Towards better building and urban design in Hong Kong

Hong Kong is the densest city in the world with an urban density of some 60,000 per square kilometer (Fig. 1). Very tall buildings closely packed together decrease the availability of the natural elements (sun and wind). The government is working to resolve the problem since 2000. This paper unfolds a story of some key events to seek for solutions. Design in the real life is as much science as it is politics. How to appropriate scientific quantities politically is perhaps more difficult than the experiments themselves. From time to time, it is necessary to work backward from the design implications and find science to moderate them. In addition, it is necessary to resolve scientific know how into prescriptions that could easily be implemented. Accuracy and simplicity have to be mutually resolved. A true test of science is how it affects life in reality. This paper hopes to share an experience.