Comprehensive Evaluation Framework for Sustainable Land Use: Case Study of Hong Kong in 2000–2010
Publication: Journal of Urban Planning and Development
Volume 142, Issue 4
Abstract
Land use is a key component to the sustainability of a city. Land-use planning policy should not be based solely on the hard figures, but also needs observational insights. Existing assessment methods and corresponding indexes may not provide comprehensive evaluation on sustainability practices. Therefore, a qualitative, comprehensive method is required to supplement sustainable land-use evaluation. This study developed a comprehensive evaluation framework embracing views from experts and the public for assessing land-use sustainability and applied it to the case of Hong Kong. Experts were interviewed to explain the relationship between land-use transition and impact factors, and through questionnaire survey, residents provided their ranking scores on the economic, environmental, and social performances to land-use change. A subsequent investigation was then conducted to understand/validate the different opinions given by experts and residents on sustainability. Finally, according to the questionnaire, survey, and supplementary investigation, the evaluation results were calculated and public evaluation criteria were formulated. The result also shows that Hong Kong’s land-use change in 2000–2010 is only marginally sustainable, with Open space to the best and decreased Grassland to the worst. The primary criteria of public requirement in economic, environmental, and social aspects are promoted productivity and labor force, extended natural space, and available resources. The proposed qualitative evaluation framework could be used to obtain the public view on the whole city’s land-use performance, providing new perspectives for planners and decision makers to move a city toward more sustainable land use by mitigating negative impacts, encouraging the most sustainable land-use, and balancing economic, environmental, and social effects. In addition, criteria for land-use assessment developed from a new perspective can be applied in China’s urban systems for sustainability assessment.
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Acknowledgments
This study was supported by a Research Grants Council (RGC) research grant of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (project accounts: 1-ZVD1 and 1-ZVBV). The authors are thankful to all those who participated in the survey, and particularly those experts who devoted time to give advice and provide professional opinions. We thank our colleague Dr. Tingting Chen from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University for her comments and help. We are immensely grateful to the associate editor’s elaborative suggestions to this paper. We would also like to thank three anonymous reviewers for their insights.
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Published In
Journal of Urban Planning and Development
Volume 142 • Issue 4 • December 2016
Copyright
© 2016 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Sep 15, 2015
Accepted: Apr 12, 2016
Published online: Jun 30, 2016
Discussion open until: Nov 30, 2016
Published in print: Dec 1, 2016
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