LOVE YOUR CITY: 6 X 6

Little about Hong Kong

The city was a British colony from 1842 to 1997. The National Geographic described Hong Kong's history as "one of rapid growth, political turmoil, and continual demands for change." Hong Kong has returned to China on 1st July 1997 under the under the “One Country, Two Systems” principle.

The Urban Landscape

Hong Kong covers Hong Kong Island, Lantau Island, the Kowloon Peninsula and the New Territories, including 262 outlying islands. Hong Kong’s terrain is mostly hilly and has steep slopes. Also, about 40 percent of Hong Kong’s land is designated as Country Park to provide habitats for biological species. Due to these reasons, the actual amount of developable flat land in Hong Kong is very limited, making its population density the fourth greatest in the world.

The Population and Language

Hong Kong is famous for international trade and financial investment. Because of this, the city is very urbanized. It has more than seven million residents in a little more than 400 square miles, and 100 percent of the population lives in urban areas. A lot of the foreigners misunderstood Hong Kong speakers Mandarin, not really! In Hong Kong, nearly 90% of the population are Cantonese speakers where only 1.9% speaks Mandarin. English is Hong Kong's second official language other than Cantonese.

The Biggest Urban Challenge in Hong Kong

Hong Kong has long been suffering from a housing shortage and high sales and rental prices. According to CBRE, Hong Kong is the priciest city in the world to buy a property, with an average price of US$1.25 million. Hong Kong is also the third most expensive city to rent with an average monthly rent of US$2,681, coming after New York and Abu Dhabi.

To overcome Hong Kong’s housing crisis, Hong Kongers have been using their creative minds to come up with different innovative solutions.