The Desolation of Smog
It is not often for Hong Kong people to descend into humour such as this but sadly, with smog now blanketing up to 30% days in the year, this internet meme represents how the citizens of my home city have certainly become resigned to the apparent ‘inevitable consequences’ of urbanisation and modernity. Once known in Chinese as the “Fragrant Harbour” (literal translation of terms), Hong Kong has certainly seen and smelled better days.
One is forced to ask where all this pollution is coming from, considering how this is a city where over 90% of inhabitants will use public transport in one form or another on a daily basis and it would seem urban development is certainly not as integrated or as successful as it purports to be. Various groups have blamed everything from the two coal fire stations (located in the outskirts), to our ‘old’ diesel buses (< 10 years), to overcrowded roads (though only 500 000 private cars are registered, in a city of almost eight million). Whatever the specific generators of pollution, it is clear that smog is here to stay and the rise of high density apartment typologies in the city has, in my view, become a major contributing factor.
Typical Public Housing Typology
(Michael Wolf)
Typical Old (1960s) Private Housing Typology (Urbanscapes) (Michael Wolf)
Captured most thought provokingly by Michael Wolf, Hong Kong’s severely dense living conditions have resulted in what are known as “the wall effect” (or “vertical screen effect”) by local residents, whereby air quality deteriorates and stagnates, resulting from a lack of urban cross ventilation. The entire urban fabric is therefore contributing to a locking up of air, meaning that even with its relatively small number of cars in terms of population, the pollutants are being trapped and captured inside the urban fabric. A lack of public green spaces and squares has further precipitated compact architecture. This problem is then compounded by the city’s natural topography, where Victoria Harbour and surrounding bay areas are bounded by two mountain ranges, resulting in a valley where poor air conditions collects and now remains. Below is a rough mapped summary of how circulation is effectively being choked in two prominent areas of the city, the main Victoria Harbour, and the northern New Territories district, both have become stagnant and enclosed parts of the city.
BLUE: Main area of poor smog issues & air stagnation
RED: Location of Hong Kong's Coal fired Power Plants
This poor quality of living has been predicated by a series of factors, of which architects can indeed, in my view, be considered victims. Primarily, as is often the case, money, is the root of all evil. Lack of government policy direction, coupled with financial gain has resulted in a massive, uncontrolled increase of residential FSRs, with the Department of Planning currently allowing up to FSR 10:1 for new developments in the city’s already most over-crowded suburbs. As previously mentioned, this is coupled with a lack of urban public space planning, meaning that developments are often considered in isolation and rather selfishly, without significant consideration of impacts to surrounding buildings. Overall, the entire residential development industry has become fuelled by collective selfishness, meaning that developers and architects do not consider the end user and the quality of living, but merely, the value of a property.
Naturally, these moral issues are overlooked and sadly, as one might expect from our capitalist and cosmopolitan city, reports dealing with the issue of smog are not centred on sustainability or improvement but rather, the ‘shocking’ news that pollution is costing Hong Kong HK$40 billion (AUD$ 5.07 billion) in lost economic activity per year. I would love to believe that it is our moral imperative to act against this parasitic and destructive growth, but I would also say that in this case, at least for now, David will find it very difficult to slay the capitalist Goliath.
References
Lai Ying Kit. “Air Pollution Causes 3000 Deaths, Costs Billions Annually”. South China Morning Post. (16 Janurary 2013). Retrieved Online via:
http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1128685/air-pollution-causes-3000-deaths-costs-hk39b-annually
Kenneth Foo. “Clearing the Air”. The Standard. (18 January 2012). Retrieved Online via:
http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=30&art_id=118938&sid=35103473&con_&d_str=20120118&isSearch=1&sear_year=2012
Michael Wolf. “Hong Kong Architecture”. Retrieved Online via.
http://photomichaelwolf.com/#hongkongarchitecture
Chinasmack. (2012). “Hong Kong’s High Density Housing & Cramped Living Conditions”. Retrieved Online:
http://www.chinasmack.com/2012/pictures/hong-kong-high-density-housing-cramped-living-conditions.html
LSE Cities. “Living at Density”. Retrieved Online Via:
http://lsecities.net/media/objects/articles/living-at-density/en-gb/