UPLAND COUNTRYSIDE LANDSCAPE
1. Coastal Upland and Hillside Landscape
These are large-scale upland and hillside landscapes lying between around 40 and 300mPD which abut (wholly or in part) the sea. Consisting of hillsides, knolls, ridges and spurs, they are generally covered in low scrub or grassland with rocky outcrops or boulder fields. Woodland may be found on lower slopes or in sheltered gullies and ravines, where permanent or seasonal rocky streams tumble down these hillsides. Due to their coastal location, these landscapes usually contain few human features (other than footpaths or power lines) and often possess a distinct remote and exposed character and may offer striking views along the surrounding coast and sea. At the base of these hills, hillsides become more rocky and give way to rocky coasts (often interspersed with sandy bays) or cliffs. Examples of this type of landscape can be found around the coasts of Hong Kong, for instance on the coasts of the North East New Territories and Western Lantau.
2. Peak Landscape
These landscapes are formed by the highest uplands and peaks in Hong Kong. Lying above about 300mPD, they consist of a relatively small number of large scale landscape components, with few human features and possess a remote, rugged and exposed character. They are characterised by their steep terrain, their rocky precipitous crags, muted natural colours and often offer spectacular long-distance views across the surrounding landscape. Predominantly grass or scrub-covered, they may also contain small areas of montane woodland developing in sheltered ravines and valleys, as well as boulder fields or badlands. Examples of this type of landscape can be found on Lantau Peak, Tai Mo Shan and Ma On Shan.
3. Settled Valley Landscape
Lying between spurs or ridges in uplands in close proximity to urban areas or to the coast, these landscapes are defined largely by their valley topography. Such valleys usually possess a distinct valley floor where alluvial or colluvial materials has accumulated, such that the wider, lower parts of the valleys will have been settled at some stage. Whilst the valley sides may be thickly wooded, the valley floor often contains active or abandoned agricultural fields together with a village situated around a stream. In more recent times, roads, powerlines or major engineering structures (such as reservoirs) may have been constructed in these landscapes whilst fields may have been abandoned to make way for village housing or open storage. Such landscapes usually possess a strong sense of enclosure, whilst their coherence or visual amenity will vary depending on the extent to which traditional land uses have been replaced. Examples of this type of landscape can be found at Ngau Tam Mei in Yuen Long and the Tung Chung Valley in Lantau Island.
4. Unsettled Valley Landscape
Lying between spurs or ridges in remote uplands, these landscapes are defined by their steep valley topography, and often, so steep are valley sides that there is generally little discernible valley floor. Their remoteness and steep terrain explains why such valleys have never been settled and they often contain few if any human features. Valley sides are often densely wooded, whilst rocky streams tumble down the valley floor often over-grown by woodland. Such landscapes are characterised by a strong sense of enclosure, their coherent natural qualities, muted natural colours and by a sense of remoteness and tranquility. Examples of this type of landscape can be found in western part of Lantau Island and the far east of the North East New Territories.
5. Upland Plateau Landscape
These are elevated upland landscapes lying above 300mPD which are characterised by their flat or undulating topography, forming elevated plateaux. Such landscapes usually contain undulations and hillocks within the overall flatter areas as well as streams and areas of woodland, due to their relatively sheltered locations. Because of their gentle topography, these areas are more easily cultivated, and have often been settled in the past, though in some cases their buildings today may lie abandoned with scrub recolonising abandoned fields. These landscapes are often characterised by a sense of enclosure provided by surrounding mountains, muted natural colours and a certain remoteness and tranquility. Examples of this type of landscape can be found at Ngong Ping in Lantau Island and Sha Lo Tung in Tai Po.
6. Upland and Hillside Landscape
These are large scale upland landscapes lying between around 40mPD and 300mPD. Consisting of hillsides, knolls, ridges and spurs, they are generally covered in scrub vegetation with rocky outcrops or boulder fields. Woodland may be found on lower slopes or in sheltered gullies and ravines, where permanent of seasonal rocky streams tumble down these hillsides. Because of their elevated locations, they often contain few human features (other than footpaths or powerlines) and may retain a rugged, tranquil character, with rocky outcrops or boulder fields and muted natural colours. Examples of this type of landscape can be found across Hong Kong, such as on the lower slopes of the ridge of hills behind Kowloon.
