When you hear “green and healthy living environment”, what comes to mind?

In 2016, a paper on “Planning and Urban Design for a Liveable High-Density City” was published, which talked about:

• “Planning for a Healthy City” to promote active ageing, promote physical and mental wellbeing, and reduce mortality rates,
• “Reinventing the Public Space and Enhancing Public Facilities” to uplift livability, creativity, and social connections, and 
• “Rejuvenating the Urban Fabric” to enhance livability and bonding of the neighbourhood.  

On healthy cities specifically, there is a document called “Guidelines for Implementing a Healthy Cities Project in Hong Kong”. A Healthy City is “one that is continually creating and improving those physical and social environments and expanding those community resources which enable people to mutually support each other in performing all the functions of life and in developing to their maximum potential.” This concept is also conscious that health is an urban issue. In 2019, Hong Kong also joined the Partnership for Healthy Cities, a global network of cities committed to saving lives by preventing non-communicable diseases (NCDs). 

On green living, this Green Living fact sheet outlines several blueprints to promote green living. They include the “The Hong Kong Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan 2016-2021”, “Clean Air Plan for Hong Kong 2035”, and “Energy Saving Plan for Hong Kong’s Built Environment  2015-2025+”. The vision is to create a cleaner and more pleasant living environment through nature conservation, green building design, innovation and tech, lowering emissions, and more. 

We can see that there is an array of initiatives and blueprints in Hong Kong. But–we know we can do more.

In WLAB, we hope to amplify the conversation in green and healthy living environments. In June, we hosted a webinar on smart urbanism and smart cities that featured world-class experts. Stay tuned for our upcoming article on this topic!

To amp up our commitment to green and healthy living, we are hosting the Green Living DO Challenge @ WLAB from September 4-5. The DO Challenge is a 2-day in-person program grounded in showcasing or ideating around a green living challenge. You will co-create with like-minded peers and receive input from seasoned professionals. You also get the opportunity to continue working on your startup idea afterwards! For more details, please click here.

Let us know what you think about green and healthy living environments. Do you think Hong Kong can do better? If you have some ideas to make Hong Kong a happier and healthier place, we hope to see you in our Challenge!