5.1 INTRODUCTION
5.1.1 Para 6.8(6) of the Study Brief states that:
5.1.2 "The survey findings shall include an overall description of landscape character, the components of the landscape character and the way they are interrelated to each other...."
5.1.3 This Chapter therefore presents the following:
Key Characteristics of the Hong Kong Landscape;
Historic Development of the Hong Kong Landscape;
Variation in Character and Key Features in the Hong Kong Landscape.
5.2 KEY CHARACTERISTICS OF THE HONG KONG LANDSCAPE
INTRODUCTION
5.2.1 Hong Kong lies on the south-eastern coast of the East Asia landmass between latitudes 22 degrees 09' and 22 degrees 37'N to the east of the Pearl River estuary. The region is a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China and consists of an extensive area of the mainland landmass together with numerous islands, the largest of which are Lantau Island (142 km2), Hong Kong Island (78 km2) and Lamma Island (13.5 km2). The total land area is 1076 km2, of which over 40 km2 is the result of land reclamation.
5.2.2 The topography is extremely rugged and there is little natural flat land. A series of ridges make up the backbone of the Territory, mostly running from northeast to southwest. The highest point is at Tai Mo Shan (957 m) in the central New Territories, followed by Lantau Peak (934 m) and Sunset Peak (869 m) on Lantau Island.
5.2.3 In the last 150 years, Hong Kong's the population has grown from around 3000 people to over six million. Because of the rugged terrain, 95% of the population live and work in less than 20% of land, and the remaining 80% of the landmass is relatively undeveloped.
THE INFLUENCE OF CLIMATE ON THE LANDSCAPE
5.2.4 Hong Kong has a sub-tropical, monsoon climate, dominated by seasonal changes of wind direction and the resulting major contrast in weather between winter and summer. In winter (from November to February), easterly winds bring cool, dry air to Hong Kong, whilst in summer (May to September) moist air from over the oceans moves across the HKSAR.
5.2.5 The mean annual temperature is 22.8°C (1961-90) ranging between a mean of 15.8°C in January and 28.8°C in July. Temperature is obviously a key factor in determining the types of vegetation which characterise the Hong Kong landscape, but also has an effect on the chemical weathering or rock.
5.2.6 Mean annual rainfall in Hong Kong is 2214 mm, with 77% of the total annual rainfall falling between May and September, as opposed to only 6% in the four winter months. Approximately 18% of the annual rainfall – more than twice the monthly average – falls in August. Summer is also the main typhoon season and typhoons passing within several hundred kilometers of Hong Kong contribute about 25% of the annual rainfall in the latter part of the summer. Extreme rainfall events are of major significance for the landscape by promoting erosion of hillsides, flooding and landslides. The great majority of landslides occur during high-intensity rainfalls. Rainfall extremes are sometimes associated with typhoons, which also, of course, bring very strong winds. Another hazard associated with typhoons are storm surges which tend to accentuate flooding events in lowland valleys and consequent alluvial deposition, resulting in Hong Kong's rich New Territories valley landscapes.
5.2.7 The prevailing wind in Hong Kong is from the east over the summer months, except for July when there is an abrupt shift in wind direction from the south-west. The prevailing wind is from the north-east over winter months. The result in landscape terms includes the weather beaten landscapes of the islands off the NENT such as Tap Mun or Grass Island, which comprise low grassland with little other significant vegetation.
THE INFLUENCE OF MICROCLIMATE ON THE LANDSCAPE
5.2.8 Hong Kong’s climate also shows major variations across the SAR itself. Temperature declines regularly with increasing altitude (approximately 0.5°C per 100 m), but the variation in mean annual rainfall is more complex. Generally speaking the uplands of Hong Kong receive most rainfall, with the least occurring in the low-lying north-west New Territories.
5.2.9 On a smaller scale, climate varies with slope angle and orientation (or aspect). Because Hong Kong is north of the equator, a north-facing slope generally receives less solar radiation than flat land or a south-facing slope. This north-south difference increases rapidly with increasing slope angle and is at a maximum in the November-January dry season. The major impact on vegetation from this differential is probably through hill fire, with fire frequency and intensity both likely to be greater on the warmer, drier south-facing slopes. This results in generally greater coverage of woodland and tall shrubland on north-facing slopes in Hong Kong.
5.2.10 Prevailing winds also account for a stark difference in vegetation development between east and west facing slopes in much of the New Territories. Prevailing easterly winds throughout most of the year will increase evaporation and transpiration rates on east-facing slopes, marking them drier than west-facing slopes, increasing the risk of fire on these slopes.
THE INFLUENCE OF GEOLOGY ON THE HONG KONG LANDSCAPE
5.2.11 Hong Kong has a rugged topography with a highly indented complex coastline characterised by numerous bays, headlands, peninsulas and outlying islands. Most of Hong Kong's topography is steep and elevated (consisting of volcanic and granitic uplands) falling dramatically to rocky coasts. Around 47% of the Hong Kong landscape lies above 100 mPD with around 12% above 300 mPD. Thirty-two peaks are higher than 500 mPD; thirteen lie above 600 mPD; seven lie above 700 mPD and three lie above 800 mPD. The highest peaks are Tai Mo Shan (957 mPD), Lantau Peak (933 mPD) and Sunset Peak (869 mPD).
5.2.12 The uplands of the southern, central and eastern New Territories contrast with the low-lying alluvial plains of the north-west New Territories. Northeast to east/north-east-trending faults dominate the landscape and dictate the major pattern of ridges and valleys, created by differential weathering along fault lines. North-west trending faults form a subordinate grain, which dominates in the east and south-east. In addition to controlling the orientation of the main valleys, ridges and uplands, this pattern of faults also manifests itself in the shapes of estuaries, channels, bays and headlands around the coast.
5.2.13 Volcanic rocks, which are exposed over about 50% of the land area of Hong Kong, generally form the uplands in western Lantau Island, southern Hong Kong Island, and the central and eastern New Territories. The rocks consist mostly of tuffs, formed by the consolidation of volcanic ash and larger fragments ejected from ancient volcanoes. Volcanic rocks form steep, rugged and angular peaks, such as those of Tai Mo Shan, Sunset Peak, Lantau Peak, the ridge from Kowloon Peak to Tate’s Cairn, Ma On Shan, High Junk Peak, and Sharp Peak. Volcanic tuffs also form steep, cliffed coastlines, like those along the eastern shores of the New Territories.
5.2.14 By contrast, around 35% of Hong Kong lies on granitic rocks, such as those which cover northern Hong Kong Island, eastern Lantau, Kowloon, Sha Tin, the western New Territories, the Lion Rock ridge, and southern Lamma Island. These granites are variable, though the most common form is pink or grey with a medium-to-coarse grain. Other varieties have scattered large crystal in a medium-to fine-grained groundmass. Granites weather differently to volcanic tuffs and form lower more rounded peaks which support little vegetation and which are prone to weathering and erosion. The process of weathering produces 'tors', isolated blocky rocks, boulder fields and severely eroded hillsides known as 'badlands'.
5.2.15 Sedimentary rocks are exposed over about 15% of Hong Kong, mostly in the northern and north eastern New Territories. They include sandstones, mudstones, conglomerates, siltstones and shales and are responsible for several distinctive, often red, landforms, such as the low-lying island of Ping Chau and the distinctive Bluff Head Formation of sedimentary rocks on the northern shore of Tolo Channel.
5.2.16 Over the lower lying areas of Hong Kong are marine and beach deposits in coastal areas and alluvium in lower parts of the larger river basins. Alluvial deposition has undoubtedly been accelerated over the course of recent history by the effects of deforestation on uplands and the resulting increase in erosion. Colluvial deposits (debris from landslides and other mass movements), often several metres thick, cover large areas inland, including hill footslopes.
THE INFLUENCE OF SOILS ON THE LANDSCAPE
5.2.17 Most hill soils in Lantau, Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, the SENT, western and central NT and NENT are formed from the weathering of either granite or volcanic rocks. The rate of weathering is regulated by the physical properties of the rock, which determine penetration by ground water. In Hong Kong’s hot and wet climate, weathering is very intense and the breakdown of minerals so complete, that dissimilar rocks can produce soils which end up being fairly similar.
5.2.18 Hill soils in Hong Kong are therefore generally either Krasnosems (Red Loams) in areas of volcanic rock and Red-Yellow Podsols in areas of granitic rock.
5.2.19 Krasnosems are found largely on areas of volcanic rock where wet and warm conditions causes weathering of the parent material. They consist of a thin humus deficient upper layer on a very deep friable clay layer. Red or purplish in colour, they may be 40 feet deep with little variation.
