Smart and sustainable city: a Case Study from Hong Kong

According to John Laswick, 'Smart Growth'emerged as a planning concept in the mid- 1990s in response to the concern for the proliferation of sprawl development in the USA (Laswick, 2002). He cited the principles of smart growth to include 'Mixing land uses, directing development towards existing communities, preserving farmland and open space, creating walkable neighbourhoods, and providing a range of transportation choices'. The authors of this paper suggest that there is an analogy between the principles of smart growth with those of the multiple and intensive land use (MILU) applications in the compact city of Hong Kong.

In this chapter, the authors study the Hong Kong interpretation of smart growth by relating it to the objective of MILU, which is the effective use of land resources within the city through higher residential densities and mixing of other land uses, serviced by a multitude of public transport and infrastructure facilities. The research shows that successful implementation of MILU in Hong Kong depends on mixed land uses. The chapter presents a quick introduction to mainstream mixed development approaches based on MILU, followed by a discussion on the socio and cultural acceptance of a MILU lifestyle.