Planning for the city efficient: The Hong Kong and Macau experience

This chapter examines aspects of the transformation of the two cities of Hong Kong and Macau into contemporary urban centers. It focuses on the philosophical vantage point from which planners in these two cities view the urban areas they serve, the purposes served by state intervention into city development processes, and their own role in guiding the physical manifestation of economic transformations. The chapter presents observations on how a focus on urban efficiency has marginalized more holistic concerns the living environment and quality of life of individuals who must experience the city day in and day out. It addresses the values exemplified by heritage conservation, environmental protection, and landscape preservation. Plan-making in Hong Kong and Macau can potentially be much more than attempts to guide and regulate a headlong rush to reconstruct the built form of the two territories in support of the needs of technologically-advanced industrial and service economy.