5.2.20 Red-Yellow Podsols are well-developed acid soils lying mainly on areas of granitic parent material. These granitic soils have a somewhat larger soil particle size due to the fact that quartz does not weather to any significant degree. The soil is open textured and freely draining. However, they are relatively humus deficient and support little more than grass or scrub. Many such soils are badly eroded and support only sparse vegetation, while most volcanic areas have a continuous vegetation cover.
5.2.21 One conspicuous feature of granitic soils on many Hong Kong hillsides is the extent of weathering and erosion that has taken place, producing the barren gullied 'badlands' with rather sparse vegetation which are typical of hills in the southwest New Territories. Badlands are generally restricted to areas underlain by granite, where gullies (as in the Tai Lam area) may be as much as 15 m deep.
5.2.22 In the north and north-western NT, alluvial soils and sediments dominate the lowland valleys. Many of these areas consist of Paddy Soils which are poorly drained silt or silt/loam soils suitable for wet agriculture. The structure of these soils has been modified by the processes of ploughing and wet cultivation.
5.2.23 In coastal areas (especially the NWNT) soils consist of silty saline soils (or Solenchak) less suited to arable production.
VEGETATION IN THE HONG KONG LANDSCAPE
Hong Kong's Vegetation History
5.2.24 It is likely that before the arrival of humans, Hong Kong was covered in a species-rich broadleaf rain forest. This forest was part of a larger east-Asian forested area stretching from the Equator to the Arctic tree line. With the arrival of humans, some 4000 years ago, vegetation in Hong Kong was gradually cleared for cultivation until today in the lowlands, apart from agriculture, all that remains of the older forests are fung shui woodland, relict or montane woodland in steep uninhabited valleys as well riparian vegetation along streams and waterways.
5.2.25 Vegetation in Hong Kong has historically been affected by four significant migration waves to the southern Guangdong coastal areas: the first, between the 3rd and 2nd century B.C.; the second wave between the 5th and 6th century A.D.; the third wave in the 13th century and the last in the 17th and 18th centuries. Each wave of migration to the region stressed existing agricultural capacity and led to significant impacts on vegetation and landscape.
5.2.26 In the uplands, cultivation and cutting of fuel for the lime and charcoal industries probably denuded even the highest hillsides until in the 19th Century, they were almost entirely grassland. British Foreign Secretary Lord Palmerston, in 1841 noted that Hong Kong Island was a “barren island with hardly a house upon it.“
5.2.27 Reforestation programmes since World War Two have however had a dramatic effect in re-introducing (largely non-native) vegetation to upland areas. Much of this vegetation is really scrubland, but over time (and without the interruption of hill fire) the hillsides will naturally revert to their original woodland state.
Hong Kong's Vegetation Today
5.2.28 Hong Kong's vegetation today generally comprises genera in which most species are found within 10-15o of the equator, and only a minority of genera have their predominant distribution to the north. While Hong Kong's flora is largely tropical at the generic level, several major tropical families of plants are not found in Hong Kong (e.g., Burseraceae, Dipterocarpaceae, Myristicaceae). In addition, a number of largely non-tropical plant genera are better represented here than in the lowland tropics further south, notably Ericaceae, Machilus and Ilex.
5.2.29 The historic deforestation described above has resulted in the erosion of soils in many places and the succession of these areas by grassland which now covers much of Hong Kong’s upland area.
5.2.30 Woodland in Hong Kong is generally limited and lies in lowland areas, ravines or at the edges of villages. It consists of the following main communities (derived from the SUSDEV Habitat Map classification):
Lowland Forest
Plantation or Plantation/Mixed Forest
Fung Shui Forest
Montane Forest
Riparian Woodland
5.2.31 Elsewhere the pattern of vegetation is typically scrub vegetation at lower and medium altitudes on hillsides. This includes the following scrub communities:
Mixed Shrubland
Baeckia Shrubland
5.2.32 Scrub gives way to 'Shrubby Grassland' and 'Grassland' at higher altitudes.
5.2.33 'Freshwater/Brackish Wetland' plant communities are found sporadically across Hong Kong, generally in the low-land valleys, but occasionally at higher altitudes.
5.2.34 Elsewhere on the coasts, Hong Kong's vegetation types include 'Seagrass' and 'Mangrove'.
5.2.35 Finally, there are the vegetation communities resulting from high levels of human intervention, which include 'Cultivation' and 'Urban Park'.
5.3 HISTORIC DEVELOPMENT OF THE HONG KONG LANDSCAPE
INTRODUCTION
5.3.1 Like almost every landscape on earth, the Hong Kong landscape reflects the complex interaction of natural systems and the development of human civilisation. These form a dynamic system as natural conditions (especially climate) changes over millennnia and as human civilisation changes and develops, placing different requirements and stresses on the landscape. This section of the report describes how the relationship between the natural components of the Hong Kong landscape and those who have settled it, has shaped and moulded the landscape from prehistoric times through to the present day.
THE FORMATION OF THE HONG KONG LANDSCAPE - THE EARLY PREHISTORIC PERIOD
5.3.2 The landscape which is visible today is a relatively recent phenomenon and one that has developed over millennia. When Hong Kong's oldest rocks were laid down (some 400-360 million years ago) the climate was semi-arid. During this period, sedimentary rocks were deposited in larger rivers that crossed an open, un-vegetated, plain from nearby mountains. Rocks from this period are still visible in the North East New Territories at Plover Cove and along the northern coast of Tolo Channel.
5.3.3 Between 360 and 320 million years ago, a shallow topical sea existed across Hong Kong. Coastal swamps were also formed, with deposited organic material producing carbon deposits which eventually formed into graphite. Today, these rocks occur on the Brothers Islands where they were mined until relatively recently.
5.3.4 Between 210-190 million years ago, a deeper marine environment developed, which was succeeded about 165-140 million years ago by a period of volcanic eruptions. Large volumes of volcanic ash and lavas were spread over the land surface, nearby sea inlets and shallow lakes. These volcanic tuffs now underlie almost 50% of Hong Kong, particularly in western Lantau, southern Hong Kong island, SENT and much of the central NT and NENT. Molten magma below the volcanoes cooled and solidified to form the granite rocks which are today exposed over about 35% of Hong Kong and which are particularly common in the western New Territories, Kowloon, northern Hong Kong Island.
5.3.5 Between 100-80 million years ago, a desert climate prevailed and Hong Kong's landscape was dominated by mountains and wide valleys. Rivers crossing the landscape flooded occasionally, leaving sediments of river sands and pebbly conglomerate rocks. These materials now form striking rocks exposed at locations such as Port Island and Pat Sin Leng.
5.3.6 Around 80-50 million years ago, the climate remained dry, but shallow salt lakes formed during wetter periods, drying out intermittently. Sedimentary rocks laid down in one of these lakes form the island of Ping Chau on coastal waters off the north-east of Hong Kong.
5.3.7 A warm humid climate over the last 60 million years has caused deep weathering of rocks across Hong Kong, although much of this material has since been removed by erosion. Weathering along joints and the pattern of faults across Hong Kong as well as subsequent erosion has created the rugged landscape of peaks and valleys which forms the basis of the landscape today.
5.3.8 During the last 2 million years, sea levels have risen and fallen many times, as glaciers have contracted and expanded in temperate and polar regions. The last major glaciation reached its maximum extent about 20-25,000 years ago, when world sea levels were about 130 metres below present day heights. At that time, the coast of Hong Kong lay about 120 km to the south of its present position. The numerous islands and highly indented coast of modern Hong Kong are part of this drowned landscape.
THE NEOLITHIC LANDSCAPE - THE MIDDLE TO LATE NEOLITHIC AGE (6500 TO 4000 YEARS AGE)
Evolution of Topography and Coastline
5.3.9 As the climate became warmer after last glacial period, sea levels rose, reaching present sea level around 6,000 years ago. This period marked the formation of the existing shoreline of Hong Kong SAR together with the arrival of marine-going human settlers. Though the topography of Hong Kong was largely formed by this time, weathering of rock and erosion of coasts by the sea has continued to this day. In particular, the eastern coasts of Hong Kong have been weathered by wave action into dramatic rock formations whilst the western coasts have been subject to deposition of silt carried down the Pearl River, forming the extensive mudflats landscapes of Deep Bay.
Vegetation Development
5.3.10 About 6000 to 7000 years ago, the global climate reached present day levels and since that period, Hong Kong has been situated in the transitional zone between humid tropical and warm temperate climatic types. Some experts have suggested that at the end of the last ice age, the vegetation covering the landscape of Hong Kong would probably have been a broadleaf evergreen forest, though this cannot be confirmed by evidence (Dudgeon and Corlett, 1994). Prior to human settlement around 6000 to 7000 years ago, the Hong Kong and Pearl River Delta was probably covered entirely by tropical forest (Huang and others 1983). The evidence from pollen studies of bore holes in the Shenzhen River area indicate that the broad-leaved and evergreen forest zone decreased around 7500 years ago and that grassland has increased significantly since that time (Huang and others 1983).
