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Spatial data analysis—Transport and development in the Zhujiang Delta
- Refer to the map “Hong Kong in its regional setting (2008)” to answer the following questions.
a)Download the map—“Hong Kong in its regional setting (2008)” from the website of Survey and Mapping Office, Lands Department following the steps below:
(i)Visit the website of Lands Department:
(ii) On the website, choose Hong Kong in its Regional Setting
AR/18/IRS 2008 Edition (English version). Then, click Download to download the map to your computer.
(iii)Open the map on your computer. Zoom in and Zoom out to examine
the features on the map.
(iv)Print the map on a piece of A4 paper.
b)(i) On your printed map, highlight in red the major cities in the Zhujiang
Delta region, including Hong Kong, Macau, Shenzhen, Dongguan, Guangzhou, Foshan, Jiangmen, Zhongshan and Zhuhai.
(ii) With map evidence, describe the relief of the Zhujiang Delta region.
(iii) Explain the spatial distribution of cultivated land in the Zhujiang Delta region in 2008 in relation to the relief and level of development of different parts of the region.
(iv)With map evidence, compare and contrast the level of development and major types of land use between the western part and the eastern part of the Zhujiang Delta region in 2008.
(Hint: You may calculate the areas of cultivated land and built-up areas in the two parts and compare the density of their transport networks.)
c)(i) Describe the spatial distribution of the road and railway network in the
region.
(ii) Highlight the airports (in green) and major ports (in blue) in the region
on your printed map. Describe the spatial location of the airports and major ports in the region.
(iii) What are the locational requirements of most of the airports and the
major ports in the region respectively?
(Hint: Examine the spatial distribution of the built-up areas, transport network,
contours and sea depth of different locations on the map.)
(iv) The ZhuhaiSanzaoAirport (the one near Sanzao Dao) is not close to the built-up area of Zhuhai, what may be the possible cause(s) of choosing this location?
d)Some experts in the transport and logistics industry claimed that the western part of the Zhujiang Delta region would be the focus of development in the next few decades.
(i)With map evidence, justify the importance of constructing the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge to Hong Kong under such condition.
(Hint: Think about the location of Hong Kongin the Zhujiang Delta region and the infrastructural linkages between Hong Kong and the western part of the Zhujiang Delta region.)
e)Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) was chosen as the world’s best airport by different organizations for many years. Among the major international airports in the Zhujiang Delta region (Figure 1), HKIA has the highest level of air passenger traffic (Figure 2) while the airport at Guangzhou ranked the second.
Figure 1 The spatial distribution of 5 international airports in the Zhujiang Delta region
Figure 2 Air passenger traffic of four major airports in the Zhujiang Delta (2005)
(i)Based on the map “Hong Kong in its regional setting (2008)”, compare and contrast Guangzhou and Hong Kong in terms of their location and transport infrastructure.
(ii)Besides those listed in i) above, list other factors which will affect the development of the two cities.
(iii)Which one do you think will be the transportation hub in the region in the next few decades? Why?
(iv) If you are the representative of the Hong Kong government, justify thedecision of constructing the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link with map evidence.