The Concept of Sustainable Development Has Been Applied to Different Fields Over the Past

The concept of sustainable development has been applied to different fields over the past decades. With growing public awareness, it has become a must to apply the concept of sustainable development in transport planning in Hong Kong. Hong Kong, as the Asia’s WorldCity, is dependent on an efficient transport system for her growth. With limited space and huge population, it has been a great challenge to build a transport system that can support Hong Kong’s rapid development.

The Hong Kong Government accords priority to railway in Hong Kong’s public transport system because railway is environmentally friendly and is an efficient mass carrier. Since 2002, a number of new railways have been commissioned. However, in view of the dispute among different stakeholders and apparent poor return on railway investment in recent cases, doubts have arisen on how our society should invest in future railwayprojects and how to apply the concept of sustainable development in railway development in Hong Kong.

RAILWAY AND HONG KONG DEVELOPMENT

Hong Kong, often referred to as Asia’s WorldCity, has experienced fast growth and prolonged economic success over the past fifty years. At the same time, Hong Kong’s population rose from about two million people in 1950 to over 6.8 million people by the end of 2004. With a total land area of only 1,103 square kilometers, Hong Kong has become one of the most densely populated cities in the world. Transport is essential to Hong Kong’s development. Like all other urban cities, Hong Kong relies on an effective and efficient transport system to provide mobility and convenience compatible with her fast moving pace. There is no doubt that the evolution of Hong Kong’s transport system has been one of the key contributing factors to Hong Kong’s successful story. With a limited land space compared to her large population, it has been a great challenge to the Government, the transport operators, as well as the community to come to a consensus in the process of developing the transport system to support Hong Kong’s rapid growth.

Hong Kong has been envied by many other cities that her public transport system is safe, reliable and efficient. The city has a world-class public transport system comprising a variety of transport modes. This has provided a wide range of choices to the citizens and this is reflected in the high level of public transport patronage. In 2004, the public transport system supported about 4 billion passenger journeys, which accounted for about 90% of the total traveling journeys With an average of 11 million daily passenger journeys made on public transport that the public transport services in Hong Kong are at the same time operating without direct government subsidy makes Hong Kong unique amongst cities in the world.

Since the 1980’s Hong Kong’s railway system has been playing an increasingly important role in Hong Kong’s public transport system. In 2004, the railway system carried about 33% of the total daily public transport passenger journeys. Railway only comes second after franchised buses which takes up about 37% of the daily passenger journeys by public transport system. The Hong Kong Government has been proactive in promoting railway transport. In the Government’s Transport Strategy published in 1999 - “Hong Kong Moving Ahead”, a policy objective was set to use “Railway as the Backbone of Hong Kong’s Public Transport System”. Indeed, since the 1990s, the Government has been according high priority to develop and expand the railway network. It is generally accepted that railways are environmentally friendly, efficient and beneficial to sustainable development. According to the “Hong Kong Moving Ahead”, the Government of Hong Kong was prepared to make huge investment in the further expansion of therailway network. The railway development plan at that time included a number of new railways lines: the MTR Tseung Kwan O Extension, the KCR West Rail (Phase I), the KCR East Rail Extension from Hung Hom to Tsim Sha Tsui and the KCR Ma On Shan to Tai Wai Rail Link. These new railways were completed and commissioned successively in 2002 to 2004. A much controversial line, the Sheung Shui to Lok Ma Chau Spur Line is still under construction, and is expected to be completed by 2007. With all these newly completed expansions, the Hong Kong Government has set an ambitious target that by 2016, 40 to 50 percent of all public transport journeys will be made on the railway system.

SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORT DEVELOPMENT IN THE CONTEXT OF RAILWAY DEVELOPMENT IN HONG KONG

Hong Kong is a city with limited space and high population density. It is a great challenge to develop Hong Kong’s transport system to support the growth of the city in a sustainable manner. Over the past few decades, the Government of Hong Kong has been developing the transport system so as to meet the travel demand. Since the 1980’s, Hong Kong’s railway system has been playing an increasingly important role in Hong Kong’s public transport system. In fact, the Government of Hong Kong has been proactive in promoting the use of railway. In the 1990’s, the Government and our society began to be more aware of sustainable development and the concept was for the first time incorporated to Hong Kong’s transport policy. This section will provide an overview of the transport policy of Hong Kong since the 1970s. Hong Kong’s situation

Hong Kong has a total land area of only 1,103 square kilometers. However,she has a huge population of about 6.8 million people which results in a high population density of 6,300 people per square kilometer. Because of her hilly relief, the land available for building roads is even more limited. It is really a greatchallenge of building a transport system that can meet Hong Kong’s travel demand and support the growth of Hong Kong.

