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Rail Village and Mega-Structure

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Hong Kong Architecture 1945-2015

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Abstract

Facing the increasing population and survival pressure in the 1960s and 70s, the Hong Kong government and planning professionals thought of decentralization and setting up new towns. Similar ideas were raised half a century or even earlier in the other parts of the world.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    For more about transit-oriented-development (TOD), see Cervero (1998), Bernick and Cervero (1997), Dittmar and Ohland (2004). These books define the TOD theory and practice mainly in North America.

  2. 2.

    In 2010, the Transportation Department of Hong Kong counted 12 million people using public transportation, about 90 % of the population. This compares with 36 % in Beijing. From Beijing shi jianshe renwen jiaotong keji jiaotong lvse jiaotong xingdong jihua (Constructing a green traffic plan in Beijing 2009–2015). In Hong Kong, one third of public transport journeys are undertaken by rail; the figure for Beijing was 12 % in 2004 and for Shanghai 24 % in 2009. Public transportation and policy controlled the growth of private cars. In April 2010, there were 589,951 private vehicles in Hong Kong, less than 100,000 more than 10 years ago. From 2004 to 2008, the number of private cars in Shanghai grew from 317 to 613 thousand (http://www.stats-sh.gov.cn/tjnj/nj10.htm?d1=2010tjnj/C1313.htm. Accessed 3 March 2014). From 2001 to 2009, the number of private cars in Beijing grew from 624 thousand to 2.8 million. (http://www.bjtrc.org.cn/PageLayout/IndexReleased/Evaluation.aspx?menuid=li3. Accessed 3 March 2014). The above data demonstrate the effect of public transportation on urban development.

  3. 3.

    For more information about the gasoline consumption and car ownership per capita, see Knaap (2006). The materials are mainly up to 2000.

  4. 4.

    For more about the cost of metro construction in Hong Kong, see Wenwai Pao, 2 April 2012, A5.

  5. 5.

    The 5D principles are from Cervero and Murakami (2009). The principles are used to measure the effectiveness of TOD projects.

  6. 6.

    For more about the data on the MTR, see Yin (2014); and ‘The Public Transport-oriented Development’ Approach in Hong Kong, on the website “Study on the Action Plan for Livable Bay Area of Pearl River Estuary,” http://www.prdbay.com/UploadFile/20110330140011e.pdf. Accessed 25 October 2014.

  7. 7.

    See Yin (2014). The method of Space Syntax, see Hillier (1999) and the website of Space Syntax company.

  8. 8.

    The documents from the Hong Kong Society of Architects are cited in Bristow (1989). When Bristow’s book was written in the 1980s, such practice was just in the beginning stage.

  9. 9.

    The data on Shatin station and New Town Plaza are from http://www.newtownplaza.com.hk/chi/about.html, http://www.mtr.com.hk/chi/properties/mtrshopping_centres.html#citylink. Accessed 25 June 2012. According to the pedestrian count of Experian FootFall in 2010–12, Shatin New Town Plaza was the busiest shopping mall in the world. This can be observed and felt through its daily operation.

  10. 10.

    For more about the population growth of Shatin, see the article, Xin Shizhen de qishi (The enlightenment of a new town—a case study of Shatin and Tian Shui Wai) http://wk.baidu.com/view/fb29ca086c85ec3a87c2c51b?ssid=&from=&bd_page_type=1&uid=bk_1344223402_501&pu=sl@1,pw@1000,sz@224_220,pd@1,fz@2,lp@1,tpl@color,&st=1&wk=sh&dt=doc&md=sax_2, and also the materials from Shatin District Council, http://www.districtcouncils.gov.hk/st/tc/dchighlights.html. Accessed 6 December 2012; and also the Government Statistics 2014, Mingpao Daily News, 1 April 2015.

  11. 11.

    For details on the new town construction of Hong Kong, see Bristow (1989). For details on the public housing in Hong Kong, see Yeung and Wong (2003).

  12. 12.

    For all five stations on the Tung Chung Line, the building floor area, residential towers and units, distance and other data were counted and calculated from general building plans, the Centaline Map and relevant property websites. The work was undertaken by the author’s research assistant Yang Ke in 2014.

  13. 13.

    The description of Central and Shatin stations are partly from Tan and Xue (2014).

  14. 14.

    The ratio of Kyoto Station is from Hui (2011).

  15. 15.

    Some of these materials are from Xue et al. (2010). The designer’s description gives a detailed technical data for the Kowloon station, see Terry Farrell & Partners (1998).

  16. 16.

    The information on Olympic Station are partly from Hui (2011) and the subsequent investigation by the author’s research team.

  17. 17.

    The data on Tsing Yi Station in this chapter are from the MTRC website, http://www.mtr.com.hk/chi/properties/prop_dev_ty.html. Accessed 26 June 2012.

  18. 18.

    The data on Tung Chung Station in this chapter are from the MTRC website, http://www.mtr.com.hk/chi/properties/prop_dev_tc.html. Accessed on June 26, 2012.

  19. 19.

    For the new Tung Chung development plan, see Am730, June 20, 2012, p. 8.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong

    Charlie Q. L. Xue

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  1. Charlie Q. L. Xue
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Correspondence to Charlie Q. L. Xue .

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Xue, C.Q.L. (2016). Rail Village and Mega-Structure. In: Hong Kong Architecture 1945-2015. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-1004-0_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-1004-0_6

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