Concerns about urban forestry issues continue to rise around the world, and actively promote urban forestry work to improve the livability of cities, cope with the challenges posed by climate change, and enable sustainable urban development.
The natural woodlands in the urban and suburban areas, as well as the vegetation network composed of different landscape belts, are the precious forest assets of the city.
The purpose of the development of urban forestry services is to build a close relationship between the city and forests, to maximize the benefits of social health and living environment, and to make the city more livable.
The government established a greening, landscape and tree management team in 2010 to formulate different levels of greening, landscape and tree management policies, starting from the perspective of users and communities, using a cross-professional integrated approach, combining strategic planning and diversified management Methods to promote urban forestry work, which covers different levels of upstream and downstream strategies to make Hong Kong a more livable and sustainable city.
High-quality greening comes from proper planning and design to provide a comfortable and pleasant public green space for the community
People-oriented urban forestry, the upstream strategy emphasizes proper landscape planning and design in development projects.
That is, in the planting design, the appropriate variety should be selected according to the planting environment to give full play to the design function.
These include reserving enough green space, using high-quality seedlings and correct planting methods to allow plants to grow healthily, and users can also enjoy the results of careful landscape planning and design.
After planting is completed, the downstream strategy of urban forestry must be carried out for plant conservation and conservation, so that the forests in the city can continue to grow healthily.
Planting multiple types of plant varieties can not only enrich the urban forest assets and increase plant diversity, but also exert the positive effects of plants on the climate, beautify the environment, improve air quality, etc., and bring sustainable development advantages to the community.
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The Kai Tak Sky Garden, which officially opened in May of this year, exactly reflects the perfect landscape planning and design.
The Kai Tak area used to give people the impression of the old airport site and the old city, and the newly completed Kai Tak Sky Garden took the lead in injecting pleasant and comfortable green elements into this new development area in the busy city.
Zhu Zhikang, a senior engineer from the Civil Engineering and Development Department in charge of the project, pointed out that the Kai Tak Sky Garden adopts an innovative "single site, multiple use" planning concept, providing an additional two hectares of green space.
The sky garden is about 1.4 kilometers long and is the first large-scale park built on noise barriers and roads in Hong Kong.
A landscaped platform was built on the original site of the long and narrow front runway, and many aviation concepts were incorporated into the design, and a large number of plants were planted for public viewing.
The landscape design of the Kai Tak Sky Garden is full of thoughts, explained by Pang Yuling, senior landscape architect of the Civil Engineering and Development Department, that the landscape gallery is divided into four areas: spring, summer, autumn and winter.
All kinds of plants have their own characteristics in different seasons, giving citizens a viewing experience that can change from time to time.
The "Spring" landscape gallery is planted with light-colored plants, while the "Summer" landscape gallery is planted with colorful varieties.
In "autumn", red leaves can be seen in the garden corridor, and in the "winter" garden corridor, plants with cooler colors are planted.
In terms of plant selection, more than 80 types of trees and plants have been planted based on the principle of "planting trees well and adapting measures to local conditions."
In order to balance plant diversity and ornamental value, the park has planted local species of plants with ornamental value, such as coral trees, fake apples, and wheel plums.
The total area of the Kai Tak Development Area exceeds 320 hectares. One of the important features is the planning of approximately 100 hectares of land (equivalent to approximately 5 Victoria Parks) as public recreational and green spaces.
The Kai Tak Sky Garden has now become a "green connection channel" for the development area, connecting many nearby landmarks and open spaces, including the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal, the Kai Tak Runway Park, and the metropolitan park, tourism hub, and The development and promenade on both sides of the former runway.
Blue-green construction contributes to sustainable development, ecological conservation and response to climate change
On the other hand, making good use of the community’s blue and green resources is also an important part of promoting sustainable urban development.
Blue resources are water bodies and rivers, while green resources represent vegetation, recreational space, etc.