As compared with other cities, Hong Kong depends heavily on railway for intra-city travel. Hong Kong’s railway network covers some major residential and employment centers. It is also a major mode of transport for traveling across the boundary to the Mainland China. In March 2005, about 59% of the cross boundary passengers used the railway crossing at Lo Wu. Because of its large capacity, railway is an efficient mode of transport to meet the huge travel demand of Hong Kong. It is fast and reliable because it runs on its own track and congestion free. It is also a clean and environmentally friendly transport mode that produces less externality.

Within the public transport system of Hong Kong, railway is an important component. In 2004, railway contributes to about 33% of the daily passenger journeys by public transport system. The Hong Kong Government has been proactive in promoting railway transport. Over the past few decades, the role of railway in the transport system of Hong Kong is becoming more and more important.

In order to develop Hong Kong’s railway in a sustainable manner, it is suggested that railway planning in Hong Kong should achieve the following objectives:

(i) Environmental objective – the negative impact caused to the environment and ecologyshould be minimized during the entire life cycle of railway planning, construction and operation.

(ii) Economic objective – railway development should be beneficial to theeconomic development of Hong Kong. Investment and resources used for railway development should be efficient. Railway development as a business itself should be financially self-supporting and financially viable. To put it in financial term, the net present value (NPV) of a railway project should be equal to or greater than zero. Railway development should be sustainable business development.

(iii) Social objective – railway development should help improve the quality of life of the people. Railway service should be fast and efficient which can save journey time. Furthermore, the fare of railway service should be set at a level which is generally affordable by and acceptable to, the public. Transport cost usually takes up a considerable portion of the income of Hong Kong people. According to the Household Expenditure Survey conducted by the Government in 1999/2000, 9.2% of the average monthly household expenditure was used for transport expense. As a result, the fare of transport facilities like railway would affect the spending and the quality of life of people. As such, the fare of railway should be set carefully with consideration to the ability and acceptability of the people.

In the context of railway planning and development in Hong Kong, the decision makers take into consideration the interests and demands of different stakeholders. The major players or stakeholders in railway planning and development in Hong Kong include:

The Government – the transport policy of the Government of Hong Kong is to provide a safe, efficient and reliable transport system to meet the economic, social and recreational needs of Hong Kong in an environmentally acceptable manner. The Government of Hong Kong has the interest and responsibility to plan for and provide an efficient transport system and necessary infrastructure which promotes economic development and meets the social needs of the public. With the growing public concern on the environment of the society, the Government of Hong Kong would need to take note of the public aspiration of a clean and desirable environment in railway planning and development inHong Kong.

(ii) The railway developers and operators – they are the investors and service providers of railway projects. They build the railroad, stations, terminals and other related infrastructures. As members of the business sector, they run their railway business based on commercial principles. They aim at maximizing returns and profits from their investment in railway projects. In order to achieve this aim, they would try to look for the most cost-effective way to minimize the capital, construction, operating and maintenance costs of a railway project. At the same time, they would explore ways and new source of revenue for financing and supporting a railway project.

However, very often, the social, economic and environmental objectives, as well as the interests of the major stakeholders are in conflict. For instance, there is conflict between economic and environmental objectives. As mentioned previously, the development of railway promotes economic development by improving the mobility of the people and accessibility of an area. However, railway development poses undesirable impact on the environment. Mitigation measures would need to be introduced which raises the capital costs of a railway project and the returns of the railway operator.

Although everyone in our society would agree that we should protect the environment, protecting the environment would require the railway operator to invest additional resources to mitigate the undesirable environmental impact. In order to cover the additional costs, the railway operators may try to raise the railway fare. From the view point of the passengers and public, they would always want to enjoy railway service with lower fare. This leads to a conflict between environmental and social objectives.

