Town planning is holistic planning in which traffic, accommodations and other aspects of facilities should be taken care of. Yet, recreational and environmental concerns were lacking in the past town planning schemes, making the everlasting landuse conflicts between commercial and personal environmental needs worse.
To remedy the situation of highly congested streets and the proliferation of industrial workshops among residential areas, urban renewal is used to improve the quality of life in those aging urban areas.
A noticeable example has been the reconstruction of the Kowloon Walled City, which is being turned into a Chinese-style garden.
Mr. David Leung, chief public work officer of the Territory Development Department, said, "The construction work in the City started in May 1994, and it will be completed around August or September.
"The whole area will be turned into a metropolitan park. Together with Kowloon Tsai Park, Lok Fu Park and Morse Park, the Kowloon Walled City Park will provide a refreshing sight that will contrast with the adjacent congested urban areas."
The Park will occupy an area of 2.5 hectares, which will be organized into five gardens. What makes the Park unique is its Chinese-style landscape.
For example, the Yamen (a government building in ancient China) will be restored in the Park. Relics such as cannons, stone inscriptions and old wells will be preserved as well.
Besides urban renewal, new town development also is on its way.
Meanwhile, a proposal for an environmentally friendly housing scheme in Tseung Kwan O is being studied by the Housing Society. This is the first of its kind in Hong Kong
It is planned to incorporate innovative features into the design to produce a "cooling strategy" to achieve desirable levels of comfort during the long hot summer. Its ultimate goal is to reduce the use of air- conditioners.
The strategies include constructing solid plates over the windows, thereby producing shading and keeping the indoor areas cool. Also, ventilation will be designed to produce a convection effect, which, again, helps to reduce heat.
Should they be successful, an estimated reduction in energy requirements of 50 percent would result.
Besides energy conservation, there are ways to minimize water use. Mr. Simon Wong, project manager of the Housing Society, said, "One way to do so is by the use of low flush toilet.
"The amount of water used in conventional flush toilets is about nine litres. In this housing scheme, we are planning to reduce it to about 7.5, which is a 15 percent reduction.
"When we multiply the figure by 2,800, which is the total number of flats in the housing estate, we get a significant amount being saved," said Mr. Wong.
"Besides, such practices also help to reduce the use of electricity, since we can now use less powerful pumps to pump flush water."
Hopefully, this housing scheme would be realized at the beginning of 1997. Meanwhile, studies are being carried out to address its feasibility.
"While striving to be environmentally friendly, there are still a lots of things to be considered," said Mr. Wong.
"For example, it is proposed to use solar energy to heat up water for use during the winter. However, this idea cannot be realized due to several problems.
"Firstly, we can only provide the top three floors with solar-heated water, but we would have to use up all the roof areas for the installation of the necessary devices."
Said Mr. Wong: "We also need to make the building taller to as to obtain more solar energy. This in turn creates pressure on the building foundations, and may affect stability of the building.
"Also, the idea of using solar energy to heat up water is not that appropriate in Hong Kong. Winter is short here, meaning that the costly system would only be of limited use."
Towards the idea of environmentally friendly design, Miss Kwok Wai Fong, 46, of Wo Che Estate, said, "The protection of the environment, like the use of air-conditioners, can be exercised by people themselves. There is no need to pay a higher cost in incorporating it into the design."
According to Mr. Wong, it is important to strike a balance between the ideal environment protection and practical needs.
"The natural environment is a scarce resource, so is money. Surely we need to consider environmental aspects, but they are not and should not be the sole consideration. Economic efficiency deserves our attention, too."
Similar tension also exists in the construction of the new airport. Following the relocation of the Hong Kong International Airport at Kai Tak to Chek Lap Kok, several core projects are being carried out.
Some projects are both favourable and detrimental to the environment. Such dilemmas can be illustrated by the case of the Southeast Kowloon reclamation.
After the relocation of the airport, the previous airport site will be redeveloped. With the planned reclamation of Kowloon Bay, an 840-hectare area, almost the size of the entire Kowloon peninsula, will be available for various land uses.
The project includes reconstruction of such obsolete areas as Hung Hom, To Kwa Wan and Ma Tau Kok. It aims at decreasing overall population density and providing the area with more recreational space.
A central Metropolitan Park envisaged in the project forms a circular open space of about 78 hectares, which will provide a pleasant green setting for adjacent high density urban areas.
Mr. Tong Lai Cheung, an engineer of the Southeast Kowloon Development of Territory Development Department, said, "The project is a linked one between urban renewal and reclamation."
"The Kai Tak Nullah, which carries untreated sewage into Victoria Harbour now, will be reclaimed according to the project.
"As a result, highly polluted blackspots can be eliminated. Indeed, the reclamation will proceed in time with the implementation of the sewage strategies in order to bring about a general improvement to the quality of harbour water."
However, the reclamation can favour as well as harm the environment. The resulting changes in the sea-bed profile and coastline may trigger off unexpected environment effects.
In parallel with harbour reclamation, the government developed a Water Quality and Hydraulic Model in 1987. The model comprises both a physical model and a mathematical model.
Mr. Luk Wing Cheong, engineer of the Civil Engineering Department, explained, "When there is a proposed change to either the sea-bed profile or coastline, we will modify the physical model accordingly to assess beforehand what are the potential effects.
"Besides, we will also make use of computers in our analysis. We can use the mathematical model to analyse possible changes in tidal flow, directions of sediment transport and the like," said Mr. Luk.
"The data obtained from the two models will be transferred to the Environmental Protection Department, by which further related studies will be carried out," he explained.