LOWLAND COUNTRYSIDE LANDSCAPE
7. Rural Coastal Plain Landscape
These are flat and expansive lowland landscapes lying at an elevation below 40mPD and which adjoin the coast. Often partly or wholly reclaimed from the sea over the centuries, their character is defined to a large extent by their proximity to the sea. Villages, knolls and blocks of woodland are scattered across these plains, connected by winding lanes and footpaths amongst active or disused fishponds. In certain areas, fishponds are densely packed over an extensive area, forming landscapes that are almost as much water as land. Formerly expansive and open landscapes of small-scale landscape features, agricultural land uses today have often been discontinued with the filling of fishponds, the abandoning of fields and the increase in land uses such as storage yards and housing developments, resulting in a landscape of contrasting components and colours. Examples of this type of landscape can be found at Nam Sang Wai and Mai Po.
8. Rural Inland Plain Landscape
These are flat and expansive lowland landscapes, lying between ranges of hills, at elevations below 40mPD. Such plains are generally flat or gently undulating and may be studded with low hills and wooded knolls. Generally long-settled, they comprise fields around meandering streams, scattered groups of trees and villages (at the bases of hills) connected by winding lanes and footpaths. Where these features persist in their traditional patterns, one experiences a largely agrarian landscape of small-scale, natural and human landscape features. However, increasingly in recent times, fields are being abandoned or are being replaced by other land uses such as village housing or storage yards, resulting a landscape of contrasting components and colours. Examples of this type of landscape can be found along the Sha Tau Kok Road, Fanling and in the Closed Frontier Area.
RURAL FRINGE LANDSCAPE
9. Golf Course Landscape
Found mainly on the urban or rural fringe and often in coastal locations, these landscapes comprise extensive areas of grassland, managed for the purposes of playing golf. They include ancillary features such as ample tree and shrub planting, footpaths, bunkers, water features, club houses and car parking. Often (though not always) found in undulating lowland areas, some are fairly open landscapes with extensive views across the coast and sea, whilst other lie in more mature wooded settings where views are more contained. Their character is generally tranquil and verdant and though superficially informal, they are in fact ordered and highly managed landscapes. Examples of this type of landscape are Shek O Golf Course and Fanling Golf Course.
10. Reservoir Landscape
Found generally just beyond the fringes of the urban areas, these landscapes consist of former valleys or coastal inlets which have been flooded and/or dammed to form reservoirs. Whilst the are generally fairly simple landscapes, they typically include features such as dams, pump houses and access roads and, depending on the age of the reservoir, these features may be of historic significance. The edges of the reservoirs are generally covered with dense wood and scrub above a sandy bank, which is increasingly exposed as the water levels in the reservoir drop. Such landscapes are generally large in scale and possess a strong sense of enclosure provided by their surrounding hills. Examples of this type of landscape are Plover Cove Reservoir in Tai Po and Shek Pik Reservoir in Lantau Island.
11. Urban Peripheral Village Landscape
Found on the periphery of new towns or newly urbanised areas, these are the relic landscapes of former villages which have been retained amidst the new development around them. Generally located at the foot of a hill which forms their backdrop, they consist typically of grouped village houses, which may include traditional dwelling and temples, as well as newer houses, all separated by narrow footpaths or lanes. At the periphery of the villages may be sitting areas, car parks and sometimes, scattered fruit trees and agricultural fields. Vegetation typically consists of scattered mature trees and peripheral woodland on hillsides, or scrub in abandoned fields. The result is an intimate and informal domestic landscape of small scale features, which stands in stark contrast to the urban areas around them. Examples of this type of landscape can be found at Tai Po Tau in Tai Po and village area of Sheung Kwai Chung in Kwai Chung.
12. Miscellaneous Rural Fringe Landscape
Changes in rural land use over recent decades have resulted in dramatic changes to the rural landscape of Hong Kong. This is manifested most clearly in the Miscellaneous Rural Fringe Landscape where, what was until fairly recently lowland agricultural landscape, has undergone significant changes in character. Such landscapes would traditionally have consisted of patterns of agricultural fields, meandering streams, stands of woodland and scattered villages, connected by winding lanes and footpaths. Changes to the land uses have led to the widespread abandonment of agricultural fields and their subsequent use in many cases, as sites for open storage, parking, golf ranges and horticulture. Hand in hand with this has gone the dramatic expansion of traditional villages, so that many are now sprawling, rather than nucleated, as they were in the past. The result of these changes is a landscape which, while it retains many of its rural characteristics, has witnessed a fragmentation in land use and traditional landscape patterns and which has tended to become increasingly incoherent. Examples of this type of landscape can be found along Tsing Long Highway in Yuen Long and also at Lok Ma Chau near Sheung Shui.
