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Evaluating Hong Kong’s Spatial Planning in New Towns From the Perspectives of Job Accessibility, Travel Mobility, and Work–Life Balance

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  • Sylvia Y. He
  • Sui Tao
  • Mee Kam Ng
  • Hendrik Tieben

Abstract

Problem, research strategy, and findings: From the 1970s to the 1990s, the Hong Kong government developed several new towns to alleviate pressure on contemporary urban areas and provide housing for a rapidly growing population. Although self-containment is a key objective in building new towns, no research has assessed residents’ behavioral outcomes, limiting the objective assessment of the spatial planning of new towns. In this study, we hypothesize that adequate job accessibility would offer residents shorter commutes and hence more time for noncommute travel and activities and better work–life balance. Drawing on census and household travel survey data, we assess the spatial planning of new towns by investigating the effects of job accessibility on commute and noncommute travel durations. We find that a) there is a disparity in self-containment and access to job opportunities between these towns and urban areas, b) job accessibility strongly influences commute duration, and c) prolonged commutes can reduce noncommute travel duration, particularly for public transportation users, suggesting that this may harm work–life balance for workers with long commutes.Takeaway for practice: Building a self-contained new town requires strategic spatial planning and a concrete plan to develop the local economy. To cultivate local employment, planners should develop a regional plan that differentiates main industries in different new towns. A good starting point would be a thorough understanding of the history, spatial distribution of existing industries and firms, and skills of local workers in these towns. We recommend more proactive efforts to a) establish more self-contained new town communities, b) relocate jobs in certain sectors (e.g., government offices) to new towns, c) strengthen an integrated transit system, and d) adopt alternative work schedules (e.g., telecommuting, flexible work hours) in certain industries to relieve commute burdens, improving both commute experience and work–life balance.

Suggested Citation

  • Sylvia Y. He & Sui Tao & Mee Kam Ng & Hendrik Tieben, 2020. "Evaluating Hong Kong’s Spatial Planning in New Towns From the Perspectives of Job Accessibility, Travel Mobility, and Work–Life Balance," Journal of the American Planning Association, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 86(3), pages 324-338, July.
  • Handle: RePEc:taf:rjpaxx:v:86:y:2020:i:3:p:324-338
    DOI: 10.1080/01944363.2020.1725602
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Michael L. Barnett & Brett Anitra Gilbert & Corinne Post & Jeffrey A. Robinson, 2024. "Strengthening Our Cities: Exploring the Intersection of Ethics, Diversity and Inclusion, and Social Innovation in Revitalizing Urban Environments," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 189(4), pages 647-653, February.
    2. Xiaoying Bai & Wenheng Wu & Limeng Liu & Wanying Shang & Haixia Dong, 2024. "Spatio-Temporal Evolution and Implications of Urban Residential Space Based on the New Commercial Housing in Xi’an, China, 2006–2022," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(19), pages 1-21, September.
    3. Jiao Zhang & Qian Wang & Yiping Xia & Katsunori Furuya, 2022. "Knowledge Map of Spatial Planning and Sustainable Development: A Visual Analysis Using CiteSpace," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-24, February.
    4. Zhou, Mingzhi & Zhou, Jiali & Zhou, Jiangping & Lei, Shuyu & Zhao, Zhan, 2023. "Introducing social contacts into the node-place model: A case study of Hong Kong," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    5. He, Sylvia Y. & Kuo, Yong-Hong & Sun, Ka Kit, 2022. "The spatial planning of public electric vehicle charging infrastructure in a high-density city using a contextualised location-allocation model," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 160(C), pages 21-44.
    6. Nagamani Subramanian & M. Suresh, 2022. "Social Sustainability Factors Influencing the Implementation of Sustainable HRM in Manufacturing SMEs," Humanistic Management Journal, Springer, vol. 7(3), pages 469-507, December.

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