5.3.11 In pollen taken from soil layers dating back the Neolithic Period at Sai Kung, Poaceae and Quercus were identified. This indicates that agricultural activity began during the Neolithic Period (about 4000 – 5000 years ago). Archaeologists have also found evidence of ancient people growing rice in the Ho Chung Valley around 4000 years ago (Zhongshan University 2000). It is believed that humans living in this region cleared much of the tropical forest, causing scrubland to grow rapidly. Broadleaved forest was probably replaced by Pinus forest during this period.
Early Settlements
5.3.12 Sea level changes also influenced human settlement. Some archaeologists and linguists suggest that the Austronesians, a marine-going people, with their origins in coastal regions of South China or Taiwan (later migrating to the Pacific Islands or Southeast Asia around 6,000 to 5,500 years ago) were probably Hong Kong’s aboriginal people.
5.3.13 Settlement took place mainly in two periods: the Middle Neolithic Age and Late Neolithic Age (4,000 years to 6,500 years ago). Neolithic settlements have to date only been discovered in coastal areas and islands of the New Territories concentrated in the west or south west of Hong Kong. These settlements were commonly in bays, on headlands, and in river mouths. Such settings provided marine food sources and a good communication and transportation network with other settlements in the Pearl River Delta region (Peacock & Nixon 1986, Ng, 1988).
5.3.14 These aboriginal peoples probably cultivated root-crops (taro, yam or sweet potato etc), traditionally cultivated in either wetlands or flood plains. However, these agricultural activities had little significant effect on the local natural landscape.
5.3.15 Pollen studies in Ho Chung in Sai Kung suggest that deforestation for agricultural production estuaries started to take place during the Late Neolithic Period around 4,000 years ago. Pinus sp. forest was replaced by Poaceae grassland and evidence suggests that rice cultivation took place in the Ho Chung river estuary at this time (Zhongshan Univ. 2000).
POPULATION MOVEMENT AND DEFORESTATION OF THE HONG KONG LANDSCAPE - THE BRONZE AGE (4000 TO 3500 YEARS AGO)
Climate Change and Population Movement
5.3.16 Hong Kong and Guangdong Province entered the Bronze Age around 3,500 to 4,000 years ago. Five minor global climate fluctuations occurred between 3,500 to 4,000 years ago, as well as later, during the Ming/Qing Dynasty. These natural occurrences had a direct impact on the people and their subsistence strategies, resulting in changes to vegetation and landscape development. Reduced agricultural yields, combined with changes in sea level, forced the population to settle in inland areas, valleys and river terraces in order to expand production. As a result, the human settlements of the Bronze Age have produced patterns which are still visible in the landscape of the inland valleys today.
Bronze Age Settlement
5.3.17 Bronze Age archaeological sites have been found in river terraces in Lam Tsuen Valley, Kam Tin Valley and Shung Shui Valley as well as coastal terraces at Deep Bay. When people moved into valleys, agricultural land was formed by the dual processes of reclamation and deforestation. Studies of pollen in Pak Mong on Lantau, indicate that Pinaceae and Apocymaceae forest was destroyed during this period, with other finds of Pteris, Gramineae and Rubiaceae families from the Bronze Age (Deng and others 1997) pointing to Bronze Age cultivation of valleys.
5.3.18 The eventual outcome of deforestation was to create soil wash down from hills, peaks and consequent deposits in valleys, thus expanding and creating flood plains or mud flats along shore lines, which are still visible today in many places.
THE RISE OF THE SALT INDUSTRY AND ITS EFFECT ON THE HONG KONG LANDSCAPE - THE EARLY HISTORIC PERIOD (200BC TO 600AD)
Han Immigration
5.3.19 After the decline of the Qin Dynasty in the 3rd century A.D., the kingdom of Nam Yue was established in the southern part of China (the present day Guangdong, Guangxi and Northern Vietnam) by the Chinese from the north. The Han people began to settle in the region and brought with them Chinese culture along with the new imperial administration and advanced rice cultivation.
The Beginnings of Salt Production
5.3.20 The Imperial Court encouraged the development of industries such as salt production, which soon became a major industry in Hong Kong. Areas between west Kowloon and Kowloon Bay were used as imperial salt production centres from the 1st century B.C onwards. Areas of Deep Bay, Tuen Mun, Mirs Bay and Lantau Island with shallow bays or inlets were all suitable places for salt production. The salt industry settlements sprang up in these areas and salt pans were reclaimed in shallow bays or inlets. The abandoned salt pans found at Tai O are a testament to the historic importance of the salt industry to the Hong Kong economy and landscape (Irving and Morton 1986).
5.3.21 Associated with these developments in the landscape was the gradual deforestation of the New Territories (Stokes, 1995), with forests gradually being replaced by scrubland or grassland during this period. It is also believed that since salt production required timber for fuel, this contributed to the deforestation. The resulting pattern of vegetation from this period remains essentially the same to this day.
THE LIME INDUSTRY, INDUSTRIAL SETTLEMENT AND DEFORESTATION - THE MIDDLE HISTORIC PERIOD (700AD TO 1300AD)
The Rise of the Lime Industry
5.3.22 Apart from salt production, Hong Kong also became home to a lime-making industry from the Tang dynasty (AD 618- 907) to the early Song dynasty. Lime kilns in Hong Kong were usually found in coastal areas, reflecting the need for coral or shells as part of the lime-making process.
5.3.23 From the 4th century A.D onwards, Tuen Mun became a major maritime custom post under the direct administration of the provincial capital in Guangzhou (Siu 1998). Between the 4th century and the 9th century, Yuen Long and Lantau Island became populated areas as a result of the lime industry. Settlements and lime kilns sprang up in many bays, inlets and valleys in these areas, creating the genesis of the settlement patterns seen today. Associated with these industries was further deforestation, in order to obtain fuel for the lime kilns. The success of this industry lead to increased settlement along Hong Kong shoreline.
5.3.24 Hong Kong's increasing prosperity resulted in a growth in the Imperial bureacracy and in the clerical classes, which in turn in resulted in further pressure on agricultural production. At least two Buddhist temples were built during this period, one at Castle Peak, present since the 4th century (Shu 1819) and another in Ha Tsuen facing the present day new town of Tin Shui Wan (Zhang 1996). Donations of agricultural land to temples, required further agricultural expansion as compensation. Valleys and plains are believed to have been further reclaimed for cultivation of food to support the official classes which included soldiers, monks and new workers in the lime industry.
Climate Change and Further Immigration
5.3.25 Around the 11th century AD, the global temperature dropped about two degrees. This had a huge impact on the viability of lands occupied by the Mongols in northern China (Wang 2002), who moved south in search of better land. The Mongols conquered China and forced the Chinese to migrate to the south, including Guangdong and Hong Kong.
5.3.26 In subsequent centuries, population increased, as the Punti (Cantonese) peoples settled in Hong Kong. The Punti were skilled farmers and located their settlements and their agricultural lands with regard to the land's physical potential (its soils and sources of water) as well as its spiritual dimensions (fung shui). In this manner, many of Hong Kong’s inland flood plains and valleys underwent a dramatic change from a 'natural' landscape to an agricultural one. As lands were settled and reclaimed for agriculture during this period, it is almost certain that deforestation increased markedly (Stokes, 1995).
The First Fortifications
5.3.27 During the Song dynasty (AD 960 - 1279), Hong Kong was once again an important salt production centre in China creating significant imperial revenue, with official salt pans in the Tuen Mun and Yuen Long area, Kowloon and Lantau Island. However, at the same time, illegal saltpans sprang up and this resulted in a rebellion of illegal salt workers in Lantau in 1197 (Zhang 1996). This insurrection in turn resulted in imperial troops establishing a garrison on the island to protect the imperial property and to clear out the illegal salt production. These fortifications were amongst the first of many to characterised the Hong Kong landscape over the next millennium.
5.3.28 Imperial military settlements were established on Lantau and at Kowloon Bay until the late Qing Dynasty. The remains of the forts can still be seen in the landscape today, such as those at Kowloon Walled City, Tung Chung Battery, Tung Chung Fort and Fan Lau Fort.
5.3.29 In addition to these fortifications, four principal types of settlements would have been found in Hong Kong between the 6th to 12th century:
industrial villages (salt, lime and pearl harvesting);
military settlements (Tuen Mun, Kowloon Bay, Lantau);
seasonal trader seasonal settlements and;
agricultural villages.
5.3.30 All settlements were located along the shorelines except for agricultural villages, which were usually found in plains and inland valleys. Agricultural activity increased in Hong Kong during the Song Dynasty. The five major clans of the new immigrants established their villages in the flatlands of the New Territories and one can assume that this increased settlement brought with it considerable landscape change.