URBAN FRINGE LANDSCAPE
13. Airport Landscape
This is a flat, open and expansive largely reclaimed landscape focused around its extensive area of airport runway, taxiways, grass verges, and its associated terminal complex. The landscape also consists of a significant number of associated low and medium-rise outbuildings, offices and related facilities, surrounding the airport and its complex, all connected by roads and highways. Other than grass, vegetation is limited to tree and shrub planting along access roads and areas around buildings. The result is a landscape characterized by its horizontality and openness, but also by large scale, its aircraft noise and activity and its rather artificial character. Hong Kong’s sole example of this type of landscape is the Hong Kong International Airport at Chek Lap Kok.
14. Cemetery Landscape
Extensive landscapes in their own right, Hong Kong’s major cemeteries generally lie on the edge of its conurbations, on hillsides overlooking the sea. These hillsides have typically been altered over a wide area to form extensive landscapes of regular terraces. Each terrace is lined with graves / columbaria, and associated with these landscapes may be ancillary features such as funerary buildings, access roads and car parking. There is generally little vegetation except for peripheral scrub on hillsides. Some cemeteries include areas for different denominations, resulting in subtle changes in character across these landscapes. However, in general, they tend to be somewhat uniform, large in scale, exposed and fairly tranquil. Examples of this type of landscape can be found at Pokfulam Chinese Christian Cemetery in Hong Kong Island and Tseung Kwan O Chinese Permanent Cemetery in Tseung Kwan O.
15. Comprehensive Residential Development Landscape
These are comprehensively planned and constructed landscapes associated with self-contained residential developments, situated in what are predominantly rural areas. Usually developed by a single developer, often in phases, they are characterised by their comprehensive planning, high sense of self-containment and structured character. They consist of generally low-rise residential buildings, all of fairly recent construction, situated on a layout of suburban roads, often with generous soft landscape provision. At the core of the development, there may be community facilities, including club house, schools and shops. These landscapes are highly ordered and are characterised by a high degree of coherence and a sense of tranquility. Examples of this type of landscape can be found at Discovery Bay in Lantau Island and Fairview Park in Yuen Long.
16. Institutional Landscape
These are landscapes found typically in the urban fringes, mainly on low-lying or flat sites (but in some cases, on hillsides). They are characterised predominantly by their institutional land uses and features and include hospitals, colleges and universities, barracks, youth camps and prisons. Though covering a variety of different types of institution, the combination of features and components and their distribution in these landscapes tends to be very similar. They generally comprise extensive complexes of buildings (usually low or medium rise) separated by open areas used for circulation or parking, with a high coverage of semi-formal landscape and vegetation. The whole landscape will typically be surrounded by a perimeter fence. This results in landscapes which are extensive, reasonably open and semi-formal. Examples of this type of landscape can be found at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology at Clearwater Bay and Stanley Prison in Hong Kong Island.
17. Quarry/Landfill Landscape
These are landscapes located at or beyond the fringes of the urban areas which have undergone a high degree of disturbance in order to form quarries or landfill sites. Although serving different purposes, both landfills and quarries are broadly similar in terms of their impact on the landscape, their components and overall character. Their landscapes are characterised by their significant excavations, extensive earthworks, highly disturbed landscape features and presence of plant and vehicle movements. They may also include areas which are undergoing restoration, but which have not yet fully re-integrated into the surrounding landscape. Such areas will typically be planted with young seedling trees and shrubs. The overall effect is of a highly disturbed transitional landscape of large scale features possessing an incoherent character. Examples of this type of landscape can be found at Anderson Road Quarry in Kowloon and the SENT Landfill in Tseung Kwan O.
