Low-rise residential developments in green belts: A Hong Kong empirical study of planning applications

Abstract

This paper is an econometric study of the planning application statistics for a special category of permissible land use in Hong Kong in green belt zones. The permissible use in question is that of the house, which refers to both the 'small house' for 'indigenous villagers' and ordinary houses that require building permission. The existence of such permissible residential use obviously distinguishes the idea of green belts from the UK concept as expressed in the quotation from Home (1997) above. This paper draws definitive conclusions within this idiosyncratic context about two potentially conflicting local land use policies: the 'small house' policy; and green belt policy with a presumption against development. The idea of green belts (as green belt zones) in Hong Kong, as an ex-UK Crown Colony,1 is not the same as that behind their Western counterparts. The findings of this paper are also specific to one planning jurisdiction. Hence, the facts and findings presented in this paper should be of interest to the historian on colonial planning and the local policy maker. Yet, it is believed that the type of data and method presented in this paper should also be of wider interest for the urban planning researcher. Such wider interest is predicated not only on an increasing awareness of the economics of green belts and other conservation zones but also on a concern with methods to interpret planning statistics, a concern to which we turn.