THE LANDSCAPE IN TURMOIL - THE LATE HISTORIC PERIOD (1400 TO 1841)
5.3.31 Changes in political events over the next few hundred years led to relatively dramatic changes in the landscape of Hong Kong.
Piracy and Further Fortification
5.3.32 From 1494 on, Japanese pirates continuously attacked both Hong Kong and Shenzhen towns and villages, and a new coastal defense system was established along the coastline of southern China to protect the population.
5.3.33 A navy command center was established in present day Baoan at Shenzhen City (close to Deep Bay). Its six subordinated navy garrisons included those at Tai O, Tung Lung Chau and High Island (Zhang 1996). Agricultural settlements were established close to these garrisons to support them. In the late 14th century, many families were also registered as military personnel to assist in food cultivation to support the army. At least six military farms were established on both sides of the Shenzhen River and operated until the 16th century. On the Hong Kong side of the river, these farms were found in the New Territories and Kowloon areas (Zhang 1996). It is believed that further deforestation took place in these military farm areas.
Exodus and Re-population
5.3.34 In 1644, the nomadic Manchu people ended the Mong dynasty and established the Qing Dynasty (Wang 2002). Anti-Qing rebels were however still very active in southern China and so the Qing imperial court built garrisons and beacon towers in coastal and inland areas across Hong Kong.
5.3.35 In 1661, as a result of these rebellions, the Qing Emperor promulgated the ‘Evacuation Edict’, in which people living along the coast of Guangdong were to move 50 li inland. As a result, Hong Kong was evacuated and the population dropped to only 2,172 across the County of Xinan in 1662 (compared to 33,971 in 1573).
5.3.36 Only in 1669, when the ‘Boundary Extension’ was promulgated, could the populace return to their old villages. The Qing imperial court encouraged migration to the coastal areas of Guangdong. As a result, the Hakka people moved to Hong Kong and settled in upper valleys and hillslopes as the Cantonese occupied all the plains.
5.3.37 The settlement of these Hakka people transformed the otherwise unproductive hillsides into terraced fields for rice and root-crop cultivation. Tea plantations could be found in Tai Mo Shan, Castle Peak and Lantau Peak (Shu 1819). The Xinan County Gazeteer of 1688 noted tea cultivation on Lantau Peak (Dudgeon and Corlett, 1994). The patterns of these plantations are still visible on hillsides today.
5.3.38 Official statistics on the population of the Xinan County show that by 1688, the number of villages increased to 499 with 7,061 people. By 1819, the number of villages further increased to 865 with 23,9112 people (Zhang 1998). This population increase would inevitably have had a further impact on the landscape as more land was needed for building houses and for cultivation.
5.3.39 Deforestation continued and the Swedish botanist, Peter Osbeck who sailed past Lantau Island in 1751 described the scenery he saw as “quite green with plants, but had no woods”. The deforestation of the Hong Kong landscape was completed in the mid 18th century when a further wave of immigrants arrived. The phenomenon is also reflected in Chinese official records in the 1819 edition of the Xinan Gazetteer, where no forest is mentioned.
Agricultural Change in the Landscape
5.3.40 Between the 14th and the 17th century, many farmers abandoned agriculture and either turned to trade or turned their land over to cash crop agriculture such as tea plantations or orchards which started to appear in Hong Kong and Zhenshan (Wang 2002). This led to the anomaly of a shortage of rice in production at the same time as increasing wealth in the region. According to historical documents, economic plantations were certainly in cultivation in Xinan Country (present day Hong Kong and Shenzhen) around the late 16th century. These plantations were mainly incense, lychees, longans, bananas, sugar canes and tea (Wang 2002). Sugar cane was grown in plains or valleys, which would have little negative impact on the natural landscape. Other crops such as incense, banana, lychee and longan were usually cultivated in hill areas and even higher area for cultivation of tea. It is believed that these plantations would have replaced the original broad-leaved forest in the hills or mountains.
5.3.41 In addition, growth in the pottery industry during this period resulted in numerous kilns being built, notably in the Wun Yiu valley at Tai Po in the late 16th century. As the making of pottery required timber for firing, it is likely that further deforestation took place in this area at this time.
5.3.42 During the 16th and 17th century, the global temperature dropped 1 to 2 degrees, which resulted in several seasons of poor agricultural yields. Despite this, villages were widely established during this period. Markets were also set up, such as the fish market in Tai O and the agricultural market in Yuen Long (Siu 1986).
Late Fortifications
5.3.43 During this period, local villagers were recruited into the army and naval services. In 1717, two new stone batteries were also built in Hong Kong, one at Fan Lau on Lantau, and the other at Tung Lung Chau. By the mid-19th-century, new garrisons and stone batteries had been established at Fan Lau and Tung Chung on Lantau, Kowloon Bay and Tsim Sha Tsui (Siu 1997). In addition, a navel command centre was established at Kowloon Bay in 1846, which fell under the control of the Kowloon Walled City until April 1898. These structures remain significant features in the Hong Kong coastal landscape even to this day.
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN HONG KONG LANDSCAPE (1841 ONWARDS)
5.3.44 Before the British arrival in Hong Kong, the landscape had changed relatively little in over 2000 years with perhaps the sole exception of the deforestation of almost all the land area. Over the next 150 years, massive and dramatic changes were to occur in the Hong Kong landscape, especially in Hong Kong Island and Kowloon.
Rural Protection and Vegetation Redevelopment
5.3.45 It is noted in Stewart Lockhart’s journal in 1898, that rice cultivation took place as high as 396m and even higher for tea and pineapple plantations (Lockhart 1898). German missionary Rudolf Krone noted in 1858 that, "the mountains [of Lantau] have a dreary and barren aspect and resemble those of Hong Kong and the opposite mainland. The granite rocks are scantily covered with soil and are overgrown with grass. A luxuriant underwood is found in the ravines but trees seldom met with, though groves of them evidently planted, are generally found in the neighborhood of villages, Buddhist monasteries and temples" (quoted in Stokes, 1995).
5.3.46 Reforestation programmes in suburban areas were implemented soon after the arrival by the British in the 1870s. In 1884, 714,159 trees were planted, the vast majority of which were pines. After the British leased the New Territories, Government reforestation was expanded (typically with the plantation of Pinus spp) such as that in the 1910s around Kowloon Reservoirs. The results of these efforts were that by the Second World War, there had been significant reforestation in certain areas of Hong Kong. Much of this work was undone during the War when much land was cleared for firewood. After the War, the Government again launched reforestation programmes which have been running ever since, in most years resulting in the planting of 200,000 trees and in some years up to 400,000 (Stokes, 1995). By 1990, almost 10% of the HKSAR was covered by woodland, 5% by plantation and around 10% by tall scrubland (Stokes, 1995). Self-seeding of plantation species (most of which are non-native) is probably the cause of the presence of a number of non-native species in the natural landscape such as Acacia sp., Casuarina sp. and Eucalyptus sp.
5.3.47 These programmes, as well as the establishment of Country Parks in 1976 as areas protected from significant development have done much to re-establish vegetation (although not always native) on Hong Kong's hillsides, and to ensure the conservation of rural landscape character at least in the uplands, although the impacts of these efforts is continually offset by hill fire. These parks now cover around 40% of the entire area of Hong Kong.
Urban Development and Reclamation
5.3.48 A map dated 1845 shows evidence of the first Victoria Harbour reclamation (1841 to 1845) in Central. Facilitated by this reclamation, the urban area of Victoria expanded rapidly prior to the end of the century. This urban development included urban roadside tree planting as well as the establishment of the Botanical Gardens in 1864. Tree planting elsewhere was limited to the lower slopes of Victoria Peak, whilst the upper slopes were entirely denuded.
5.3.49 When the British leased Kowloon in 1860, development and reclamation became more systematic. The Government’s draft plans for the development of urban Kowloon first appeared in 1863. Before that development, Kowloon peninsula was predominantly rural with a few villages and there were still beaches in Tsim Sha Tsui as late as 1900. As Victoria City became more crowded, growth occurred in west Kowloon (Sham Shui Po) and in the east (Kowloon Walled City). A huge reclamation of Kowloon Bay was carried out in the early 1920s and further reclamation of Kowloon Bay was carried out by the Japanese between 1942 and 1945.
5.3.50 Since this time, successive reclamations across Hong Kong, but particularly on Hong Kong Island and Kowloon have had a dramatic effect on the landscape by increasingly significantly the developable area. The continuous urban infill and reclamation from the 1950’s to the present coupled with the construction of high-rise buildings along the Hong Kong harbour front has resulted in Hong Kong’s spectacular urban skyline.