18. Reclamation/Ongoing Major Development Landscape
These are transitional landscapes which are currently awaiting or are undergoing large scale construction or re-development. Some consist of land undergoing development whilst others are vacated sites which are awaiting re-development. They are typically characterised by a flat, low-lying topography, lack of significant vegetation or significant built structures and may include major earthworks, partially completed structures, as well as features such as cranes and earth moving machinery. In Hong Kong, landscapes on this scale are generally reclaimed from the sea and so are often characterised by their proximity to the coast. As a result of their indeterminate status or the disturbance caused by ongoing construction work, such landscapes usually have an incoherent, desolate and transient character. Examples of this type of landscape can be found at the West Kowloon reclamation area and the former Kai Tak Airport in Kowloon.
19. Residential Urban Fringe Landscape
Lying at the edges of urban areas, often on peripheral hillsides, these are low-density residential landscapes in vegetated or wooded settings. Often in ‘prestigious’ areas, these landscapes may comprise individual houses or villas, clusters of maisonettes or low-rise apartments based around narrow winding roads with a backdrop of mature hillside vegetation. These features are typical of the landscapes found at Shouson Hill, the outskirts of Stanley, Jardine’s Lookout and Chung Hom Kok in Hong Kong Island. Alternatively, they may include intermittent, residential towers on steep hillsides, with winding roads, interspersed by wooded hillsides, such as those on Robinson Road and Conduit Road and at Pokfulam in Hong Kong Island. In all cases, buildings relate predominantly to their adjoining road. The result is a fairly coherent residential landscape with a high coverage of vegetation, which possesses a relatively informal and tranquil character.
20. Theme Park Landscape
These are extensive recreational landscapes located at or beyond the fringes of Hong Kong’s urban areas. Found on topography of all kinds, they typically comprise a wide variety of features in a landscaped setting. These features may include rides, structures and buildings, all in a variety of types, scales, colours and styles. Other features may include water features, paths and circulation routes, administration buildings, car parks, bus and rail termini as well as ample areas of semi-mature and mature amenity planting. The combination of these features results in distinctive landscapes which are generally large in scale, complex and colourful. Currently the only example is the Ocean Park in Aberdeen.
21. Transportation Corridor Landscape
Where two or more major highways and/or railways are constructed parallel to each other and in close proximity, they form what can be termed a Transportation Corridor Landscape. Generally situated on coastal reclamations, these are linear landscapes, whose major features are the highways and railways that define them, but which also include flyovers, noise barriers, signage gantries, clover-leaf interchanges, traffic islands, footbridges and toll plazas as well as associated miscellaneous roadside land uses. Between the roads and railways are landscaped embankments and islands, generally with a semi-mature amenity vegetation of trees and shrubs. The outcome is a particularly linear landscape of rather diverse features. The variety of features of different types and scales, materials and colours, results in landscapes which as well as being diverse, tend also to be slightly incoherent. Examples of this type of landscape can be found along the Tolo Highway in Tai Po and North Lantau Highway in Lantau Island.
22. Miscellaneous Urban Fringe Landscapes
Found on the periphery of the major urban areas, these are a residual landscape type characteristic of the transition of landscapes from urban to rural. Typically on hillsides around urban areas that are less easily developed, they might include roads, highways structures, slope works, hillsides (often stabilised, otherwise vegetated), scattered residential development, open space, GIC development (such as service reservoirs, fire stations, etc), cemeteries, prisons, barracks, etc. They are transitional landscapes which are characterised by their low density, diverse range of features, significant vegetation cover and incoherent structure with features having little formal relationship to each other. Examples of this type of landscape can be found around Hang Hau in Tseung Kwan O and also around Tai Wai in Sha Tin.
URBAN LANDSCAPE
23. City Grid Mixed Urban Landscape
Found mainly on the older reclamations of Hong Kong and Kowloon, these landscapes are some of Hong Kong’s most common and most extensive urban landscapes. Developed on a largely orthogonal or regular city grid, they consist of what are mainly retail land uses at street level with high/medium-rise commercial or residential development above. Streets are often fairly wide and busy with traffic and the large numbers of people using these areas means that street life is vibrant. Building stock is of mixed age and character, and vegetation is generally limited to street tree planting and shrub planting in occasional public open spaces. The result is a landscape which is vibrant, colourful and diversity in terms of its street life and land use, but which possesses only limited variety in terms of its urban spaces. Examples of this type of landscape can be found at Wanchai in Hong Kong Island and Sham Shui Po in Kowloon.
