Land shortage problem is a challenge for the future development in Hong Kong. Nowadays, reclamation and urban redevelopment are the major methods used to increase the land supply. Yet, they are not sustainable in long term. In order to obtain new land for future development, the rock cavern development is being further introduced recently.

This research aims to investigate whether rock cavern development is a more sustainable option for development, from the environmental, economic, technical and social perspectives. The main focus of this study is to examine the social perspective, which aims to investigate the opinion of the general public towards rock cavern development and its underground space usage in Hong Kong.

Besides, the relationships between public acceptance on roc...[ Read more ]

Land shortage problem is a challenge for the future development in Hong Kong. Nowadays, reclamation and urban redevelopment are the major methods used to increase the land supply. Yet, they are not sustainable in long term. In order to obtain new land for future development, the rock cavern development is being further introduced recently.

This research aims to investigate whether rock cavern development is a more sustainable option for development, from the environmental, economic, technical and social perspectives. The main focus of this study is to examine the social perspective, which aims to investigate the opinion of the general public towards rock cavern development and its underground space usage in Hong Kong.

Besides, the relationships between public acceptance on rock cavern development and their experience in public consultation are being examined. Furthermore, it then explained whether the sustainability of rock cavern development depends on community-based development, and whether the local communities are sufficiently engaged and have the influence on the development process. These facilitate to assess the public engagement process in Hong Kong.

First, case studies from 5 territories, covering Norway, Finland, Singapore, Japan and Hong Kong, were first studied to demonstrate the popularity of rock cavern development in the world. The approaches of these government promoting rock cavern is also investigated. Second, interviews with the experts were conducted, so as to gather information related to the sustainability of rock cavern development in Hong Kong, and also the potentiality of facilities that suitable to develop in rock caverns. In addition, interviewees were commenting on the community-based development in Hong Kong. Third, a questionnaire survey was conducted with a community-based approach, in order to acquire public’s opinion directly. Comparisons are done between two groups of respondents, the general public throughout the 18 districts in Hong Kong; and the Ma On Shan residents group, who are living next to the new relocation rock cavern site of the Sha Tin Sewage Treatment Works.

The research findings show that rock cavern development is a sustainable option for Hong Kong’s further development. Generally, the public is supportive towards developing rock caverns and underground spaces in Hong Kong, with the community and public facilities are more preferable to be developed. However, more opposition of the development project is resulted once it is implementing close to the residents, which is mainly due to NIMBYism. The findings also reflected the hidden problem of Hong Kong’s planning system, and the insufficiency of citizen participation within the planning and development processes. There are still rooms for Hong Kong to improve or enhance its planning system, so as to reach the achievement of community-based sustainable development.

It is important for the Hong Kong government to formulate specific master plan, policy and guidelines for rock cavern development and underground space usage to ensure the sustainability in developing rock caverns and underground spaces in the city. Moreover, territory-wide promotion of rock cavern development and underground space usage is needed, in order to raise the public awareness and understanding towards the issue. Lastly, significant changes and collective efforts have to be made in the planning system of Hong Kong. With local community being empowered and involved in the planning and decision-making processes, the pursuit of Hong Kong’s community-based sustainable development can be achieved.