Dispersed spatial development: Hong Kong's new city form and its economic implications after 1997

Abstract

The shift of Hong Kong's economic base from manufacturing to services requires a stronger emphasis on a dispersed spatial development strategy away from the central urban area surrounding the inner harbor and a re-orientation toward the Pearl River Delta region of China in Hong Kong's port development after 1997. To compete successfully with its neighbors in the Asia Pacific region and with Chinese counterparts such as Shanghai and Guangzhou, Hong Kong has to anticipate the impact of the new informational technologies on urban development, which has brought about a multinucleation process for cost-minimization as has been occurring in the US. This paper examines Hong Kong's evolving ecological structure and the importance of its Port and Development (PAD) Strategy in shaping a new outer port area oriented toward the Pearl River Delta of China and a decentralization of economic activities away from the inner port area after 1997. An extended shift-share analysis and spatial development simulation have presented four scenarios of development. The decentralization scenario with emphasis on the development of self-contained new towns is the preferred choice if Hong Kong is to improve its space of flows. With the construction of the new airport in Chek Lap Kok in Lantau Island, Hong Kong is well prepared to maintain its importance as one of the world's financial and transshipment center after the sovereignty transfer of 1997.