Balanced growth through long-term planning

Sha Tin New Town in Hong Kong is a good example of how urban planners can achieve balanced, environmentally friendly growth via a long-term program for industrial development and an affordable public transportation network.

Situated in the New Territories area, Sha Tin was designed to ease the pressure on the overburdened city. Since its construction in the 1970s, Sha Tin has developed from a rural township of 30,000 residents to a community with a population of 630,000, according to data from the Hong Kong Civil Engineering and Development Department.

Sha Tin was built on a longterm plan for its development into a small, quasi-independent district, so public services and employment opportunities have been high on the list of priorities for the local planning office from its inception.

In recent years, as Hong Kong’s economic growth model has transitioned from manufacturing to services-led, the government has adapted to the transformation and released policies to support multi-sectoral development.

A transit-oriented approach was adopted for Sha Tin. Public transportation, including railway, bus and minibus services, is accessible within a fiveto 10-minute walk everywhere in the district.

The system, which is convenient and affordable, was built in tandem with the new town’s development, to serve the residents, nearly 84 percent of whom were low-earners in 2011, and lived on a monthly salary equal to half the median income of other Hong Kong households of equal size, or less, according to poverty.org.hk.