The Urban Problems of Hong Kong

The Urban Problems of Hong Kong

Throughout the years, the population of Hong Kong has been increasing continuously, nearly seven millions until 2005, for various reasons such asprolonged immigration from the Mainland China, constant replacement rate, etc. At the present, Hong Kong is one of the cities with the densest population. In order to settle the large population, urbanization has become an important issue of the Hong Konggovernment. However, at the same time, urbanization has caused different kinds of environmental pollution in Hong Kong. Also, transport and housing problems must be considered when planning urbanization. In the following paragraphs, these problems will be analyzed.

(A)Environmental Pollution

1. Air Pollution

(a) What is happening?

Hong Kong has been facing two main air pollution problems, namely, local street-level pollution and the regional smog problem.

(I) Street-level pollution

The road traffic density of Hong Kong is among the highest in the world. There are about 530 000 vehicles in Hong Kong but the total road length is about only 1 900 km, i.e. 275 vehicles per kilometer. In addition, about one-fourth of these vehicles use diesel fuel which is relatively more polluting, and they contribute to about half of the vehicle mileage in Hong Kong. Owing to the high density of buildings, pollutants cannot be dispersed effectively on the streets. As a result, large quantities of RSP and nitrogen oxides (NOx) accumulate at roadside.

To reduce the street-level pollution, the government has adopted some measures to deal with the problem:

(a)Providing an incentive scheme for the replacement of diesel taxis with liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) taxis. The LPG taxi incentive scheme was completed in late 2003 and, currently, 99.8% of all taxis in Hong Kong run on LPG;

(b)Providing an incentive scheme since 2002 for replacing diesel light buses withLPG or electric light buses. The scheme is in good progress. Over three-fourth of the newly registered public light buses are LPG ones;

(c)Increasing significantly the penalty for smoky vehicles from $450 to $1,000 and stepped up law enforcement.

(d)Implement an incentive scheme to help vehicles set up catalytic converters.

(e)Increasing significantly the penalty for smoky vehicles from $450 to $1,000 and stepped up law enforcement.

(f)The Government kicked off a campaign in September 2001 to promote "switching off engines while waiting". Guidelines have been issued to the

There is a progressive improvement throughout the years. In 2005, emissions of particulates and nitrogen oxides from motor vehicles in urban areas have been reduced by about 80% and 40% respectively. Particulates and nitrogen oxides levels on the street have dropped by 14% and 17% respectively since 1999. The number of smoky vehicles on the road has also reduced by about 80%.

(II) Stationary Pollution Sources

In the past decade, most of the factories in Hong Kong had been relocated to the Mainland. Power plants have become increasingly dominant among local stationary emission sources of SO2, NOx and RSP in Hong Kong. According to the Joint Study on Regional Air Quality (the "Joint Study") conducted by EPD and the Guangdong Environmental Protection Bureau between 1999 and 2002, our power plants contributed to 71%, 49% and 30% respectively of the local SO2, NOx and RSP emissions while our industrial sources accounted for only 8%, 3% and 2% respectively. As to volatile organic compounds (VOC), contribution by local power plants to the local emissions was less than 1% while industrial sources accounted for 16%. The other major VOC emission sources were vehicles, paint, printing inks and consumer products.

On the other hand, power plants contribute 92 per cent of Hong Kong’s sulphur dioxide (SO2) emissions, 49 per cent of NOx and 51 per cent of RSPs. Both CLP Power Hong Kong Ltd. (CLP) and The Hong Kong Electric Company Ltd (HEC) have installed low NOx burners to reduce emissions and HEC has also installed three flue gas desulphurisation units. However, the benefits of these devices are being eroded by increased power generation. Demand is being pushed up by the stronger economies in Hong Kong and Mainland China and the need for CLP to use more coal because of unstable natural gas supplies for its plant at Black Point.

Recognising the problem, the EPD acted in 2005 to promote greater polluter responsibility in power generation. Our major achievement was the imposition of a cap on total emissions from local power plants. Prior to August 2005 specified process licences for power plants limited only the concentration of pollutants in emissions (so much pollutant per cubic metre). But when emission quantities started rising, so did the quantity of pollutants in the air. From August, operators renewing their licences have been required to reduce total emissions by complying with a set of emissions caps. This new policy has resulted in power companies sourcing cleaner coal. The first plant to renew its licence, CLP’s Castle Peak, is starting to use ultra low sulphur coal to reduce the overall sulphur content to 0.3 per cent, as against a statutory limit of one per cent sulphur.

Moreover, the EPD is also encouraging CLP and HEC to adopt more innovative solutions to pollution control. A pilot emissions trading scheme is being worked out by the Hong Kong and Guangdong governments, and both CLP and HEC indicated their willingness to discuss and explore this option as a means to reduce emissions. The two power companies have also agreed to set up production-scale wind turbines in response to the Government’s interest in promoting renewable sources of energy. The Government, for its part, has set air-conditioning temperature at 25.5 degrees Celsius in summer months and written to chambers of commerce asking them to follow suit. Reducing pollution from power plants will undoubtedly require a commitment from everyone to make cleaner, more efficient use of energy, not just the power companies.