New Towns and Urban Decentralisation
5.3.51 After World War II, a great number of immigrants from the mainland entered Hong Kong, putting enormous pressure on the urban areas and resulting in the presence of extensive squatter settlements sprawling across hillsides, such as those at Shek Kip Mei or in Diamond Hill or Pokfulam. These ad hoc settlements have been visible in the landscape until very recently. There was at the same time, a massive expansion of construction in the urban areas. Indeed, until the mid -20th Century, what was notable about the Hong Kong landscape was the striking dichotomy between urban areas (Victoria and Kowloon) and the rural areas of the New Territories, which were largely as they had been for centuries.
5.3.52 In order to tackle these enormous population pressures, Sir Murray Maclehose announced the new towns programme in 1972, with the objective of re-housing and decentralising much of the population The new towns such as those at Sha Tin, Fanling/Sheung Shui, Tuen Mun and Tai Po were built on easily developable areas of lowland around the New Territories. This has had a dramatic effect on the lowland landscape of the New Territories both in terms of loss of the traditional landscape but also in terms of its urbanisation.
5.3.53 The dramatic landscape changes in the New Territories landscape included the construction of reservoirs, reforestation programmes, the proliferation of open storage yards and new towns development.
5.3.54 A characteristic pattern of post-war landscape change is that of Tin Shui Wai, until the 1920s, an area of swamp and marsh, with some salt industry, lime-making and oyster cultivation around the shoreline of Deep Bay. After World War II, the swamp and marsh was reclaimed as brackish water paddy and gei wai (shrimp cultivation ponds). Later still gei wai were converted to fish ponds. (Irving and Morton 1986), until in the 1980's the whole area was reclaimed and developed as a new development.
Infrastructure Expansion
5.3.55 The growth of Hong Kong over the last 150 years, fueled by its more or less continued economic growth and concomitant increase in population, has put huge pressure on infrastructure to keep up with this growth. This in turn has dramatically affected the landscapes of the urban fringe and rural fringe where much of this infrastructure is inevitably located.
5.3.56 The British began the process of developing a strategic transportation infrastructure with the construction of military roads linking strategic points in Hong Kong, including the road around Hong Kong Island and Route TWISK. This was accompanied by the construction of the Kowloon Canton Railway in 1910 and the completion of Kai Tak Airport in 1928.
5.3.57 The growth of the population in the 20th century required increased infrastructure to ensure water supply, power generation and waste disposal. Reservoir construction across Hong Kong dramatically transformed the landscapes of rural and urban fringe areas, beginning with Pokfulam Reservoir in 1864. In the cases of the smaller reservoirs such as Aberdeen, Jubilee and even Tai Tam Tuk, these diversified the landscape by creating new tranquil aquatic landscapes. In the cases of the larger reservoirs such as High Island and Plover Cove Reservoirs, they have had a dramatic effect on the landscape by transforming what were formerly maritime landscapes into rather different ones.
5.3.58 In the early part of the century a network of military fortifications was constructed across the New Territories, notably at Shing Mun, Stanley and Victoria Peak. The rapid expansion in the population after World War 2 was accompanied by a rapid development in the road and rail transportation network and the construction of a new airport at Chek Lap Kok. The expansion of the transportation network has accelerated in the last 20 years and shows little sign of abating. This has had dramatic impacts on the landscape, not least in the engineering of roads and railways through the landscape and the reduction in the tranquility and remoteness of certain rural landscapes. This has been accompanied by the presence of a number of significant new bridges in the coastal landscape. Elsewhere the construction of landfills and power stations have transformed the landscapes of parts of the urban fringe.
5.3.59 Finally, urban expansion into the lowlands has both reduced the capacity of the floodplains and put pressure on Government to reduce the risk of flooding events. This in turn, has led to a programme of river re-training and canalisation across the New Territories, as well as a simplification of the lowland landscape by eliminating meanders and much riparian vegetation.
Rural Depopulation and the Decline of Agriculture
5.3.60 From the 1950s onwards, an increase in economic opportunities in the urban areas and overseas, led to a dramatic decline in the rural population and in traditional rural land use. In certain cases, villages were abandoned or incrementally deserted, particularly in marginal upland areas, and field systems left to revert to scrub. These abandoned landscapes are found across Hong Kong and serve as a telling reminder of its recent landscape history.
5.3.61 Offsetting these effects to a certain extent, were immigrants from the mainland who moved into rural areas. In addition, changes to rural housing policy and planning, mitigated the effects of rural depopulation to a certain extent. However, the long-term trend has been a decline in rural population and in rural land uses, such that by 1980, 40% of all agricultural land was recorded as abandoned and of the remaining 60%, less that 1% was under rice production (Stokes, 1995). Much abandoned agricultural land has been replaced by ad hoc uses requiring little or no capital investment, such as container storage, vehicle parking, scrap yards, or dumping. There has also been an expansion of village housing and increase in residential development in such areas. The result has been a dramatic change in the appearance of the rural landscape, with the loss of the small scale pattern of fields and enclosures, a fragmentation of land use and development types and changes to the muted hues and colours that once characterised the rural landscape.
THE FUTURE - THE LANDSCAPE OF THE EARLY 21st CENTURY
5.3.62 Whilst it is clearly not possible to predict exactly what the future may hold for the landscape Hong Kong, a number of economic, policy and development trends have begun to manifest themselves over recent years, which suggest key changes likely to take place in the landscape in the coming decade. These are discussed briefly below.
Transportation Infrastructure
5.3.63 As Hong Kong seeks to integrate more closely with the PRC, a policy seen as a key pillar for continued economic development, significant development of new transportation infrastructure is anticipated. Ongoing or planned projects include the Deep Bay Link, Tung Chung Road, Shenzhen Western Crossing, Hong Kong-Macau-Zhuhai Link, MTR Penny's Bay Rail Link, KCR Lok Ma Chau Spur Line; KCRC Eastrail Extension; KCR Kowloon Southern Link; KCR Northern Link, KCR Shatin to Central Link and possible MTR South Hong Kong Island Line. Bearing in mind how much transportation infrastructure has been completed in the last 10 years, this represents a continuation in the influence of such features in the landscape of Hong Kong. Unfortunately, such development is inevitably linear in nature and tends to have the effect of fragmenting and compartmentalising the landscape and disrupting its pattern and linkages. How such development can be integrated into the landscape will be a key challenge for the future.
Natural and Built Heritage Conservation
5.3.64 Recent events suggest an increased awareness on the part of the Hong Kong public and the Government of conservation of both the natural and built environment. This has manifested itself in the public debate and Government action on a number of historic buildings threatened by development as well as Government consultation papers on conservation of the natural and built environment. A number of key studies is also being carried out by Government in order to ascertain the extent of landscape resources. These include the Wetland Compensation Study (AFCD) and the Landscape Value Mapping Study (Planning Department).
5.3.65 This renewed public and Governmental interest in the conservation of what are in essence landscape resources, if translated into tangible policy initiatives, may serve to direct the future of landscape resources and features which add to the diversity, character and local distinctiveness of both urban and rural landscapes.
Reclamation Policy
5.3.66 Recent public debate and judicial ruling over the extent of reclamation permissible by law has focused public and Governmental thought on the extent to which reclamation can legitimately continue, at least in Kowloon and Hong Kong, without irredeemably affecting the key relationship between land and sea which makes up the character of this unique landscape.
5.3.67 The manner in which future reclamation is handled in the near future will have a significant bearing on the quality of the urban landscape of the Hong Kong / Kowloon waterfront and of Victoria Harbour. Whether such development can be managed and designed in ways which respect and pay adequate regard to the context and unique landscape character of Victoria Harbour is a key challenge for the coming decade.
Reduction of Height Restrictions in Kowloon
5.3.68 With the closure of Kai Tak airport in 1998, air navigation constraints which had previously restricted the height to which buildings could be developed on the Kowloon Peninsula were removed. Already a number of high-rise buildings have been developed on the Peninsula, representing a marked contrast with the predominant building form that was until recently characteristic of the area.
5.3.69 The manner in which the reduction of height restrictions is managed in the future will determine whether Kowloon retains one of the urban morphological characteristics which has determined in large part, the character of its urban landscape or whether it is allowed to change and develop incrementally into an urban landscape of a different character.
The Landscape of Lantau
5.3.70 The landscape of Lantau is probably that which has been most significantly changed over the last 15 years. The development of Discovery Bay; the Hong Kong International Airport at Chek Lap Kok; the North Lantau Development; North Lantau Expressway and Tsing Ma Bridge are all major projects implemented in the last two decades. A number of other major projects are currently ongoing or in the planning, feasibility or construction stage. These include the Penny's Bay Theme Park, Hong Kong-Macau-Zhuhai Link; North Lantau Development; Tung Chung Road; Port Development and Prison at Hei Ling Chau / Silvermine Bay. Other development projects in southern Lantau have been mooted and discussed in the press, including retail and tourism-related uses.