24. Civic Urban Waterfront Landscape
Found on the waterfronts of the major urban areas of Kowloon and Hong Kong Island, these landscape consist of a mixture of public open space and civic buildings with some commercial land uses. They are characterised principally by their proximity to the sea, their flat topography, a formal (mainly hard-paved) promenade or linear public space, scattered (mainly low-rise) civic buildings, ferry terminals and other commercial buildings. As these landscapes all lie on the most recent reclamations, their buildings tend to be modern and their landscapes not fully mature. Vegetation typically consists of formal amenity trees and shrub planting. Their resulting character is linear, formal and open and it is this openness that results in the fine views these landscapes enjoy across the adjoining sea. Examples of this type of landscape include the Central waterfront in Hong Kong Island and the Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront in Kowloon.
25. 'Hui’ Urban Landscape
Found generally at the core of new towns, these urban landscapes once comprised the centres of the small towns (or ‘hui’) which existed before the new towns themselves. Found generally on flat or low-lying land, they typically comprise a small area of narrow streets on a more or less orthogonal grid. The buildings on these streets are generally medium rise and comprise slightly older building stock. They consist of a mixture of uses at ground floor level, often with residential properties above. Vegetation is generally limited to occasional street tree planting or amenity planting in sitting-out areas. These landscape are distinguished from the new town landscapes around them by virtue of their unadorned character, older building stock, intimate scale, narrow streets and orthogonal street blocks. Examples of this type of landscape can be found in Fanling, Yuen Long and Tai Po.
26. Industrial Urban Landscape
Generally found on low-lying areas of reclaimed land and often along the coasts of urban areas, these are landscapes defined by their almost exclusively industrial land uses. They typically include areas of industrial buildings, often in very dense arrangements. Any occasional open areas are used for vehicle parking or open storage. Streets are mainly residual spaces, with little or no vegetation. On the peripheries, there may be areas of vacant land. These landscapes also include industrial estates: extensive areas of comprehensively developed low-rise buildings with wider roads, which are often tree lined, usually found at the edges of new towns, such as Yuen Long or Tai Po. Their unifying characteristics are their large utilitarian buildings, their limited coherence of spaces, features and materials, and absence of significant vegetation cover. Examples of this type of landscape include the container handling areas at Kwai Chung Container Terminal as well as the area of factory buildings at Wong Chuk Hang in Aberdeen.
27. Late 20C/Early 21C Commercial/Residential Complex Landscape
Generally lying on reclaimed areas of Kowloon and Hong Kong Island, these comprise some of Hong Kong’s most recent urban landscapes. They consist of extensive comprehensive developments, typically with a large podium containing retail uses, parking or a PTI, with commercial or residential towers above. They are also characterised by their new building stock (often using modern building materials such as glass and steel). Streets in these landscapes are often wide with significant roadside landscape provision and tree planting, with footbridges connecting developments at first floor or podium level. The result is an intensely urban landscape which is often enclosed, angular and colourful and which is defined to a significant extent by its built form and the spaces they create. Examples of this type of landscape can be found in Taikoo Shing in Hong Kong Island and Whampoa Garden in Kowloon.
28. Low-rise Residential Urban Landscape
Found only in northern Kowloon, this landscape comprises the area of flat and undulating land around Kowloon Tong. It is a landscape laid out in the early part of the 20th Century for low-rise villa housing, many of which still exist today. The landscape also includes a number of schools and colleges, public open spaces and other institutional uses. The landscape is characterised in particular by its relatively low building densities, its older building stock, and a reasonably regular pattern of medium-width streets. Vegetation in this landscape consists of what is often mature street-tree planting as well as amenity planting in roadside amenity areas and public open spaces. The overall effect is to create a landscape with a character that is suburban, ordered and reasonably tranquil.
29. Medium/High-rise Commercial Urban Landscape
Located on flat, low-lying and reclaimed land in the urban areas of Kowloon and Hong Kong Island, these are prestige commercial and retail landscapes. They consist of narrow and medium-width streets organised on a largely orthogonal grid, medium and high-rise commercial and retail uses, malls with offices above connected by pedestrian bridges, modern, prestige architecture and limited open space and street tree planting. They are characterised by a high sense of enclosure, a predominance of man-made features and artificial colours, a distinct sense of verticality and busy, vibrant street activity. Examples of this type of landscape can be found at Central in Hong Kong Island and Tsim Sha Tsui in Kowloon.