(III) Regional Smog Problem

The pollutants generated by vehicular emissions as well as industrial and commercial operations in PRD have an adverse impact on the air quality on the whole region. Under sunlight, these pollutants undergo photochemical reactions to form ozone and smog. The regional smog problem is especially serious when weak northerly wind prevails in the PRD area or when the region is under the influence of subsiding air at the periphery of a typhoon because the ambient air pollutants in the PRD cannot be dispersed effectively under such conditions. Smog problem is at its worse when the sun is high, hence high levels of ozone are observed usually around midday. Over the past decade, the regional smog problem has been worsening as reflected by thedeterioration in visibility.

To deal with the regional air pollution problem, HKSARG is working closely with Guangdong to reduce the total air pollutant emission in the PRD, such as conducting the Joint Study.According to the findings of the Joint Study, the economy, population, electricity demand and vehicle mileage in the PRD Region will grow by 150%, 20%, 130% and 180% respectively from 1997 to 2010. In terms of total emissions, Hong Kong accounts for about 5% to 20% of regional air pollution while the PRD accounts for 80% to 95%. Given the continuous economic growth of the PRD, air pollution in the region cannot be mitigated effectively even if the two governments continue to implement their existing improvement measures. The Joint Study also points out that we must control the total emissions of pollutants in order to address the regional air pollution problem.

After the Joint Study was completed, the HKSARG and the Guangdong Provincial Government reached a consensus in April 2002 to reduce by 2010, on a best endeavour basis, the regional emissions of SO2, NOx, RSP and VOC by 40%, 20%, 55% and 55% respectively, using 1997 as the base year.

In December 2003, the two governments jointly drew up thePearl River Delta Regional Air Quality Management Plan (the "Management Plan" ) with a view to meeting the above emission reduction targets. The Pearl River Delta Air Quality Management and Monitoring Special Panel was also set up under the Hong Kong/Guangdong Joint Working Group on Sustainable Development and Environmental Protection to follow up on the tasks under the Management Plan. In 2004, the two sides held 13 working meetings and conducted 7 site visits.
Under the Management Plan, the two governments have jointly set up a regional air quality monitoring network and started reporting the Regional Air Quality Index (RAQI) for the Pearl River Delta from 30 November 2005. The RAQI provides the public with a daily measure of the overall air quality in different parts of the Region. The two governments will jointly publish a detailed regional air quality report every six months on the monitoring results and trends of the major pollutants. These results will help both governments to evaluate the regional air quality trend and to understand the effectiveness of pollution abatement measures being implemented.

Besides, power plants are still a major source of pollution in the territory. According to the data collected by the EPD in 2003, power plants accounted for 92%, 57% and 46% of the total emissions of SO2, NOx and RSP respectively in Hong Kong. The EPD will negotiate with power companies’ measures to further reduce emissions and increase the use of natural gas in electricity generation. The EPD will also explore the feasibility of introducing demand-side management.

As a result of the emission reduction measures implemented, Hong Kong has already achieved good progress since 1997 in reducing the total emissions of NOx, RSP and VOC. Details are as follows:

Emission Level in 1997 (tonnes) / Emission Level in 2003 (tonnes) / Changes in Emission Level during 1997-2003 / Reduction Target for 2010
NOx / 110 000 / 96 600 / -12% / -20%
RSP / 11 200 / 7 380 / -34% / -55%
VOC / 54 500 / 41 900 / -23% / -55%

(V) Other Plans

The Chief Executive, Mr Donald Tsang, two months agao officially launched the Action Blue Sky Campaign, reinforcing the Government's determination to improve Hong Kong's air quality. The Chief Executive said that the Government needed the whole community's participation to combat air pollution. Under this campaign, can the sky over us keep clear and blue?

2. Water Pollution

Water pollution can be invisible to the naked eye, but its impacts are for the most part clear enough. Bacteria, nutrients and other pollutants can make swimmers sick, contaminate or kill marine life, and give off bad smells. Like other major cities in the world, Hong Kong is working diligently to improve its water quality. The pollutants come from human and industrial sources and livestock farms, and programmes are underway to reduce pollution loads. The number of beaches meeting the Water Quality Objective for bathing water was only 24 in 1995. The number of river monitoring stations with bad or very bad water quality was 52% in 1988.

(I)The Harbour Area Treatment Scheme (HATS)

HATSis a strategy for collecting and treating sewage from both sides of VictoriaHarbour. Stage One has been operating since 2001 and treats 75 per cent of the sewage generated around VictoriaHarbour at a chemically enhanced primary treatment plant on StonecuttersIsland. However, this has not resulted in uniformly better water quality. While significant improvements have been recorded in the east and centre of the harbour, water quality in the western harbour is deteriorating, for two reasons. First, 25 per cent of sewage, mostly from Hong KongIsland, still ends up in the harbour basically untreated. Second, the large volume of effluent discharged from Stonecutters is not disinfected. Overall water quality in the harbour cannot be further improved until these problems are fixed.