5.3.71 As Hong Kong's largest Island and one of its least developed landscapes, Lantau is in many senses unique. It appears that, with incremental development, it may shortly reach a point at which its capacity to absorb development without compromising its essential character is exceeded.
New Towns and Developments Areas
5.3.72 Whilst the first wave of new towns are now all complete, the need to house a population which is predicted to increase necessitates the construction of new developments and new development areas both in urban areas and beyond the urban fringe. These include the completion of the latter phases of the Tin Shui Wai, Tseung Kwan O and North Lantau Developments, the design and construction of the West Kowloon Entertainment District and South East Kowloon Development and proposed developments in the NENT.
5.3.73 Such developments are often located in Hong Kong's former agrarian lowlands and have dramatic implications for these landscapes. Whilst the need to house an ever increasing population seems unavoidable, the manner in which such developments achieve a fit with their landscape context and the extent to which they can avoid standardised urban design and landscape design solutions in pursuit of the high quality of urban landscape seems to be one of the most significant challenges for the urban landscape in the next decade.
Hill Fire and Upland Landscape
5.3.74 Hill fires remain the single largest issue preventing natural vegetation succession in the Hong Kong upland landscape. A disaster in ecological terms, they have huge impacts on the landscape contributing to erosion and soil loss which in turn impedes vegetation development. They also probably favour colonisation by non-native species, thus subtly changing the look of the landscape, but having larger ramifications for its ecology.
5.3.75 Contrary to popular opinion, almost every hill fire has a human cause and sadly the sheer numbers of hill fires and the relatively low human death toll seem to trivialise them in the public imagination. Until the public as a whole comes to regard hill fire as the natural disasters that they are, the natural development and succession of the Hong Kong upland landscape will certainly be impeded.
The Closed Border Area
5.3.76 Recently, there has been some discussion by Government and the public as to the potential to develop part of the Closed Border Area in order to foster economic activity and growth. The low-lying parts of the central Closed Border Area constitute some of the more intact areas of the remnant lowland Hong Kong landscape and significant development in these areas is likely to have consequent effects for these landscapes.
5.4 VARIATION IN CHARACTER AND KEY FEATURES IN THE HONG KONG LANDSCAPE
INTRODUCTION
5.4.1 The section of the report analyses the variation in the Hong Kong landscape (on a broad area basis) and identifies key landscape features which assist in forming the character of these landscapes.
LANTAU ISLAND
Variation in Landscape Character on Lantau Island
5.4.2 As certain areas of Lantau are currently undergoing rapid development change, from almost wilderness to almost urban, the island currently exhibits considerable variety in its landscape.
5.4.3 The upland spine of Lantau comprises Peaks, areas which are exposed and rugged landscapes, dominated by grassy crags and tors.
5.4.4 At lower elevations (below 300mPD) the hills are somewhat less precipitous and are dominated by grasses or scrub vegetation. Because of Lantau's morphology, almost all of these hillsides fall directly into the sea, forming Coastal Uplands and Hillsides. These landscape are characterised in particular by their exposure and maritime location. In many places, these hillsides are strewn with boulder fields. Along the coast, these landscape form significant rocky headlands or fall dramatically into the sea, terminating in steep rocky foreshores.
5.4.5 Inland, where these hillsides are less influenced by the exposure to and presence of the sea, they form Uplands and Hillsides landscapes, which, because of their more sheltered locations, have a more significant coverage of scrub and woodland vegetation.
5.4.6 Between the numerous ridges and spurs formed by Lantau's uplands are its valleys. These are often steep and highly enclosed landscapes, usually terminating at the coast between rocky headlands. As they offer greater shelter than the uplands, their floors often contain woodland along the stream courses. In a small number of cases, such valleys are narrow or steep to be inhabited and form Unsettled Valleys. However, such valleys generally form the largest areas of cultivable land on Lantau and have in many cases been settled. Such Settled Valleys include villages, roads, field systems and engineering structures such as service reservoirs on valley floors. Such landscapes, once intimate and tranquil are becoming abandoned as population increasingly leaves them.
5.4.7 At Shek Pik, there is the only example on Lantau of a Reservoir Landscape. These are inland landscapes which are dominated and characterised by significant expanses of water and the infrastructure associated with reservoirs.
5.4.8 Lantau possesses few low-lying landscapes outside its valleys, but narrow Coastal Plains can be found at Cheung Sha and Tai O. These landscapes, often partly reclaimed, have proved to be a locus for settlement. They form less exposed landscapes than the uplands, with correspondingly greater vegetation cover, although their character is still significantly influenced by their maritime location.
5.4.9 At the mouths of some valleys, alluvial deposits from the valley have formed Inter-tidal Coast landscapes of mud flat, sea grass and mangrove such as those at Tung Chung or Yi O. These landscapes are generally open and exposed in character.
5.4.10 The landscapes described above have probably not changed significantly for centuries. However, landscape change and new landscapes are increasingly manifest in the Lantau landscape.
5.4.11 The nascent new town at Tung Chung, of which only the core area has yet been completed, comprises a mixed landscape of roads, residential development, commercial and retail complexes and transport infrastructure, forming a New Town Mixed Urban Landscape, similar to that found in new towns across Hong Kong.
5.4.12 Extensive mixed-density residential development at Discovery Bay, set amongst ample landscape has resulted in a Residential Urban Fringe Landscape that, though reasonably common elsewhere in Hong Kong, is unique on Lantau.
5.4.13 At Mui Wo, significant areas of medium-rise development close to the waterfront have given rise to a Rural Township Landscape, a landscape whereby one or more villages has coalesced into a more significantly developed landscape, akin to what might be described as a 'townscape'. This landscape character type is found only in a handful of other places across Hong Kong (e.g. Sai Kung or Stanley).
5.4.14 The development of Chek Lap Kok Airport and the creation of the golf course development at Discovery Bay have resulted in unusual landscapes (Airport Landscape and Golf Course Landscape respectively).
5.4.15 The development of road and rail corridor along the northern coast of Lantau has resulted in a distinct though unusual Transportation Corridor Landscape dominated by infrastructure features and intermediate planting.
5.4.16 Ongoing reclamation and development at Penny's Bay and Tung Chung North and Tung Chung South has resulted in extensive and highly disturbed Reclamation / Ongoing Major Development landscapes.
Key Landscape Features in the Lantau Landscape
5.4.17 A number of natural and man-made features serve to characterise or define the landscape of Lantau as a whole. The following section of the report identifies these features and explains their significance to the wider landscape.
Monasteries / Nunneries
5.4.18 Several isolated monasteries and nunneries are scattered across Lantau, such as those at Ngong Ping or above the Tung Chung Valley. Their visual presence in otherwise undeveloped landscape is particularly distinctive and characteristic of the landscape of Lantau and they act both as essential elements of wider landscape character as well as landmarks in themselves.
Fortified Structures
5.4.19 Lantau's several fortified structures (such as the forts at Tung Chung, Fan Lau or watchtower at Mui Wo) attest to the former strategic importance of the island at the mouth of the Pearl River. Today they sit in the landscape as significant landmarks, contributor's to Lantau's unique sense of place and part of the landscape memory of Hong Kong itself.
Salt Pans
5.4.20 Lantau was once one of the centres of salt production for the Chinese empire. The extant salt pans at Tai O are therefore a sole testament to a relic landscape type which was formerly of fundamental importance in the landscape of Lantau and of Hong Kong.
Tea Terraces
5.4.21 High on the slopes of some of the uplands such as on Lantau such as Sunset Peak are terraces cut into the hillsides for the purpose of cultivating tea. These relic landscapes, long deserted were probably originally created by the immigrant Hakka peoples in the 17th and 18th Centuries as they pushed inland in search of cultivable land to settle. Today, they are a characteristic feature of these uplands and a distinct reference to a part of Lantau's landscape past.
Tai O Village
5.4.22 Located partly on reclaimed land and partly in the bay itself, Tai O has long been one of Lantau's major settlements, thriving on salt production, fishing and trade. It's extensive settlement of stilt houses and landscape fusion of water and structures is unique in Hong Kong and forms a totally distinctive landscape environment.
Ancient Boulder-ways
5.4.23 These are ancient routes found along certain coasts on the western and southern shores of Lantau. They cut through the landscape in deep wooded incisions in the landscape and are often 'paved' with huge slabs of stone set at intervals. They have been used for centuries as the only routes along the coast and have a real presence which is quite unlike anything else in Hong Kong. As living relics of ancient landscapes, these are key features in the Lantau landscape.