30. Mixed Modern Comprehensive Urban Development Landscape
These are areas of urban landscape generally developed comprehensively over the latter half of the twentieth century. Located generally on low-lying or reclaimed land, these landscapes are formed by their mixture of land uses (including commercial, retail and residential), mixed scales of development, roads and highways infrastructure, intermittent open spaces and on occasion, a somewhat incoherent urban structure. Vegetation includes planting alongside roads and highways and in open spaces. Very common throughout Hong Kong, they are found in new towns as well as in newly developed or redeveloped urban areas. They are characterised by their relative predominance of human features and by their varied character of human and natural features of often differing forms, scales and colours. Examples of this type of landscape can be found in most new towns and in Aberdeen and Tsuen Wan.
31. Organic Mixed Urban Development Landscape
These are the dense urban landscapes of the older areas of Hong Kong and Kowloon. Found on original reclamations or on lower hillsides in these locations, they are characterised by their ‘organic’ (non-orthogonal) street blocks, with narrow streets often winding up or across hillsides; by a diverse mix of land uses (residential/retail/commercial); by their high buildings densities and building stock of varying ages. Notable in these landscapes are a relatively high incidence of historic buildings, both Chinese and European, which greatly enrich the urban landscape. Vegetation consists of limited street tree planting and planting in small parks and open spaces with relatively high numbers of mature trees, often wall trees. The result is a diverse, tightly enclosed and vibrant landscape characterized by its varied topography, building stock and land use and by it rich history. Examples of this type of landscape can be found in the SOHO area of Hong Kong Island and around Granville Road in Tsim Sha Tsui.
32. Park Urban Landscape
These recreational landscapes comprise major urban parks, which are large enough to form landscapes in their own right. They are found across Hong Kong from the urban areas of Hong Kong Island and Kowloon to the new towns. They lie on topography of all kinds, from rolling hillsides to flat, reclaimed areas. Their land uses are mainly as passive recreation, and typically include ornamental planting, lawns, pathways, sitting areas, water features, pavilions and park offices. They often however include sports facilities such as stadia, swimming pools and ball courts. Mostly dated from the latter part of the Twentieth Century, but some, such as the Zoological and Botanical Gardens in Central, are over a 100 years old and contain magnificent specimens of mature trees. In character, these landscapes are typically semi-formal, tranquil and verdant. Examples of this type of landscape can be found at Kowloon Park in Kowloon and Victoria Park in Hong Kong Island.
33. Residential Urban Landscape
These are urban landscapes which are wholly or largely given over to residential land use. Developed comprehensively on flat or terraced land, mainly on the edges of urban areas, they are characterized by their medium or high-rise residential estates, set amongst open space, together with associated highways, footbridges, school or community facilities and retail facilities. Vegetation includes roadside trees and shrub planting and planting in open spaces and around residential estates. The result is a fairly homogenous, ordered landscape comprising largely built elements softened to a certain extent by the effects of surrounding planting and greenery. Examples of this type of landscape can be found across Hong Kong, such as at Wah Fu Estate in Hong Kong Island and Butterfly Estate in Tuen Mun.
34. Rural Township Landscape
These are the landscapes created by small towns found in rural areas remote from the urban centres. Usually lying on the coast, they are more developed than villages but less so than urban areas. They are typically former fishing villages which have developed a small central core of low or medium-rise buildings, often on an irregular grid of small streets and lanes. These buildings provide for a diverse mixture of uses, including a market, residential and retail uses. Older buildings from the former village are typically scattered within or around this more intensively developed core, resulting in a relatively high density of historical buildings siting alongside much newer buildings. Associated with this central core may be community facilities, such as a sports centre, park, or waterfront promenade. Vegetation typically consists of occasional mature trees, with limited amenity planting. All of these features combine to produce a landscape of small scale features, which is diverse, intimate and often possesses a vibrant street-life and particular sense of place. Partly because of their rural locations and small-scale charm, such townships are often significant tourist centres such as Stanley in Hong Kong Island and Cheung Chau.
COASTAL WATERS LANDSCAPE
35. Bay Landscape
These landscapes consist of areas of inshore water, found around the coastline of Hong Kong, which are enclosed to a significant degree, by landform on three sides. The result is a coastal landscape with a distinct sense of enclosure, characterised by the visual interlock of land and sea. Whilst these landscapes consist predominantly of water, they may also include small islands, occasional vessels, fish farms and marine activities such as waterborne recreational activity. Each Bay Landscape is given its particular character by a combination of its physical enclosure, the character of its shoreline (and small islands or rocks offshore) and by any marine activities. Examples of this type of landscape are Cheung Sha in Lantau Island and Tai Long Wan in Sai Kung.