Stonecutters Island Sewage Treatment Works

Stage Two of HATS offers a two-pronged solution. In Stage 2A, disinfection would be introduced at the Stonecutters plant, deep tunnels would be built to transfer Hong KongIsland's sewage to the plant and the plant's facilities would be expanded, all by 2013-14. This would cost $8.1 billion to build and $430 million a year to operate on top of the current annual $1 billion in operating expenses for all sewage services in Hong Kong. Stage 2B would involve building biological treatment facilities, a higher and more expensive form of treatment, with the timing dependent on water quality and sewage flows. The Executive Council approved the proposal in April 2005, together with a policy of full recovery of operating expenses from polluters. The proposal was then presented to the Legislative Council where it was generally supported, although a couple of concerns were raised.

The tunnel and outfall of the building schemes

(II) Polluter Pays

An average household pays $11 per month. Apart from sewage charges, heavy polluters, such as restaurants, pay extra through the Trade Effluent Surcharge which amounts to a total of $210 million a year. In keeping with the polluter pays principle, the Government is determined to raise sewage charges so that 100 per cent of current and future operating costs can be recovered. When Stage 2A of HATS is commissioned, operating costs will increase by more than 50 per cent compared with the present. The government reckons households will likely need to pay in the region of $30 per month to cover future operating costs including those of Stage 2A. The goal is to gradually increase the charges until full costs are recovered. Also, Commercial operators with higher pollution loads pay a Trade Effluent Surcharge (TES). Currently about $210 million of the $250 million cost of treating the excess pollution they produce is recovered through the TES.

(III) Villages Sewage Works

About 500 000 people in Hong Kong are not connected to a sewerage system. Most of them live in villages and rely on septic tanks, an ineffective system that has resulted in continued contamination of rivers and streams. In 2005 efforts to control village pollution received a significant boost when the Government allocated $1.3 billion to the problem, bringing the total funds earmarked for improvement of village sewerage over the past two years to $1.8 billion. The money will link 235 000 people in 236 villages to sewers and bolster a programme that has already connected, or is in the process of connecting, 94 000 people to sewers. The work will take some years to complete, given the need to resolve objections and land resumption issues and design and build the sewers, but it should result in improvements to many rivers and streams in the NewTerritories.

(IV) Regional Collaboration

Hong Kong shares its waters with Guangdong. It makes sense, therefore, that pollution control efforts be matched by both sides. Through a joint working group, HKSAR agreed in 2000 on a 15-year plan to clean up DeepBay and to reduce pollution from existing sources and control future pollution. The plan will be reviewed every five years with the first review scheduled for completion in 2007. In mid 2003, HKSAR formulated a regional water quality management strategy for MirsBay to control water pollution and ensure sustainability of the common water body. Both sides are now working on a joint project to develop a numerical model to provide both the Hong Kong and Guangdong governments an analytical tool for managing the water environment of the Pearl River Estuary.

3. Waste Pollution

Waste loads in Hong Kong are growing at a much faster rate than the population. Over the past nine years municipal solid waste loads have increased by about three per cent annually while the population has grown on average by only 0.9 per cent.The three existing landfills (Nim Wan, Tseung Kwan O and Ta Kwu Ling) are under enormous pressure. In early 2005, it was estimated the three existing landfills would be full in six to 10 years. Furthermore, if waste loads continue to increase at the current trend, an additional 400 hectares of landfill space will be needed to up to 2030. Hong Kong has hardly any suitable sites for new landfills. Clearly, we need a more sustainable way of dealing with our waste.

(I) Separation of Waste Source

Waste Recycling Campaign of EPD in Housing Estates placed collection bins in every block. Now, with source separation, bins, racks or bags are placed on every floor of apartment blocks where possible. The types of recyclables collected have also been expanded from waste paper, aluminium cans and plastic bottles to any type of recyclable material. By the end of 2005, 223 housing estates had signed up for floor-based source separation, representing 1.1 million people. In some estates, the programme helped them to increase the quantity of recyclables collected by more than 50 per cent and reduce the waste they sent to landfills by about three per cent. The EPD aims to have 80 per cent of the population in Hong Kong participating in the source separation scheme by 2010.

The poster of waste separation scheme

(II) Charging for Waste Disposal

A milestone in waste management was achieved in January 2005 when the Waste Disposal (Charges for Disposal of Construction Waste) Regulation was passed to allow charges to be levied for the disposal of construction waste. The aim is to reflect the polluter pays principle and encourage people to reduce construction waste. High priority was given to construction waste because it accounts for up to 40 per cent of the total solid waste disposed of at landfills. From 20 January 2006, construction waste producers will be charged $27 per tonne to deposit inert waste at public fill reception facilities, $100 to deposit waste with more than 50 per cent inert content at sorting facilities, and $125 to deposit waste containing 50 per cent or less inert content at landfills. Construction waste with more than 50 per cent inert content will not be accepted at landfills and will be diverted to public fill reception facilities or sorting facilities.