Field Trip On Urban Landscape

1
Field Trip On Urban Landscape
2
Urban Land Use
Central Business District (CBD) Taking Central
and Western District as an example

• Land use characteristics
• Land use functions
• Characteristics of CBD
• Related urban problems
• Applications to urban land use models

3
General functions of the CBD (Central)

• Downtown
• Administrative Zone
• Retailing Function
• Light Industries
• Entertainment
• Residential
• Parks and Gardens

4
Downtown

• Large office blocks are clustered
• Headquarters of commercial business such as
  insurance and financial business, banks can be
  found

Examples head offices of Bank of China and HSBC
5
2. Administrative Zone

• - Various departments of governments or
  legislative institutions can be found

- The Legislative Council in Central
6
3. Retailing Function

• - Large department stores and shops which sell
  high-price luxury goods (high-order goods)

- Different types of retailing stores on the
first floor arcade in the Princes Building
include book shops, jewelry, boutiques and the
like
7
4. Entertainment

• - Clubs, high-class restaurants and bars are
  found in the district

- Bars in Lan Kwai Fong (mainly serve foreigners
and the executives in the CBD), and also the
Yuppies
8
5. Residential

• Residential land use appears in the inner part of
  the CBD
• Both deteriorating and new-raised residential
  buildings are found near the Ladder Street

A mixed land use is observed in the deteriorating
buildings
9
6. Parks and Gardens

• Green, open spaces are provided by parks and
  gardens
• A welcome relief from the bitumen and concrete is
  created

e.g. Charter Garden in Central
A park located near the Connaught Road
10
Brief summary of the characteristics of the CBD

• Locates in the central area of a city
• Areas of maximum accessibility of the city
• Great traffic volume
• High land value
• High order services and functions are provided,
  etc.
• Vertical expansion of buildings indicated by the
  CBHI CBII

11
Urban problems in the CBD

• The mainly urban problems in the CBD (Central)
• in Hong Kong
• Traffic congestion
• Pollution

12
Urban problemTraffic Congestion

• The city center is always congested during the
  peak hours on weekdays (about 800-900am and
  500-700pm) ? increase the time needed to travel
  to work
• Small city area with a great many buildings ?
  limited road surface ? pedestrians may have to
  compete for the use of the roads / the time of
  green light for pedestrians is shortened
• Inadequate parking space ? illegal parking of
  vehicles along the roads may further worsens the
  problem

13
Urban problemPollution

• - Exhaust gases(CO2, SO2, NO) and particles
  emitted by motor vehicles
• ? air pollution
• - Running motors and horning of vehicles
• ? noise pollution

14
Other urban problems

• - Lack of open spaces
• - High urban population densities ? crowded
• - Urban decay in the inner district

15
Applications to land use models
16
Applications to land use models

• The present urban structure or urban land use
  patterns in Hong Kong cannot be satisfactorily
  explained by a single land use model
• CBD resembles the Concentric Zone Model?
• ? The occurrence of mixed land use zones
• (e.g. Tai Kok Tsui)
• CBD resembles the Sector Model?
• ? Insufficient to explain since the residential
  zones in Hong Kong have not developed along
  sectors

17
Applications to land use models

• CBD resembles the Multiple-Nuclei Model?
• Recognizes the multiple-nuclear growth of
  functional zones
• Identifies the segregation of residential
  districts according to classes
• Takes into account the gradual expansion or
  spatial growth of the city

18
Comments
19

• THE END
• Thank you!