There is always a conflict between social and economic objectives, as well as between interests of the passengers and the railway operator. As mentionedpreviously in Section the fare revenue of the railway operator depends on price level. In order to earn more revenue and make the railway operation financially viable, the railway operator would always want to raise the fare level. However, passengers would always want to have lower railway fare. If the railway operator raise the fare level to such a high level that the passengers could not afford or accept, the passengers would turn to other modes of transport. It is important to balance such conflict of interests between the railway operator and the passengers.

Economic Objective (KCRC’s standpoint)
• To build a new cross-boundary railway to meet the rising travel demand
• To build a new cross-boundary railway to relieve the congestion of the Lo Wu railway crossing
Environmental Objective (Green groups’ standpoint)
• To protect and conserve the environment and habitat of the LongValley
• To minimize the environmental impact caused by the railway project
Social Objective (Community standpoint)
• To provide fast, efficient and comfortable cross boundary railway service to the public
• To facilitate the future development of the Kwu Tung area and Hong Kong as a whole

Apart from environmental acceptability, other factors like engineering constraints, extra-time involved, additional cost and government policy should also be considered.

KCRC then revised the design and replaced the viaduct section over Long Valley with a bored tunnel running underground from north of Sheung Shui station to Chau Tau, including the provision for an underground station at Kwu Tung. The revised scheme would result in an additional capital cost of HK$2 billion, compared with the original estimate of $8 billion. KCRC also expected a delay in the commissioning of the Spur Line until between end 2006 and mid-2007.

The case of the KCR Spur Line had shown that different stakeholders hold different values in railway development. While KCRC would like to put forth the Spur Line project for the economic and social benefits of society as a whole, the green groups would put the first priority to environmental conservation of LongValley. Values held by different groups were in conflicts and there was no balancing, negotiation and consensus building among different groups on how to develop railway in a sustainable manner in the case of KCR Spur Line. The revised design resulted in an additional capital cost of HK$2 billion which would affect the returns of the railway operator which might raise the railway fare in future to cover the additional cost. It also caused a delay of three years for commissioning of the Spur Line. This means that the congestion of Lo Wu station could not be relieved until 2007. Possible increase in the traveling time to cross the border was anticipated.

Furthermore, the estimated social and economic benefits of Spur Line would not be actualized until the year 2007. With the revised scheme, the wetland in LongValley would remain unattended and might deteriorate in the long-run. For the case of the KCR Spur Line, it was believed that all the objectives of the Spur Line could not be achieved as scheduled and stakeholders involved experienced loss.

From the case of KCR West Rail, it is noted that railway investment is a long-term investment. While railway should provide affordable and reasonable service and provide social benefits to the community, it should be a sustainable business to the railway investor and operator. Hong Kong has been successful in securing railway as sustainable business development by the “Rail + Property Development” model. However, because of unexpected change in economic condition, the approach of integration of land use and railway planning and the “Rail + Property Development” model has failed to perform its function of maximizing railway usage and revenue for the railway operator in the early stage of operation of West Rail. From the case of West Rail, it is noted that careful planning, integration of land use was planning; transport planning and population policy should be adopted for sustainable railway business development. A balance should be maintained between the efficient use of resources, returns on railway investment and the social expectation of choices in public transport modes.

CONCLUSION

The concept of sustainable development refers to the belief that social, economic and environmental objectives should be complementary and interdependent in the development process. The impact of present decision on the option of future generation should also be taken into account. The essence of sustainable development is the balancing of the economic, social and environmental objectives of society by integration of the three objectives through mutually supportive policies and practices, if possible; and by making trade-offs.

Hong Kong has only a limited space to accommodate her huge population. It is a great challenge to build a transport system that can support Hong Kong’s rapid development. In view of the environmentally friendly nature of railway and its efficiency in transporting a large volume of passengers, the Government of Hong Kong has set a policy objective of “Railway as the backbone of the public transport system” and accorded high priority to develop and expand the railway system of Hong Kong. While it is the general consensus of our society that railway development is beneficial to the development of Hong Kong, it is a great challenge to develop railway in a sustainable manner.

Reference Books/Reports:

Railway development study. Phase II (Part 1), Environmental feasibility studies. Final report : Tai Wai to Ma On Shan, KCR extension to Tsim Sha Tsui
KCRC environmental report
Transport Department Environmental Report 2005