Brief introduction:

This study aims to analyse and compare housing estates in Hong Kong as distinctive forms of gated communities for improving their social sustainability and for pioneering transferable frameworks for examining similar planned residential communities in Asia.

The analysis will use frameworks derived from the literature on gated communities, social sustainability, and neighbourhood planning and development. It will initially evaluate social sustainability issues in the planning and use processes of Hong Kong's gated and semi-gated housing estates, notably environmental awareness, social cohesion and harmony, social order and safety, and social inclusion. The social sustainability performance of different housing estate types will subsequently be compared and the differences will be explained with reference to the socio-political and institutional contexts of housing estate construction, the then prevailing urban development and planning strategies, estate planning and design practices, property management practices, and the role and objectives of the government in the housing production processes.

Apart from the use of secondary materials such as government policy statements, planning regulations and design guidelines, site observation and interviews with government officials, estate planners and designers will be conducted. Further, questionnaire surveys of residents inside and outside of the gated housing estates will be carried out to ascertain their environmental consciousness, social behaviour, perception and experience related to social sustainability and to understand the causal relationships between estate planning and social sustainability.

About the Speaker:

Rebecca L.H. Chiu has specialized in housing education and housing studies since 1987, and in housing and urban sustainability issues since 1997. Currently she is Professor at the Department of Urban Planning and Design, and the Director of the Centre of Urban Studies and Urban Planning of the University of Hong Kong. She is the Program Director of the Master of Housing Management and the Bachelor of Housing Management. Her current research interests are housing and urban sustainability issues in high-density Asian cities, especially China, comparative housing policies in Asia, and housing policy transfer.

She is the Founder Chairman of the Asia Pacific Network for Housing Research, and the Director of Affordable Housing Research Network at HKU. She has been appointed to government committees and boards related to housing, planning, urban renewal, natural and heritage conservation in Hong Kong. Currently she is a member of the Country and Marine Advisory Board, the Antiquities Advisory Board, the Appeal Panel of Town Planning and the Licensing Appeal Board. She has been consultant to international, regional and local organizations on housing matters.