published_or_final_version / Urban Design / Master / Master of Urban Design

Public open space (POS) within a city acts as an important breathing and recreational space for the urban population within a proximate distance by providing economic, social, psychological and environmental benefits to human settlements. In a city like Hong Kong (HK) adopting economic-centred development, land is be maximized for monetary use especially under land scarce due to topographical constraint. Hence, compact development is resulted especially in urban areas. Past study had found that the proportion of open space zoning undergone a downward trend across the territory as time moves on and a gap was observed between planned and actual open space provision (Tang and Wong, 2008, p. 261). On the other hand, some POS were created within residual development land in the urban area which are of poor locational quality. Taken into account of early POS provision inefficiency, the government sees the opportunity in gradual neighbourhood decay as a mean to encourage POS provision within new private developments. This idea originated as a planning policy since 1980s which tries to overcome shortcomings of POS provision in districts by means of requiring or encouraging POS provision within private developments. However, while this policy contains certain benefits, it is not without issues and problems from the design, social, economic, institutional and policy point of view. This dissertation therefore aims to examine POS provision within URA redevelopment projects in HK where district renewal is one of the sources of newly built private developments containing POS provision. The study aims to find out POS contribution, performance, as well as to unravel potential benefits, issues and concerns associated with the provision, given existing context of regulatory policies and operational guidelines. The term "URA redevelopment projects" used in the dissertation, covers a longitudinal review of all completed projects containing POS provision that were taken place between the Land Development Corporation (LDC) and the Urban Renewal Authority (URA) period, in which the URA was established to supersede and continue with the LDC's renewal work in 2001 due to organizational inefficiency. The study hopes to give implications on future POS provision within URA redevelopment projects so as to enhance POS functionality and usability through policy, development control and governance perspectives. There are a total of 25 redevelopment projects containing POS provision during the LDC and the URA period, out of which 16 of them are completed by the end of June 2014. The study found that the spatial location of the completed and future POS provision among the redevelopment projects positively correlates with local open space (LOS) and district Open Space (DOS) deficit spatially. Among the completed projects, POS performance varies in aspects of functionality, aesthetic value, privacy, accessibility etc. In considering POS provision on top of planned requirement, additional floor spaces are also granted for several cases without maximizing the efforts in enhancing POS use value. Furthermore, some cases also demonstrate potential uncertainty in POS provision and rights of entry. Overall speaking, policy aims are partially meet. By means of employing planning, economic as well as institutional perspectives in analysis, performance variations are attributed to factors like, economic values, planning requirements, lease conditions as well as policy and governance inefficiencies. Based on the above, the dissertation gives recommendations on providing guidance that are crucial to improving POS provision and planning within future redevelopment projects. / published_or_final_version / Urban Planning and Design / Master / Master of Science in Urban Planning

It has been observed that many older people after retirement would like to visit various green open spaces in the city to exercise, social and doing different leisure activities (Lam, et. al., 2004; Wong, 2009). However, although there are 40% of land area in Hong Kong are recognized as Country Parks and well managed by the government, with the rapid urban development with enormous high-rise buildings has turned Hong Kong in a “concrete forest”, only few decent open spaces can be found in the metropolitan area. With the continuous growing aging population, there is a need for us to review whether the important urban open spaces can meet the needs of changing population. The goal of the dissertation aims at find out the existing problems in planning and design of public open space and find out the needs of the elderly, so that better public open space can be provided to suit the elderly’s expectation. The analysis is therefore divided into two parts by reviewing on the planning and management of public open space framework and the outcome of provision and distribution of open spaces, as well as finding out the use pattern and expectation from the elderly on public open space. Based on the findings of this project, recommendations are provided for the planning and management authority to improve the existing public open spaces in order to suit the needs and expectations of the elderly. It includes a better cooperation between different departments to carry out a more comprehensive open space strategy and better design of open spaces on external linkages and internal landscape and facilities provision. / published_or_final_version / Urban Planning and Design / Master / Master of Science in Urban Planning

published_or_final_version / Architecture / Master / Master of Landscape Architecture

