Ws Wong

Assessing the health and hygiene performance of apartment buildings

The recent global outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome has aroused public concern on environmental health and hygiene. Develops a practical assessment scheme for assessing the health and hygiene performance of apartment buildings in Hong Kong. The scheme involves assessing a hierarchy of building factors that have a bearing on environmental qualities, and thus occupants’ health. Proposes an index method to integrate the assessment outcomes into a simple and user‐ friendly performance indicator for public consumption. The index can inform the public of the health and hygiene risk of different buildings and facilitate building owners, developers, and government bodies to make more informed and socially responsible decisions on environmental health and hygiene improvement. Although the assessment scheme is tailored for the institutional and cultural settings of Hong Kong, the assessment framework for the development of the scheme is also applicable to other cities.

A survey of the health and safety conditions of apartment buildings in Hong Kong

Abstract A high-density built environment poses challenges to the idea of sustainable development in respect of health (e.g. SARS outbreak) and safety (e.g. fire and structural problems). To examine the seriousness of the high-density problem, this study aims to survey the health and safety performance of apartment buildings in a densely populated city, Hong Kong, using a simplified assessment scheme. An assessment scheme based on a hierarchy of building performance indicators concerning the quality of: (a) architectural design, (b) building services design, (c) the surrounding environment, (d) operations and maintenance, and (e) management approaches was developed. One hundred forty (140) apartment buildings were surveyed and assessed through site inspections, desk searches, and interviews. A performance analysis was conducted to examine and compare the overall health and safety performance of the buildings. We found that there were considerable variations in health and safety conditions across buildings, even though they are located within a single district. Most of the variations in building health and safety conditions were attributed to differences in building management systems rather than building design. Enhancing strategic management approaches (e.g. a better delineation of owners’ rights and duties) appears to be the most critical factor that underperformers should consider in order to improve their buildings.

Density control and the quality of living space: a case study of private housing development in Hong Kong

Abstract The increased concentration of urban populations is a global phenomenon. Hong Kong, like many Asian cities such as Singapore, Tokyo, and Shanghai, is famous for its compactness and high-density living. This paper argues that Hong Kongs floor area control mechanism has a major adverse effect on the development potential of private housing, and more importantly on the quality of living space. Private residential buildings are built in accordance with statutory requirements imposed by the government. Under the current system, private developers attempt to maximize the usable floor area efficiency at the expense of common area. Consequently, building layouts generate the maximum number of housing units clustered around a cruciform, high-rise compact core. The built form does not take adequate consideration of living quality issues. Its undesirable impacts notwithstanding, the dense cruciform floor plate design is now widely replicated in many mainland Chinese cities. This paper argues that, although such a built form appears modern to some city dwellers, it is a direct result of an outdated density control mechanism that fails to meet present day requirements. A review of this mechanism should be undertaken, and this paper suggests some possible solutions to strike a balance between dense living and a better environment.

Measuring and Interpreting the Effects of a Public-Sector-Led Urban Renewal Project on Housing Prices—An Empirical Study of a Comprehensive Development Area Zone Developed upon ‘Taking’ in Hong Kong

Statutory zoning, as a regulatory tool, is generally considered as a means to introduce and maximize positive externalities and to preempt and internalize negative externalities; thence the land value of the regulated land and its immediate neighbourhood is enhanced. Yet, empirical evidence of the effects of zoning on land values has been conflicting. This paper empirically evaluates the panel data for a district in which two large-scale commercial properties have been developed in a comprehensive development area (CDA) statutorily rezoned from commercial/residential status on land taken by compulsory purchase by a public urban renewal agency in Hong Kong. A price gradient analysis is used to test the effects of such rezoning. The results show that the effect of the new CDA zoning on the prices of housing surrounding the CDA is uncertain. The Pigovian argument for the positive effect of zoning is therefore refuted as a justification for the zone under investigation, and the meaning of the finding for urban renewal planning is discussed. Some urban design factors that may have contributed to the failure of the projects are also discussed.

Private space, shared space and private housing prices in Hong Kong: An exploratory study

Abstract This exploratory study examines the relationship between internal space, shared space and private housing prices. Housing floor area is an ambiguous concept in Hong Kong because it covers a possible exaggeration of the amount of ‘private space’ exclusively enjoyed by the owner and an unidentifiable portion of ‘public space’ shared with other owners within the development. Using hedonic pricing models, this study has found that different distributions between private and shared space command different values from the housing buyers. Shared communal space generally exerts a downward pressure on housing prices. The buyers are willing to pay more for the private space and some desirable forms of communal space. A higher willingness-to-pay for the desirable attributes such as clubhouse indicates that the Hong Kong people are increasingly concerned about the quality of living space in the built environment. This study suggests a need of further research into the exact measurement and the different forms of housing space rather than simply taking the stated floor space figures for granted.

Statutory control of indoor natural ventilation concerning radon level and health

Purpose – The purpose of this research is to review the regulatory framework for natural ventilation design affecting the health of residents, to identify the relationship between the main components of the indoor environmental quality (IEQ) and current building designs, and to propose improvements to the design standards or guidelines especially for those related to natural ventilation controls.Design/methodology/approach – Building designs can influence the IEQ and therefore, legislation regulating such designs should be reviewed beforehand. Afterwards, site measurements to vacant residential building blocks on two different sites are carried out to collect radon levels contained in the air within the buildings. The major purpose of this measurement is to find out the relationship between radon concentration and residential building designs.Findings – It is found that there is room for improvement in the building laws in Hong Kong regulating building designs which affect natural ventilation and IEQ.Orig...