Tors, Crags and Cliffs
5.4.24 The uplands and peaks of Lantau are some of the steepest in Hong Kong. At their summits, weathering and landslips have produced a striking landscape of deeply weathered tors, crags and cliff features, interspersed with grass. Rugged and dramatic, these are one of the key characteristic features of the landscape of Lantau.
Ngong Ping Plateau
5.4.25 Forming a shallow bowl set amidst towering peaks and dominated by the vast statue of the Buddha, the Ngong Ping plateau is quite unlike anywhere in Hong Kong as is associated with Lantau's volcanic past. Given additional distinctiveness by the Po Lin Monastery and vast statue of the Buddha which dominates the landscape, this landscape has a presence and sense of place which is unique in Hong Kong.
Isolated Beaches and Sand Spits
5.4.26 Formed by longshore action in shallow bays between rocky headlands around the island, the sandy beaches and sand spits of Lantau are one of its distinctive coastal features. Many are very isolated and a number are extensive, such as those at Fan Lau and Cheung Sha and have a distinct sense of place.
Intertidal Bays
5.4.27 At the mouths of stream valleys on the coast, Lantau also has a number of mudflat, sea grass or mangrove habitats. Their formation is a process termed inner bay deposition and is probably assisted by deposition of alluvium associated with deforestation and agricultural activities in the uplands and river valleys respectively. Examples such as those at Shui Hau Wan or Yi O form an unique combination of landscape features with their low-lying valley landscapes to the rear.
Rocky Headlands and Shores
5.4.28 The steep topography of Lantau generally plunges dramatically into the sea, with few coastal plains forming naturally, except at the mouths of valleys. There is generally a progression of grass and scrub at the mid levels of hillside to scrub woodland just above the sea, below which are often steep rocky foreshores. Between valleys, the coast forms rocky headlands with a slight covering of grass. Occasionally, sea caves or sea arches are formed in these coasts. As Lantau has such an extensive coastline, these coastal hillsides, foreshores and headlands are a key element of its landscape character.
Incised Stream Valleys
5.4.29 The particular geology of Lantau has produced numerous steep incised valleys, usually trending north-south. Such valleys act as the water catchments for the uplands around them, often with significant streams running down them. In their upper parts, they are usually steep and undeveloped with riparian woodland vegetation in the bottom. Towards the mouths, the valley floors have often been settled for agriculture (often now abandoned) with a village located at the mouth near the coast. This particular combination of landscape features, evident at places such as Wong Lung Hang, Yi O or Sham Wat, is particularly characteristic of the Lantau landscape.
Waterfalls and Rocky Streams
5.4.30 The steep topography of landscapes results in steep rocky streams and striking waterfalls at a number of locations across the island, such as that at Mui Wo. These form dramatic features and landmarks in the landscape and are particularly characteristic of Lantau.
HONG KONG ISLAND
Variation in Landscape Character on Hong Kong Island
5.4.31 Both historic factors and development planning on Hong Kong Island mean that it exhibits an exceptionally wide range of landscapes from almost wilderness to intensely urban, thus representing almost the complete range of landscape types found across Hong Kong as a whole. There is a also a distinct and striking pattern in the geographic distribution of these landscapes.
5.4.32 Hong Kong Island is, like most of Hong Kong, a precipitously mountainous landscape, with hillsides plunging sharply into the sea. Therefore across much of central and southern Hong Kong Island, Rural Landscape Types predominate.
5.4.33 The central uplands of Hong Kong Island contain a number of Peaks landscapes above 300mPD, all exposed and rugged landscapes, dominated by grassy crags and tors, such as High West, Mount Butler, and Mount Cameron.
5.4.34 In the central uplands are numerous Uplands and Hillsides Landscapes somewhat less precipitous which are dominated by grasses or scrub vegetation which are interspersed by a number of Settled Valleys, running predominantly north-south. Some of these valleys contain remnant farmland or villages, both increasingly uncommon on the Island.
5.4.35 As the northern and western shores are relatively more developed than the southern and eastern shores, Coastal Uplands and Hillsides are found only significantly in areas such as Tai Tam Bay, and the Shek O Peninsula. These landscape are characterised in particular by their exposure and maritime location. In many places, these hillsides are strewn with boulder fields. Along the coast, these landscapes form significant rocky headlands or fall dramatically into the sea.
5.4.36 Striking landscapes of the central uplands are its Reservoir Landscapes, such as that at Tai Tam, which are extensive flooded valleys which possess a remote and tranquil character.
5.4.37 Given the mountainous topography of the Island, it is not surprising that Rural Coastal Plains are found infrequently (only at Shek O and Tai Tam) and are of limited size. They form less exposed landscapes than the uplands, with correspondingly greater vegetation cover, although their character is still significantly influenced by their maritime location.
5.4.38 Other striking and unusual landscapes found on Hong Kong Island (predominantly on the southern side) are its Golf Course Landscapes (Shek O and Deep Bay), its Theme Park Landscapes (Ocean Park), its Quarry/ Landfill Landscape (Shek O Quarry); the Reclamation/Ongoing Major Development Landscape at Waterfall Bay; the Comprehensive Residential Development Landscape at Redhill and the Rural Township Landscape at Stanley (a landscape whereby village settlement has coalesced into a more significantly developed landscape, akin to what might be described as a 'townscape'. This landscape character type is found only in a handful of other places across Hong Kong (e.g. Sai Kung or Mui Wo).
5.4.39 These small, but diverse landscapes, tend to add considerable variety and diversity to the landscape of Hong Kong Island as a whole.
5.4.40 Urban and Urban Fringe landscapes are located extensively along the north and western shore of the Island, with small concentrations of these landscapes at Aberdeen and Stanley/Chung Hom Kok.
5.4.41 The northern shore of Hong Kong Island comprises almost exclusively urban landscapes. In the area between Sheung Wan and Causeway Bay, landscapes often have particular connection to the waterfront resulting in a number of Civic Urban Waterfront Landscapes. Inland from these, are High-rise Commercial Urban Landscapes and City Grid Mixed Urban Landscapes (an older urban landscape type found across the northern shore of Hong Kong Island and in Kowloon. Striking and characteristic landscapes of this central urban area are the relatively high numbers of Park Urban Landscapes and Institutional Landscapes (comprising loose groupings of civic buildings and facilities, especially those around the Legco Building and Garden Road corridor).
5.4.42 Striking (and relatively unusual) landscapes on the north shore of Hong Island, are the Organic Mixed Urban Development Landscapes, some of the oldest urban landscapes in Hong Kong comprising narrow streets winding up and along hillsides (especially around Hollywood Road and Sheung Wan).
5.4.43 Large scale Residential Urban Landscapes are concentrated mainly at the east of the northern shore of the Island (around Chai Wan) and also with a distinct concentration between Wah Fu and at Aberdeen.
5.4.44 Industrial Urban Landscapes are scattered in pockets across the north shore of the Island with a small concentration at Aberdeen/Ap Lei Chau.
5.4.45 Uncommon, but striking are the Late 20C/Early 21C High Rise Commercial/Residential Complexes in and around Taikoo Shing.
5.4.46 On the fringes of the urban area, further east and west along the north shore of Hong Kong Island are areas of Miscellaneous Urban Fringe landscape, where distinct uses and coherent urban fabric breaks down (Kennedy Town, Happy Valley and Chai Wan). These are accompanied by other urban fringe landscapes such as Institutional Landscapes, and Cemetery Landscapes (Pokfulam, Happy Valley and Chai Wan).
5.4.47 Along the southern edge of the urban area on the north shore of Hong Kong Island are extensive areas of Residential Urban Fringe Landscapes, extending from Pokfulam to North Point and typified by the Mid-Levels area.
Key Landscape Features in the Hong Kong Island Landscape
5.4.48 A number of natural and man-made features serve to characterise or define the landscape of Hong Kong Island as a whole. The following section of the report identifies these features and explains their significance to the wider landscape.
Historic Buildings
5.4.49 In a number of areas across Hong Kong Island are found considerable concentrations of buildings from the British Colonial Period, which represent some of the largest concentrations of intact historic buildings in Hong Kong. This is true of the Garden Road Corridor as well as areas of Soho, Sheung Wan, Western and Mid-Levels. Very notable examples are the Legco Building, Government House, St John's Cathedral, French Mission, Supreme Court Building, Victoria Prison, Western Market, YMCA, Medical Science Museum, former Wanchai Post Office Building, University of Hong Kong complex, Jamia Mosque and Ohel Yeah Synagogue. Stanley also possesses a small concentration of such buildings, notably its former Police Station and the Murray Barracks building (relocated from Central).