36. Inshore Water Landscape
These are areas of coastal water lying close to the shore and enclosed to a certain degree by landmasses or islands, which create a limited sense of enclosure or containment. Whilst these landscapes are characterized predominantly by the horizontality and muted hues of their coastal waters, they may also include small, isolated islands or outlying rocks and marine activities of all kinds, including fish farms, anchorages, commercial shipping lanes, ferry traffic and waterborne recreational activity. The result is a largely open, tranquil and natural landscape which is punctuated by the colours and noises of human features and activities. Examples of this type of landscape are outer Victoria Harbour and Port Shelter in Sai Kung.
37. Inter-tidal Coast Landscape
Lying between the high and low water tide levels and generally remote from Hong Kong’s urban areas, these are open and expansive coastal landscapes. They are characterised by a variety of different features, but first and foremost, by the presence of water. They may also include mud flats (often very extensive); areas of salt marsh; mangrove stands, or gei wai. In some cases, two or more of these features can be found in a single area. What these different areas have in common is their powerful association with the sea and the fact that they are all to some extent, characterised by a certain simplicity, tranquility and a feeling of remoteness. Examples of this type of landscape can be found along the shore of Deep Bay in North West New Territories and near Ting Kok in Tai Po.
38. Island Landscape
Lying offshore from the main landmass of Hong Kong, Island Landscapes include those islands too small to be broken down into other component landscapes. The form of these islands reflects their underlying geology, but most are rocky and steep-sided and have a sparse cover of grass and scrub vegetation, with few trees (though there are obvious exceptions to this, such as Tung Ping Chau). Many possess dramatic rock formations or sea cliffs. Because of their often remote locations, many such islands possess few or no human features. In other cases, they may possesses only an isolated telecommunications station, light house or detention centre. In a smaller number of cases, such as at Po Toi or Tap Mun, there may be a village and small population. Often isolated and exposed, these landscapes are particularly notable for their visual drama and remote character. Examples of this type of landscape include Green Island off Hong Kong Island and the Ninepin Group (Kwo Chau Islands) off Clearwater Bay.
39. &nbb>Offshore Water Landscape
These are coastal landscapes consisting almost exclusively of extensive areas of offshore water. They are defined by land (either mainland Hong Kong or its islands) on one side and by open sea on the other side and the result is a ‘seascape?with a distinct sense of space and openness. Apart from the sea itself, the only other features in these offshore waters are occasional vessels, such as fishing vessels, ferries or cargo ships. Always possessing a sense of exposure and remoteness, they are very simple landscapes which attain much of their character from the prevailing quality of light and weather conditions. Examples of this type of landscape are the offshore waters off eastern Hong Kong and those off southern Hong Kong.
40. Strait Landscape
These are areas of inshore coastal water enclosed by significant landforms on two sides, thereby creating a distinct sense of enclosure on those two sides. Characterised predominantly by their surrounding landforms and the muted hues and horizontality of their coastal waters, they may also include small, isolated islands, passing vessels, and marine activities of all kinds, including anchorages, shipping lanes, ferry traffic and waterborne recreational activity. These features produce a natural, marine landscape with a distinct sense of enclosure, otherwise characterised by the character of their coastal edges and the colours and sounds of their marine activities. Examples of this type of landscape are inner Victoria Harbour and Tolo Channel.
41. Typhoon Shelter Landscape
Found generally on the coastal edges of urban areas, these are inshore aquatic landscapes formed by the armourstone breakwaters constructed to protect large numbers of moored vessels. These vessels include freighters, fishing vessels, pleasure craft and sampans. Though they consist primarily of water, other features in these landscapes include jetties, pontoons and navigational features resulting in a landscape that is a transitional one between land and sea. In many cases, the result is a vibrant and active landscape characterized by a variety of form and colour and often by a significant sense of enclosure. Examples of this type of landscape can be found at Yau Ma Tei Typhoon Shelter in Kowloon and Causeway Bay Typhoon Shelter in Hong Kong Island.
September 2005
