An analytical study of the landscaping and greenery in shopping centers of Hong Kong

Abstract

The importance of landscaping and greenery in building development is increasing in Hong Kong in recent years. Many large landscaping features such as green walls, green roof and green garden could easily be found in the newly developed project, especially in shopping centers. Although these green elements are always considered as the decoration attached with the building design and its main purpose is to soften the “hard landscape”, they are actually functional and beneficial in many other areas, such as environment, health, economic and social aspects.

To better understand the whole picture of landscaping and providing greenery in the shopping centers of Hong Kong, four shopping centers are picked for detail study. Besides, consumer perspective method is adopted in the research so as collect opinions from the consumers for further reveal the possible effects and impacts of the landscaping and greenery to the shopping center and the rating of its importance to a shopping center.

This study finally shows that landscaping and greenery features can in fact bring many practical benefits to the shopping center. For instance, they can beautify the environment, enhance the environmental comfort, and increase the customer satisfaction. Also, to a certain extent, these factors can contribute to the business and sales in the shopping center and finally lead to a better performance in general. To further utilize the advantages as bring out by the landscaping and greenery, this study concludes by making the following five recommendations to the developers and managements: using landscaping and greenery as packaging the shopping center; well utilizing landscaping and greenery for business success; providing landscaping and greenery as a kind of customer care; handling landscaping and greenery with essential care; and combining landscaping and greenery for better dining environment.