousands of years in lowland areas of Southeast Asia, and currently these highly modified wetlands constitute some of the most important remaining habitats for amphibians. However, decreasing area of arable land and increased use of chemicals may affect the persistence of lowland amphibian populations that are now dependent on these habitats. I investigated how amphibians responded to different kinds of farming treatments in a large agricultural wetland in Hong Kong. In the first part of the study, I assessed the occurrence of breeding amphibians in 53 farming plots in 2010 and 2011. Anuran call surveys were conducted at night at the plots once a week from March to August for two years. Environmental variables were measured and used to develop models to examine species presence, occupancy, and detection probabilities. Wet agricultural plots supported 10 species of amphibians and all had detection probabilities of < 1 that varied seasonally and yearly. Organically managed plots and shallow water plots yielded high species richness and particularly attracted the ornate pygmy frog (Microhyla fissipes) and the paddy frog (Fejervarya limnocharis). Air temperature and humidity were the relatively consistent predictors that influenced calling activity of the four most commonly detected species (M. fissipes; F. limnocharis; brown tree frog Polypedates megacephalus; and G?nther’s frog Hylarana guentheri). For the second part of the study, I assessed the impacts of fertilizers on amphibians. Using mesocosm experiments in the field, I compared the effects of a chemical fertilizer (granular urea) and an organic fertilizer (peanut cake) on the survival and growth of hatchlings of Polypedates megacephalus, the marbled pygmy frog (Microhyla pulchra), Asian common toad (Duttaphrynus melanostictus) and Chinese bullfrog (Hoplobatrachus rugulosus). Fertilizers were applied at low, manufacturer-recommended, and high levels, and survival and snout-vent-length were measured after 21 days. No individuals survived in the chemical fertilizer treatment at the recommended application level. Conversely, survival was high for P. megacephalus (96%), M. pulchra (54%) and D. melanostictus (90%), but relatively low for H. rugulosus (18%), at the recommended level of the organic fertilizer. P. megacephalus and M. pulchra tadpoles showed increased growth in elevated concentrations of organic fertilizer. Polypedates megacephalus tadpoles were 1.6 times longer in the low concentration and almost double in length in the high concentration treatments. Similarly, increased growth in M. pulchra in all organic treatments resulted in abbreviated time to metamorphosis. Chemical fertilizers are clearly detrimental to early life stages of these amphibians, but organic fertilizers may confer benefits including a shorter time to, and larger size at, metamorphosis. These results suggest that where amphibian conservation is a priority, shifts in the management of wet agricultural crops and limiting the use of chemical fertilizers may increase the suitability of breeding habitats and survival at early life stages. / published_or_final_version / Biological Sciences / Master / Master of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Geography and Geology / Master / Master of Arts

published_or_final_version / Architecture / Master / Master of Architecture

published_or_final_version / Architecture / Master / Master of Landscape Architecture

published_or_final_version / Architecture / Master / Master of Architecture