Alice S.Y. Chow

Changing Urban Form in Hong Kong: What Are the Challenges on Sustainable Transportation?

ABSTRACT This study examines the changing urban form and its implications on sustainable transportation in Hong Kong. It begins by classifying the city into the traditional urban core, new growth, and rural areas. Like many other parts of the world, more and more people in Hong Kong have opted to live farther away from the core areas over the past few decades. What are the implications on peoples travel behavior and, hence, the sustainability of the citys transportation system? The findings shed light on the implications of urban expansion on sustainable transportation, especially in Asian cities characterized by lower car ownership rates and more compact urban development.

Spatial Restructuring to Facilitate Shorter Commuting - An Example of the Relocation of Hong Kong International Airport

An airport is a key infrastructure project in many cities. However, its structural effects on the distribution of employment and the commuting patterns are rarely examined at the city level. This paper aims to examine the impact of the relocation of the Hong Kong International Airport on the jobs-housing balance of the city under two scenarios. The first scenario shows the actual situation in 2002 after the airport was relocated to a suburban area. This scenario reflects the government’s effort to have co-ordinated urban development. The second scenario shows the situation with a hypothetical and relatively monocentric city structure. The airport was assumed to remain within the urban core area. Different indicators of minimum and excess commuting are compared. The results show that the airport relocation has enabled shorter commuting and, hence, lower commuting emissions. This analytical framework can be applied to other cities and for analysing other land use changes.

Performance Evaluations of the Spiral-Marking Roundabouts in Hong Kong

The Hong Kong Transport Department initiated a trial of the spiral-marking system on four roundabouts in different phases between January 2004 and August 2008. In this study, observational and questionnaire surveys were conducted to assess how the proposed roundabout marking system affected driver behavior, level of service, and safety performance. The vehicle travel time, number of conflicts, crash incidence, and weaving movements were assessed before and after the implementation in the observation surveys, and the perceived safety, congestion level, and lane-changing difficulties were assessed through questionnaire surveys, respectively. Generally, drivers preferred the spiral-marking roundabout to conventional roundabouts, especially after trialing the new marking system. Inexperienced drivers, in particular, appreciated the spiral-marking system because of the increased safety level, reduced congestion level, and increased ease of navigation. On the other hand, the results of the observational survey indicated that there was no unfavorable change in the average approach lane choice, circulating time, and lane-crossing rate following the implementation of the spiral-marking roundabouts. The confounding effects of possible factors, including circulating lane width, entry and exit width, entry and exit curvature, entry angle, time period, and roundabout flow were taken into account in the multiple regression model. Nonetheless, there were marginal decreases in potential conflicts, with no significant reduction in crash frequency at the spiral-marking roundabouts.

Self-determined travel motivations and ecologically responsible attitudes of nature-based visitors to the Ramsar wetland in South China

ABSTRACT This study investigates the effects of self-determined travel motivations on the ecologically responsible attitudes of Ramsar wetland visitors. An on-site questionnaire survey was administered at the Ramsar wetland in Hong Kong to evaluate the self-determined travel motivations and ecologically responsible attitudes of visitors. The results show that Ramsar wetland visitors are likely to be motivated by intrinsic motives such as seeking relaxation and knowledge. Most visitors have a self-determined agenda for visiting the Ramsar wetland to fulfil their own intrinsically and extrinsically motivated desires. Our findings also suggest that the level of self-determined motivation is positively correlated with ecologically responsible attitudes, implying that if a visitor exhibits a high level of self-determined motivation to visit the Ramsar wetland, they also exhibit a more ecologically responsible attitude. The study concludes with practical implications for nature-based destination planning and management. This information can serve as an important reference for improving visitor management and planning in ecologically sensitive wetlands.

China and climate justice: moving beyond statism

China is the largest national source of greenhouse gas (GHG) pollution causing climate change. However, despite some rhetorical progress at the 2011 Durban climate conference, it has consistently rejected calls to take on binding targets to reduce its GHG emissions. The Chinese Government has understandably argued that developed states are responsible for the predominant share of historical GHG emissions, have greater capacity to pay for the cost of mitigation, and indeed have an obligation to do so before China is required to take action. However, due to the explosive growth in its GHG emissions, China is now in a position to single-handedly dash any hope of climate stability if its position does not change. On the diplomatic level, other big polluters, particularly the United States, will not enter into new binding agreements to reduce substantially their own GHG emissions without a credible commitment from China. Challenging the “statist” framing of the climate justice, this article explores the possibility for China to take on a leadership role in climate change diplomacy in a way that allows it to maintain its long-standing principled resistance to binding national emissions targets while making meaningful progress toward combating the problem. Action by China’s rapidly growing affluent classes may hold the key to long-term climate stability.

Higher Education Activities in World Cities: A Spatial Study of Global Leadership and Connectivity

Key characteristic of globalization is intensified interconnectedness among different places and individuals, beyond exchanges led by states and governments. However, existing literature on the geographies of higher education under globalization primarily focuses on the interactions at the regional scale and the intercountry level. Little is known about the disaggregate distribution of higher education activities in cities and the manner in which cities are connected in terms of academic linkages. This chapter reveals the spatial distribution of world cities with more higher education activities showing international standings and global connections. A four-indicator system of Globalizing Education Index, which consists of the Place Power and Network Power of cities, is proposed to measure the internationalization and connectivity of places. The spatial distribution of cities performing well in the four areas of prestigious-university standings, influential world scholars, international academic events, and global research networking suggests that decentralization of higher education activities is restricted to certain aspects, although the movement and information flows of the knowledge economy are supposedly more unrestricted under globalization. The geographical distribution of world cities with high Globalizing Education Index remains concentrated in North America with strong historical and cultural backgrounds of world academia and slightly spread to East Asia due to its strength in organizing international events. This chapter supplements existing geographical studies on higher education and proposes further research directions addressing the influence of geography and connectivity in facilitating academic activities with a global reach.