Modern cities do not only aim at focusing on economic development solely, but they also need to provide high quality of urban living environment which could achieve social, economic and environmental sustainability. Public open space constitutes an indispensible part in achieving this planning objective. Nevertheless, open space is not a unitary planning concept. It has been being constantly redefined to suit changing social and economic needs. This study investigates the development of land supply and land-use planning of public open space in Hong Kong. It attempts to examine how open space was understood, planned, and provided in different periods in Hong Kong. Open space is presumed to be influenced by the interplay of three main social forces, namely the government, the capitalists, and the people. The interplay of the three forces changes in different periods of time in Hong Kong, resulting in the changing meaning and transformation of open space in the aspects of locations, forms, distributions, and ways of provisions. My key arguments are as follows: In the pre-Second World War colonial period, extraction was regarded as the primary objective of the colonial government. Since the colonial atmosphere shared the idea of earning from re-exporting trade and temporal stay, public open space, except for private leisure facilities, was not truly a concern of any of the social groups. While recreational opportunities and open space were still necessary to attract foreign investments and provide political functions, the colonial government provided open space in a residual manner, utilizing urban fringe areas of Victoria City and existing land-uses for open space functions. To maximize the use of open space, though the government was reluctant to provide, open space was utilized for political functions to preach social conforming behaviours and Western lifestyle to the Chinese immigrants as well as to new Chinese generations. The post-Second World War open space development was characterized by an expansion of the scope of open space, as well as political reform of the municipal governments and the planning institution. Triggered by the large influx of Chinese refugees that migrated to Hong Kong and the rising population of the local-born Chinese youngsters, elected representatives were introduced to the municipal councils. These elected representatives endeavoured to urge the government to provide open space where available, persuading the government by giving new meanings to open space. The planning institution, however, continued to plan open space in a residual manner. Inspired by the Abercrombie Plan, open space was planned towards the countryside and new forms of open space were introduced to expand the scope of open space. The contemporary pattern of public open space is examined by quantitative analyses. Three kinds of open space are examined, namely zoned open space, administered public open space, and public open space within private developments. Results show that large-scale zoned open spaces tend to cluster in urban fringe areas and countryside, whereas zoned open spaces in urban areas tend to be fragmentary. Waterfront and coastal areas, whether in urban or rural areas, are commonly utilized for open space purposes. These findings echo the planning strategy, aiming at shifting open space from the inner urban areas to the urban fringe and rural areas. Administered public open spaces are found to be related to the income level and the ratio of occupational status of a community. The analyses of planning applications further suggest that open space serves as the potential land reserve for various uses instead of being a mere recreational site. Public open spaces within private developments are provided more flexibly compared to conventional public open space in terms of their physical forms and regulations. The manipulations are found to be wittingly introduced by the developers to suit their parochial interests. It is expected that open space will be subject to constant redefinition under further socioeconomic developments and changing compositions of the three social forces. / published_or_final_version / Urban Planning and Design / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Urban Planning / Master / Master of Science in Urban Planning

published_or_final_version / Urban Planning / Master / Master of Science in Urban Planning

published_or_final_version / Urban Planning / Master / Master of Science in Urban Planning

published_or_final_version / Urban Planning and Design / Master / Master of Urban Design

Ever since the 1841 arrival of British troops in Hong Kong have people decided staying in the city with rugged contours been finding solutions to face the geographical reality of the scarcity of land, whether are they European merchants or Chinese settlers. Public spaces that serve as a buffer and an extension to the private domain are of fundamental importance to the well-being of the people and the city. However in recent decades there is a prevailing trend to worship Western concept of public spaces such as squares and piazzas that were tailor-made to suit the habitual behavior of Europeans who and whose ancestors possess a strong culture of public living. The Western public spaces do not suit the mode of living of Chinese who are not used to exhibit themselves publicly and would prefer to stay close to their dwellings. The key issue addressed by this dissertation is that public spaces suiting the needs of Hong Kong people should learn from traditional urban public spaces for Chinese settlers who share if not identical, similar cultural background to us. Hong Kong Terraces that were formed by the British government to practically address the difficult circumstances of geographical, political and social factors are a valid example that has helped to solve the overcrowding problem and contributed to the history of the city. In other words, these are Hong Kong’s heritage public spaces that shall be treasured and learnt from. Given this, it is urgent to begin researching such spaces before they are erased from our sight. The dissertation will acknowledge Hong Kong Terraces as successful public spaces in Hong Kong, investigate the causes of formation, and identify their qualities with the illustration of several surviving cases. The research will provide alternative solutions and notes to the design of valid public spaces that shall help to improve Hong Kong urban life. / published_or_final_version / Conservation / Master / Master of Science in Conservation