October 27, 2020

Green spaces

— Agnes

1. History of greening works in Kwai Tsing

Greening works in Kwai Chung began mainly within public estate boundaries during the Tsuen Wan New Town development in the 1970s. Urban planting works were carried out without an overall greening framework until the planning of Greening Master Plans (GMP) for New Territories back in 2010.¹ However, little greening works for Kwai Tsing GMP will only be implemented in coming years.

2. Green coverage

With greening works not being properly planned, green spaces are only inserted between land uses with low connectivity index, resulting in the issue of fragmentation. The green coverage in Kwai Chung is only 21.27%, which is 7.15m2 per capita. This has led to issues affecting other systems like contributing to heat island effect.

	Area (km2)	Population Density (10,000 Person/km2)*	Green cover (%)	Green cover per Capita (m2)
Hong Kong	113.64	4.15	25.91	6.28
Kwai Tsing	16.04	2.97	21.27	7.15
National standard for garden city in China			30	11

Green spaces by land uses ²

3. Vegetation management & maintenance

The vegetation found in built-up areas and urban parks are not well-managed with little to no ecological value. An EIA report pointed out the high portion of exotic species over native species, which explains the moderate to low biodiversity in the area.³ Most green patches in the urbanized area are also overgrown vegetation found on man made slopes.

Criteria	Urban Park	Urban Development
Naturalness	Man-made	Man-made
Diversity	Low	Medium
Fragmentation	Highly fragmented	Highly fragmented
Ecological linkage	No linkage to habitats of high value	No linkage to habitats of high value

4. Open space provision

According to the Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines, open space is statutory land use zone for provision of open space & recreational facilities for the enjoyment of general public.⁴

According to the Kwai Chung Outline Zoning Plan, 10.7% of land is planned as open spaces (109.2 ha out of 1025 ha, including Kwai Chung Park). Excluding the “open space” that is inaccessible for recreation, the countable open space in Kwai Chung is 2.3 m2/person, which exceeds Hong Kong’s standard of 2 m2/person. However, most available spaces are pocket parks that are smaller than 1 ha. The limited and worn-out amenities and unsuitable location of active recreational spaces also lowers the usage of these spaces. Kwai Chung Park, as the largest underused public open space under private development (POSPD), also holds up at least 21 ha of underdeveloped space.

	Definition	Urban Areas	Commercial & Industrial Areas	Kwai Chung Provision
Local Open Space (LOS)	– Small spaces where possible at least 500 sq.m – Mainly for passive recreational needs (e.g. walking, relaxing, children playground) – Within walking distance (ard 400m) – Max. building site coverage of 5%	1 m2 per person Public housing estates & large private developments: 1 m2 per person	0.5 m2 per worker	1.9 m2 per person (including Kwai Chung Park)
District Open Space (DOS)	– Medium size, >1ha – For passive or active recreational needs – Active to passive recreation ratio – 3:2 – Max. building site coverage of 10%	1 m2 per person	N/A	0.4 m2 per person
Countable open spaces⁵ (COS, total of LOS+DOS)	– Green amenities accessible for recreation	2 m2		2.3 m2 per person
Soft landscaping standard	Passive recreation: 70% Active recreation: 20%

Open Space Standard & Supply in Kwai Chung

Management of open spaces in Kwai Chung ⁵
60% – By Housing Authority (i.e. within public estate)
36% – By LCSD
5% – By private associations / within POSPD

	Kwai Tsing District	Kwai Chung
Mean density of POS	6%
POS per capita	1.36 m2 (including private residential open space: 1.37 m2)
Population % within 400m of POS	Of any POS: >95% Of any park: >90% (for sports ground: >85%; for playground: >85%)
Mean distance from inhabited area to nearest POS	210m for any POS (330m for park, 560m for playground, 530m for sports ground)
POS sizes	Small (<1ha): 33% (including <0.1ha: 13%) Medium (1-5ha): 21% Large (>5ha): 46%	Small (<1ha): 90% (including <0.5ha: 45%) Medium (1-5ha): 9% Large (>5ha): 1%
Amenities provision in open spaces		Sitting out areas with only benches/shelter: 36% With children play area: 36% With elderly fitness area: 26% With minimal barrier free facilities: 43% Wifi hotspots: 34%

Accessibility & Quality of Public Open Spaces (POS) in Kwai Tsing ⁶

5. Opportunities and Constraints

Connecting green patches and increasing native species population could alleviate fragmentation and reduce visual disturbance of urban infrastructures. Compacted and competitive spaces within the built-up areas and long implementation time would limit greening works and its effect as green infrastructures.

Redeveloping underused open spaces by increasing utilization, improving accessibility and management could provide more recreational space with higher quality, for the public and also specific user groups like ethnic minorities. Improving the pedestrian walkways systems and managing the issue of public-private ownerships of spaces would be pre-requisite for the opportunities.

¹Development Bureau (2011). Development of Greening Master Plans (GMPs) for the New Territories. In Legislative Council Panel on Development on 24 May 2011 (Issue CB(1)2293/10-11(01)). Development Bureau. https://www.legco.gov.hk/yr10-11/english/panels/dev/papers/dev0524cb1-2293-1-e.pdf

²Tian, Y., Liu, Y., Jim, C., & Song, H. (2017). Assessing Structural Connectivity of Urban Green Spaces in Metropolitan Hong Kong. Sustainability, 9(9), 1653. https://doi.org/10.3390/su9091653

³Ip, R. (2008). Environmental Impact Assessment for Tsuen Wan Bypass, Widening of Tsuen Wan Road between Tsuen Tsing Interchange and Kwai Tsing Interchange and Associated Junction Improvement Works. Retrieved from: https://www.epd.gov.hk/eia/register/report/eiareport/eia_1522008/EIA%2008Oct08%20-%20html.htm

⁴Planning Department ‌(2020). Ch4: Recreation, Open Space and Greening. Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines. Retrieved from: https://www.pland.gov.hk/pland_en/tech_doc/hkpsg/sum/pdf/sum_ch4_en.pdf

⁵Lai, C. (2017). Unopened Space: Mapping Equitable Availability of Open Space in Hong Kong. Retrieved from Civic Exchange website: https://civic-exchange.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/20170224POSreport_FINAL.pdf

⁶Chow, J. (2018). Public Open Space Accessibility in Hong Kong: A Geospatial Analysis. Retrieved from Civic Exchange website: https://civic-exchange.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Civic-Exchange-Public-Open-Space-Accessibility-in-Hong-Kong-GEOSPATIAL-ANALYSIS.pdf

Author: LI Ho Lok Klaus

Filed Under: Uncategorized

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