Hong Kong secured ninth place globally, and second in Asia after Singapore, in the global Sustainable Cities Index 2018 from Arcadis.

This is an impressive result, said John Batten, Global Cities Director at Arcadis.  “Being top 25 really shows your city is top of the class.”

He was speaking at a Chamber roundtable on 30 October, the day the report was launched. The Index measures sustainability in 100 cities around the world according to three key areas: People, Planet and Profit.

Hong Kong’s high placement is driven by its strong economy and favourable business environment, and the city is ranked third in the world under Profit. 

“This is a good city to become a young professional,” Batten said. “There is a great transport system and higher education is first-class.” 

Transport was also a key factor in Hong Kong’s high ranking. After living in Hong Kong for a year and comparing our network to those in other world cities, Batten said he understands why.

“The MTR is the best in the world,” he said. “You guys are so spoiled – you should come to New York City. Go on the NYC subway and surf on your phone? Forget about it!” 

In the People section, which measures things like culture and society, Hong Kong ranked 21 overall. For Planet, Hong Kong is further down the list, at 50. 

Culture is a key part of the People section. Hong Kong is some way behind the times when it comes to working culture, particularly when compared with the more flexible environment of tech-driven cities in the United States.

“If I was giving this presentation in Seattle, they would cut my tie off,” Batten joked. 

Hong Kong also has well-recognised issues with work-life balance. “You work too hard,” he said, to agreement from the audience.

Planet is where Hong Kong fared least well, largely as a result of pollution. Having lived and worked in a number of different cities, Batten particularly noticed the “urban heat island effect” when he moved here. His observation is backed up by data showing that the number of nights per year with a temperature of above 28 °C increased from 10 to 41 between 2013 and 2017.

On the positive side, Hong Kong does have plenty of green space and a very strong water supply. Life expectancy is also extremely high, so the pollution does not seem to be having a significant impact on mortality rates.

Another problem for Hong Kong is the high cost of housing and offices. “Where Hong Kong really suffers in the ranking is affordability.”

Batten suggested Hong Kong’s brownfield sites as the best solution to the land supply issue, adding that New York can serve as a good example of how to successfully regenerate old districts.

He also expects to see more retrofitting of old buildings as technology continues to change how we live, work and travel. 

“Parking lots will become dinosaurs in the next 5 to 10 years,” he said, adding that Paris and Vienna are already moving in this direction with the conversion of car parks to other uses.

The Greater Bay Area will also “unlock a lot of opportunities” including for storage and warehousing. Modular building is another option that is predicted to become more prevalent in the future.

Batten also said that the private sector has a key role to play in improving the sustainability of cities. To illustrate this, he pointed out that the U.S. is still on track to meet its targets in the Paris Agreement, even after President Donald Trump pulled the country out of the deal. This is because companies are choosing to continue to move towards a more sustainable way of working. 

“Most businesses understand that to be a global business, you have to behave globally,” he said.