密不透风,疏可走马——香港的城市空间,郊野公园与设施效率

HONG KONG: MANAGING URBAN DENSITIES

众所周知,香港是一个寸土寸金、有着极高人口密度和建筑密度的城市。作为一个在香港生活过五年的规划师,笔者在分析其建成区"密"的同时,指出香港"疏"的一面,即:它有着庞大的、与建成区结合紧密的郊野公园体系。正是这种集中式的高密度开发,辅以便捷高效的公共交通,使得香港有能力建设高水平的、能够被高效使用的公共设施系统。某种意义上说,这篇文章可以被看作是对最近30年来普遍发生在中国内地大城市无序的蔓延式发展产生的负面效应所给与的回应与建议。正如王石所指出,鉴于中国紧张的人地关系,中国人没有资格做美国梦、北欧梦。选择正确的城市发展路径,我们还能做做香港梦、东京梦,而不改变目前摊大饼式的开发模式,我们就只能活在城市建成环境日益恶化、公共服务水平低下的噩梦之中。作者暗示的解决之道是向香港学习,让城市疏密有致地发展:选择性地在局部地区进行高密度开发,同时保留必要的生态空间和提供高效的城市设施和服务。尽管,香港的城市建设模式背后特殊的历史、制度和法律背景不是中国内地城市所能简单仿效和拷贝的,但作为高密度城市发展模式的一个成功样本,香港是我们的一个绝好教材。

Liu Weibin has lived and worked as an urban planner these past five years, experiencing the 'tight fit' of Hong Kong urbanism. However, he has also discovered the open expanses that constitute the city’s countryside parks system. In fact, most of the SAR’s countryside has been officially designated Country Parks, which are also reservoir watersheds, serving the dual purpose of providing recreational facilities and contributing to Hong Kong’s water supply. In the context of China’s rampant urbanization Hong Kong’s negotiation between high-density settlement and an expansive park system, Liu Weibin describes the Hong Kong countryside parks with an eye to revisiting China’s growing problems of urban blight, systems which include congestion without environmental respite.