Walkable new towns: a review on the pedestrian environment in Hong Kong's new towns for the planning forfuture new development areas

Abstract

Traditionally, new town development has been the government’s solution to relieve the overcrowded living conditions in the urban areas of Hong Kong. The new towns in Hong Kong aim to provide an overall better quality living environment for their residents. However, can we assume that the pedestrian environment in the Hong Kong’s new towns is of better quality? The answer is uncertain. While the pedestrian environment in the urban areas has been criticised for its over-crowdedness and pollution, the new towns might do better in these aspects, but the relatively spacious new towns have created other issues in their physical environment which deter their walkability. This dissertation aims to assess the pedestrian environment in new towns in order to highlight issues for the consideration when planning future new towns. Through an extensive review on the concept of pedestrian planning and its status quo in Hong Kong, in conjunction with some background understandings of new town development, forming a solid foundation to evaluate the existing new town planning process in relation to the pedestrian environment. A case study of Tung Chung is selected for an in-depth assessment to pinpoint the problems underlying in new town pedestrian planning. Finally, the case study provides a set of implications for the formulation of a basket of recommendations which aims to guide the new generation of new towns, New Development Areas.