Through comprehensive planning and optimization, blue and green resources can be matched with natural ecology, and infrastructure networks can be built to achieve the effects of beautifying the environment and promoting biodiversity, while alleviating the load on the drainage system.
The Kai Tak River is the result of the practice of blue-green construction. The Kai Tak River, formerly known as the "Kai Tak Nullah", is the main flood drainage channel for East Kowloon. Due to urban development and extreme weather, the former Kai Tak River was not It can meet the current flood control standards.
In order to alleviate the risk of flooding in the surrounding areas, the Drainage Services Department has been carrying out improvement works for the Kai Tak River since 2011, adding different greening and ecological elements to revitalize it into a green river corridor in the urban area.
The improvement works include the planting of overhanging plants bougainvillea in the flower troughs on both sides of the Kai Tak River, so that the river channel is full of purple-red flowers during the flowering season, and the appearance is attractive and distinctive.
The Assistant Landscape Architect Yan Ka-ho of the Drainage Services Department said that while the department was carrying out the revitalization project, it was also committed to retaining the old stone walls and tree groups beside the river, adding the effect of imitating the stone to simulate the natural river bed, and setting it in the imitating stone. The planting pots are planted with creeper, tungaria, periwinkle and other plants, presenting the simulation effect of plants growing between the stone cracks, making the river scenery more beautiful.
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Yan Jiahao continued to point out that a variety of aquatic plants are planted in a wide area of the river. In fact, after careful research and consideration, it was decided to plant varieties such as candle fruit, olive tree, rat botanical garden, etc., which not only increases plant diversity, but also provides a source of nectar and attracts Butterflies and dragonflies come to the river for food.
This kind of plant can also provide a sheltering environment for birds, so that the birds have a suitable habitat. Fish caves and diversion stones are also added to the river to simulate the effect of natural river channels. The diversion stones have the effect of slowing down the water speed. Create static water areas for fish to rest and live, so that aquatic animals have a better habitat.
The people who have witnessed the transformation of the Kai Tak Nullah from the concrete Nullah into an ecologically rich river are very welcome.
The senior project and conservation director of the Hong Kong Outdoor Ecological Education Association, Lo Cheuk Man, once studied at the Kai Tak Nullah.
The improvement works have not only enhanced the flood drainage capacity of the open channel, but also activated the river course, making it a high-quality public space that the public can enjoy.
After the activation, he even discovered that some bird species such as night herons, little egrets, and herons inhabit the river corridors, which greatly improved the ecological environment of the animals and plants, and the pleasant landscape can also increase the living comfort of nearby residents.
He also pointed out that under the various effects of global warming, blue-green construction can help alleviate the negative effects of rising temperatures, improve the microclimate, and increase the livability of cities.
In addition to the river course, the rain garden is also one of the elements under the blue-green construction concept. It absorbs and filters rainwater through plants and sand of different sizes, which can improve water quality and help relieve the load on the channel.
Planting native plants in rainwater gardens also enhances ecological diversity.
The Wylie Road Rain Garden and the Chai Wan Rain Garden completed in recent years are good examples.
Participate in the city forestry exhibition tour to cultivate awareness of forest conservation since childhood
To understand, appreciate and care for the green environment and trees in the city, we need to cultivate from an early age.
In order to let the public know about the trees around us and understand the benefits of urban forestry, the Development Bureau held two roving exhibitions of urban forestry at Sunshine City Centre in Ma On Shan and Kai Tin Shopping Centre in Lam Tin in July and August.
In addition to the exquisite display panels about urban forestry and tree planting, the exhibition also includes exciting and fun interactive games and workshops.
The exhibition has attracted many parents to bring their children to visit. It not only combines learning with games, but also has the opportunity to get souvenirs. It is definitely a good place for parents and children on weekends!
The Urban Forestry Touring Exhibition will meet you again in September. The time and location are as follows. Families are welcome to visit.
For details, please visit: https://www.greening.gov.hk/en
(Information and photos provided by the customer)