In this study, we examined the relationships between housing characteristics, neighborhood built-environment features, and people’s mental health in Hong Kong, an Asian city well known for its high-density and high-rise housing. The potential mediating effects of people’s perceived living environment were also considered in the analysis. We collected data from 221 participants from two communities in Hong Kong, i.e., Sham Shui Po (SSP) and Tin Shui Wai (TSW), using a stratified random sampling approach. Big datasets were also used to derive relevant built-environment features at the street block level. We used structural equation modeling to explore the complex relationships among housing characteristics, built-environment features, and mental health. The results indicate that the associations between built-environment quality and people’s mental health are weak. For communities with relatively poor housing conditions (i.e., SSP in this study), the impact of housing characteristics on mental health may be more direct; for communities with relatively good housing conditions (i.e., TSW in this study), the effect of housing characteristics on mental health may be indirect. Our findings shed light on the importance of considering different contexts in developing policies related to housing and built environment and mental health.

Problem, research strategy, and findings: From the 1970s to the 1990s, the Hong Kong government developed several new towns to alleviate pressure on contemporary urban areas and provide housing for a rapidly growing population. Although self-containment is a key objective in building new towns, no research has assessed residents’ behavioral outcomes, limiting the objective assessment of the spatial planning of new towns. In this study, we hypothesize that adequate job accessibility would offer residents shorter commutes and hence more time for noncommute travel and activities and better work–life balance. Drawing on census and household travel survey data, we assess the spatial planning of new towns by investigating the effects of job accessibility on commute and noncommute travel durations. We find that a) there is a disparity in self-containment and access to job opportunities between these towns and urban areas, b) job accessibility strongly influences commute duration, and c) prolonged commutes can reduce noncommute travel duration, particularly for public transportation users, suggesting that this may harm work–life balance for workers with long commutes. Takeaway for practice: Building a self-contained new town requires strategic spatial planning and a concrete plan to develop the local economy. To cultivate local employment, planners should develop a regional plan that differentiates main industries in different new towns. A good starting point would be a thorough understanding of the history, spatial distribution of existing industries and firms, and skills of local workers in these towns. We recommend more proactive efforts to a) establish more self-contained new town communities, b) relocate jobs in certain sectors (e.g., government offices) to new towns, c) strengthen an integrated transit system, and d) adopt alternative work schedules (e.g., telecommuting, flexible work hours) in certain industries to relieve commute burdens, improving both commute experience and work–life balance.

This paper investigates the interrelationships of place qualities, people’s sense of place and subjective well-being in the ultra-high-density environment of urban Hong Kong. We argue that place qualities affect people’s sense of place that predicts their subjective well-being. The study develops two scales on place qualities and sense of place, and develops five hypotheses. A total of 814 questionnaire responses were obtained from two urban neighbourhoods in the city, 399 from the elderly (aged 65 or above) and 415 from other adults (aged 18–64). The results reveal a positive relationship between people’s assessment of place qualities and their sense of place: public and community spaces are prominent predictors of a stronger sense of place; people who have lived longer in the community show a stronger sense of place; people having a stronger sense of place display greater emotional well-being; and people who have a stronger affective and behavioural sense of place also demonstrate greater social and psychological well-being. The research findings have significant implications for urban planning and design practices in high-density urban forms, underlining the importance of place qualities, especially socio-petal spaces for people’s sense of place. Sense of place is a good predictor of people’s multi-faceted subjective well-being.

The importance of neighbourhood-level public space and its benefits have been discussed at large during the Covid-19 pandemic. While demands for public space increase, restrictions imposed by the containment policies such as social distancing and public space use have made profound health impacts on the general public. Such impact may further widen the gaps of existing health and social inequalities and engender well-being issues in vulnerable populations living in dense urban environments. To better understand vulnerable groups’ perception and experience of access to public spaces and its association with well-being, we conducted participatory action research during the pandemic (October 2020 to April 2021) via surveys, focus group discussions, mapping, and co-creation workshops in Sham Shui Po, a hyper-dense and poverty-stricken district in Hong Kong. Participants reported demands for public space use and its significance to well-being and pointed to several environmental and social factors that hindered their usage, including perceived safety, hygiene concerns, and issues between different genders and ethnic groups in the neighbourhood. Pandemic-containment measures and the fear of infections may contribute to heightened anxiety and stress to some degree among the participants. Directions for local interventions of spatial improvement were identified. Our study further highlights the strength of participatory action research for the development of more user-oriented planning solutions and the potential of community mapping and co-creation activities to empower vulnerable groups and enhance their spatial competence.

Shenzhen is famous as China’s urban laboratory and birthplace of world-leading digital technologies and electric vehicle companies. However, in 1979, a year before Shenzhen was launched, the nearby Shekou Industrial Zone was founded as the first ‘test-tube’ for reform. Yuan Geng of the China Merchants Group used Shekou for socio-economic and spatial experiments after visits to Hong Kong. Whereas the latter’s influence on Shenzhen and Deng Xiaoping’s ‘Open Door’ policy is widely acknowledged, Shekou in fact went further because the Hong Kong that Yuan studied in the late-1970s was undergoing significant transformation under Governor Murray MacLehose. The essay focuses on Crystal Garden Community, Shekou’s first major development, which Yuan presented personally to Xiaoping in 1984. Hong Kong not only offered new spatial typologies to China but also new lifestyles. MacLehose and Yuan operated in opposing political systems yet today their experiments have resulted in common benefits which are worth remembering.