A typological study of Public Open Space in Private Developments in Hong Kong

Public open space (POS) is an environmental good which has been approved to have the potential to benefit people from physical, phycological and social aspects. With the intensification of urban development, Privately Owned Public Open Space (POPOS) emerged as a common policy to respond to the widely acknowledged need for more POS in major cities. However, due to the limitations of current policies, developers' unclear understanding of their responsibilities, and the lack of public scrutiny, many POPOS are still in the position of not playing their substantial roles to serve citizens and result in spatial injustice which may further do harm to sustainable development. In the guidance of a proposed conceptual framework, this paper analysed three representative POPOS from the perspective of spatial justice in Hong Kong, a compact city where there exists an increasing lack of POS. We conducted a horizontal comparison between the three different cases from five aspects (i.e. Access and Management, Sociability and Diversity, Demand and Provision, Social Stratum and Information, and Social Inclusion) and critically concludes the characteristics of these unsatisfactory POPOS in Hong Kong. The conclusion would provide theoretical references for the design and management of POPOS in a compact city and might contribute to the perfection of corresponding policies.