Sustainability and Cross-Boundary Mega Infrastructure Planning in Hong Kong: A Case Study of Zhuhai-Macau-Hong Kong Bridge
CCCH 9033 Sustainable Urban Development and Hong Kong
Individual Essay
Topic 2:
Sustainability and Cross-boundary Mega Infrastructure Planning in Hong Kong: A Case Study of Zhuhai-Macau-Hong Kong Bridge.
Accompanied with the higher level of globalization and increasingly saturated domestic market, modern cities and countries start gauging carefully the possible options to promote economic interaction with neighbor regions. This scenario, as a result, gives birth to many cross-boundary mega infrastructures including bridges, highways and tunnels across the world. Although the initial purpose of most of those projects is to achieve economic growth in the long run, sustainability often exists as a huge hurdle for current and future returns to be realized. Among them, the Hong Kong-Zhu Hai-Macau Bridge serves as an especially relevant and suitable example to showcase some of the challenges that the planner may face during cross-boundary mega infrastructure planning.
Tailored for its own urban condition, Hong Kong government defines sustainable development as “to balances social, economic, environmental and resource needs, both for present and future generations, simultaneously achieving a vibrant economy, social progress and a high quality environment, locally, nationally and internationally, through the efforts of the community and the Government” (SUSDEV 21,1997). More specifically, United Nation (2006) indicates that developing a sustainable infrastructure should look at the aspects of “how we build, what we build, and whether we should build the infrastructure at all.” Having understood the concept of sustainable development, and with following justifications and evidence, this essay will demonstrate the benefit and drawback of proceeding major cross-boundary infrastructure plans via evaluating the recent case of Zhuhai-Macau-Hong Kong Bridge, and it argues that despite the financial gains in the short-term and medium-term, the project exerts
Individual Essay
Topic 2:
Sustainability and Cross-boundary Mega Infrastructure Planning in Hong Kong: A Case Study of Zhuhai-Macau-Hong Kong Bridge.
Accompanied with the higher level of globalization and increasingly saturated domestic market, modern cities and countries start gauging carefully the possible options to promote economic interaction with neighbor regions. This scenario, as a result, gives birth to many cross-boundary mega infrastructures including bridges, highways and tunnels across the world. Although the initial purpose of most of those projects is to achieve economic growth in the long run, sustainability often exists as a huge hurdle for current and future returns to be realized. Among them, the Hong Kong-Zhu Hai-Macau Bridge serves as an especially relevant and suitable example to showcase some of the challenges that the planner may face during cross-boundary mega infrastructure planning.
Tailored for its own urban condition, Hong Kong government defines sustainable development as “to balances social, economic, environmental and resource needs, both for present and future generations, simultaneously achieving a vibrant economy, social progress and a high quality environment, locally, nationally and internationally, through the efforts of the community and the Government” (SUSDEV 21,1997). More specifically, United Nation (2006) indicates that developing a sustainable infrastructure should look at the aspects of “how we build, what we build, and whether we should build the infrastructure at all.” Having understood the concept of sustainable development, and with following justifications and evidence, this essay will demonstrate the benefit and drawback of proceeding major cross-boundary infrastructure plans via evaluating the recent case of Zhuhai-Macau-Hong Kong Bridge, and it argues that despite the financial gains in the short-term and medium-term, the project exerts
Bibliography: Amekudz, C. M. (2005). Addressing Sustainability in Transportation Systems: Definitions, Indicators, and Metrics. JOURNAL OF INFRASTRUCTURE SYSTEMS © ASCE, 11:31-50. Gu, C. H. (2010). Ride on the Gaming Boom: How Can Hong Kong, Macau and Zhuhai join hands to develop tourism in the region. Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, 15:1, 57-77. ESCAP, U. N. (2006). Sustainable Infrastructure in Asia. Seoul. Hong Kong SAR government. (1997). The Study on Sustainable Development for the 21st Century in Hong Kong(SUSDEV 21). Hong Kong. Project Benefits . (2010). Retrieved December 24th, 2012, from Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge Related Hong Kong Project: http://www.hzmb.hk/eng/benefits.html WWF. (2009, October 12). WWF expresses major disappointment with ACE 's decision to approve the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge EIA. Retrieved November 25th , 2012, from WWF Hong Kong. http://www.wwf.org.hk/news/press_release/2009_press_release.cfm?uNewsID=1242&uLangID=1 Yang, C. (2006). The geopolitics of cross-boundary governancein the Greater Pearl River Delta, China:A case study of the proposedHong KongeZhuhaieMacao Bridge. Political Geography, 817-835.