What has gone wrong in the planning and development of the City of Misery: the case of Tin Shui Wai in Hong Kong

Abstract

Tin Shui Wai (TSW), a new town in Hong Kong, housing almost 300,000 people, sprang into existence in the 1990s and was named by the media as a city of misery after a number of serious family tragedies and the publicized high unemployment rate and high percentage of welfare recipients. A study was conducted to examine what has gone wrong in the planning and development of TSW. The study involved searching through town planning documents, interviews with key players in the planning and development processes, interviews and focus groups with various stake holders in the community, household survey and street-level survey on visitors and shoppers. While most of the factors identified in the study were directly or indirectly related to planning, the major issues are more related to the changes in the economy and social policies, particularly in housing policies. The original intention of having a balanced development in TSW, that is, a balanced community mix and the availability of industrial jobs, cannot be materialized due to the changes in housing policy, and partly due to the lack of private sector interest in this new town and the disappearance of the manufacturing industry in Hong Kong. Other lessons learnt will be discussed in the paper.