HK seen from another angle, 2012

Joseph Chiu & Others

6 July 2013

Joseph Chiu: Here's a SCMP newspaper cutout nearly a year ago.  A bit technical, but still interesting.   (HK's seen as a compact city, with country parks easily reached, and some other good points, for all its other noisy and crammy things..)

What if you'll be retiring some time, and think of returning to where you left so many years ago when young. 

Who are we?  Our sense of identity?...   something of the heart after we have settled on the more practical matters, like housing and old-age money & pension,etc.

Attachement

Hong Kong as the best liveable city 2012

Hong Kong is the best city to live in, new ranking system finds

Lo Wei

Jul 04, 2012 SCMP

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

Hong Kong is the world's best city to live in, edging out Amsterdam and Osaka, according to a new ranking method that has won a competition among systems for measuring liveability.

The Best City Contest, organised by the Economist Intelligence Unit and the BuzzData software firm, drew 27 entries that expanded on the unit's own liveability index for cities.

The winning entry, by Italian architect Filippo Lovato, relied heavily on the internet

- Google Earth and the OpenStreetMap site - to measure the "spatial characteristics" of cities using seven indicators.

"I was a little surprised to see Hong Kong reach first place, given that it achieves only rank 13 in the United Nations Development Programme's Human Development Index," said Lovato. He calls his system the spatial adjusted liveability index.

"Hong Kong is a very compact city that has managed to maintain its natural heritage, create a dense network of green spaces and enjoy extensive links to the rest of the world. It responded very well to the addition of spatial characteristics to the liveability index."

Architect Bernard Lim Wan-fung, president of the Institute of Urban Design, said Lovato used important indicators but his approach may have overlooked hidden problems.

"He couldn't have seen divided flats and cage houses from Google Earth," Lim said. "Hong Kong has its advantages as a spatially compact city, but it also suffers from high intensity problems."

Despite scoring relatively poorly for pollution and cultural assets, Hong Kong scored strongly in the density, green space and natural assets categories. Lovato ranked it first out of 70 cities. It was not immediately clear whether Lovato has visited Hong Kong.

Lovato measured urban sprawl by using Google Earth and the OpenStreetMap website, weighing the balance of population and settlement density in various districts. He used the two sources to evaluate the city's public green spaces.

He assessed the city's natural assets - such as protected parklands, lakes and mountains - using a United Nations database. Lovato also measured cultural assets, flight connections, isolation from other large cities, and pollution.

Lovato's system gave Hong Kong a score of 87.8 out of 100, just ahead of Amsterdam and Osaka at 87.4 each. The only other Asian city in the top 10, Tokyo, finished 10th at 84.3.

Hong Kong ranked 70th out of 221 cities in the quality of living index released last year by human resource consultancy Mercer, behind Asian cities including Singapore, Tokyo, Kobe and Yokohama. wei.lo@scmp.com (The heading of the right-most column in the table should read: Economist rank in 2011)

Dr. Hon: Very interesting new criteria which work to HK's advantage however I think if the researcher lives in HK for a bit he might change his opinion.

HK is still my first choice for visit and holiday, esp to see our family and dear friends but moving back would be a bit tricky. You see I've lived in UK longer than in HK, have already become 鬼鬼地, it'll be hard to change my lifestyle. In addition, we'll never be able to afford a house like this one in West Kirby. I won't have a garden too which will be a real pity.

Bob Choi: The living environment is only one consideration when one chooses a place to retire. For most of our  friends from overseas, it is most likely a matter of where their children and grand children are. This is more important than living space, clean air or availability of health services.

Stella Tse: I agree children and family is usually the first consideration.  Other than that, as Metis pointed out, the life style you are used to becomes very important too.  For for many of us 老華僑, being where we've been for all these years is certainly a popular choice.

Tim Fook: Please note the ranking of Toronto where I am now. It is within the range of 10. It is why I am coming back often in these years. 

Wishing to see you soon. ( By that time I meet you, I wish that you are able to lead me in the trail walking as you did in my first home return 10 1998 , Ha ha.)