5.4.50 Hong Kong Island also possesses a number of significant historic vernacular Chinese buildings which are significant landscape elements. These are largely located along the northern shore of the island, such as Law Uk, the Man Mo Temple, Hung Shing Temple, Lo Pan Temple, Kik Lok Tung, Tin Hau Temple at Causeway Bay, Tin Hau Temple at Shau Kei Wan and Tam Kung Temple. There are also numerous smaller temples scattered throughout the urban area of Hong Kong Island.
5.4.51 Many historic structures are military in nature. These military structures and fortifications include Flagstaff House, Lei Yue Mun Barracks, Stanley Military Cemetery and Stanley Camp, the Lei Yue Mun Redoubt and various World War Two fortifications on Mount Davis and Victoria Peak.
5.4.52 The visual presence of these historic buildings in what are otherwise entirely modern urban environments is particularly distinctive and adds considerably to the diversity and character of the urban landscape. In addition, when they occur in groups or within a certain proximity of each other (as in Western, Garden Road, Hong Kong University or Soho/Mid-Levels, they give rise to landscape characters which are particularly distinctive.
Urban Parks
5.4.53 One of the significant features of the urban area of Hong Kong Island is its extensive urban parks, in particular the Botanic Gardens, Victoria Peak Gardens, Hong Kong Park and Victoria Park. The Botanic Gardens date from 1864 and are an historic landscape in their own right, whilst the other parks date from the middle and late 20th Century. These landscapes play a significant role in diversifying and characterising the wider urban landscapes of Hong Kong Island.
Reclamation Landscapes
5.4.54 The process of reclaiming landscapes from the sea is certainly not one unique to Hong Kong, but it is one that has historically been characteristic of Hong Kong Island's urban area. The combination of reclamation and rectilinear urban blocks leads to a distinctive (if somewhat homogenous) urban landscape and form and is certainly a distinctive characteristic of the northern shore of Hong Kong Island.
Sheung Wan-to Causeway Bay Urban Area
5.4.55 The urban area along the waterfront between Sheung Wan and Causeway Bay is one of the most densely developed urban landscapes in the world. The result of these high building densities and numerous prestigious medium and high-rise buildings, is a landscape which is both large in scale but highly constrained and enclosed, and which is exceptionally vibrant and frenetic with a dazzling sense of verticality. This results in one of the most singular urban environments and skylines in the world.
Modern Landmark Buildings
5.4.56 The urban areas of Hong Kong Island contain a small number of modern buildings which act as key landmarks in the wider urban landscape and which in some cases are of regional or world significance for their architectural and aesthetic merit. Such buildings include The Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank, Bank of China Tower, Hong Kong Exhibition and Convention Centre Extension, Peak Tram Tower and International Finance Centre 2.
Stanley Village
5.4.57 Located partly on a low-lying plain or isthmus, Stanley village was historically one of the largest settlements in Hong Kong, based on its fishing industry. It's combination of largely low-rise buildings, coastal location, narrow organic street layout, ample vegetation and historic buildings possess a particular character and charm which is rare in Hong Kong and forms a distinctive landscape environment.
Reservoirs
5.4.58 A relatively large area of Hong Kong Island is devoted to reservoirs, which have come to form a distinctive feature in this landscape. These include the complex of reservoirs at Tai Tam, as well as the smaller Pokfulam and Aberdeen Reservoirs. As Hong Kong has no significant natural lakes, these tranquil water bodies add considerable diversity to the landscape of the island.
Cemeteries
5.4.59 The cemeteries at Pokfulam, Aberdeen, Chai Wan have resulted in vast terraced hillsides, almost entirely without vegetation. These landscapes are both striking and somewhat homogenous and are visible over large distances in the wider landscape.
Isolated Beaches
5.4.60 The south and east of Hong Kong Island are characterised by a number of sandy beaches which have formed in shallow bays between rocky headlands and which are one of its distinctive coastal features. These include the beaches at Repulse Bay, Deep Bay, Stanley, Shek O and Big Wave Bay, each with its own distinct sense of place.
Rocky Headlands and Shores
5.4.61 The steep topography of Hong Kong Island generally plunges dramatically (except for the largely reclaimed northern shore), with few coastal plains forming naturally. There is generally a progression of grass and scrub at the mid levels of hillside to scrub woodland just above the sea, below which are often steep rocky foreshores. Where spurs and ridges drop down to the coast, they form rocky headlands with a slight covering of grass. Occasionally, spectacular rock features or sea arches are formed in these coasts, such as those at Cape D'Aguilar. These rocky foreshores and headlands are a key element of the landscape character of Hong Kong Island.
Wooded Valleys
5.4.62 The particular geology of Hong Kong Island has resulted in numerous gentle valleys, usually trending north-south. Such valleys act as the water catchments for the uplands around them with streams running through them. Often largely unsettled, these valleys frequently fall within Country Parks so that vegetation has been left to revert to extensive woodland and scrub vegetation. At the same time, because they are in such proximity to the urban area, these valleys usually contain at least some human features, usually in the form of an access road. These tranquil and sheltered wooded valleys, are a particular feature of the Hong Kong Island landscape.
THE COASTAL WATERS
Variation in Landscape Character within the Coastal Waters
5.4.63 Many at first glance might consider it unusual to consider coastal waters as 'landscapes'. However. world-wide, there has in recent years been a recognition that coastal waters or 'seascapes' as they are commonly known, are in fact another variety of landscape, albeit with a fairly different combination of elements in different proportions to other landscapes.
5.4.64 This is particularly true in the case of Hong Kong, where complex coastal landforms and topography result in high levels of interaction and interlock between land and sea, making seascapes and landscapes almost inseparable.
5.4.65 Yet coastal waters landscapes remain, by virtue of the overwhelming predominance of a single element (i.e. water) fairly homogenous landscapes with little (or at least very subtle) variations between different areas of coastal water. For this reason, all coastal waters are considered to be examples of a single Landscape Character Types: that is, the Coastal Waters LCT. There is certainly a degree of variation within these different LCAs, which tends to reflect predominantly differences in the scale and enclosure of different areas of coastal waters, making coastal waters landscapes of 'Silvermine Bay' LCA and 'East Hong Kong Offshore Waters' LCA rather different in character, the former very enclosed and small scale, the latter expansive and huge in scale.
5.4.66 Other key differences in character are the extent to which coastal waters are interspersed with islands. In LCAs such as 'Rocky Harbour' LCA and other LCAs around Sai Kung, the numerous small islands mean that the landscape becomes visually more complex and diverse than elsewhere.
5.4.67 Coastal waters in urban locations exhibit typically higher levels of visual diversity and activity than those in remote locations. Thus, the character of the 'Inner Victoria Harbour' LCA with its vibrant marine activity of ferries and other craft is considerably different in character to the isolated and tranquil waters of the 'Soko Islands' LCA where any marine traffic is a relatively rare occurrence.
5.4.68 Differences in landscape character are also due in part to the presence of other marine features such as shipping, fish farms, bridges, oyster beds, dry docks or anchorages, marinas or typhoon shelters.
Key Landscape Features in the Coastal Waters Landscape
5.4.69 A number of natural and man-made features serve to characterise or define the landscape of Hong Kong's Coastal Waters, as a whole. The following section of the report identifies these features and explains their significance to the wider landscape.
Small Islands
5.4.70 Hong Kong's complex coastline contains very many tiny islands and rocks which are too small to be considered landscapes in their own right and which are really features in the wider coastal waters landscape. These range in size from small islands or 'chau' to tiny rocks or 'pai' jutting out of the sea. Almost always intensely weathered and exposed, such islands are normally steep with a rocky weathered coast and support little more than grass and scrub vegetation. Usually such islands lie just off the coast of larger islands or the mainland. Occasionally, as with Soko Islands, Ninepin Group or around the Sai Kung coast, such islands form clusters adding considerably to the diversity of the coastal waters landscape.
Bridges
5.4.71 A small number of major bridges span coastal waters around Hong Kong, in particular around Tsing Yi. Bridges such as the Tin Kau and Tsing Ma Bridges are very significant landscape elements and landmark features and add considerably to the diversity of coastal waters landscapes. Such elements are only likely to assume more significance in the future with the construction of the Shenzhen Western Corridor and the possible Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge.
Fish Farms ('Yue Pai')
5.4.72 Located generally in remote areas of coastal water and close to the shore, fish farms or 'yue pai' form distinct grids of floating booms and nets, often fairly extensive. Such elements are typical of certain remote coastal waters, particularly on the east coast of Hong Kong.
Shipping and Marine Vessels
5.4.73 Along with small islands, the presence of shipping is probably the major feature characterising the landscape of coastal waters. The size, numbers and activity of such vessels varies considerably depending on location. In the East Lamma Channel LCA, large cargo vessels frequently cross this area of sea, which is one of the world's busier shipping lanes. Other LCAs such as the waters around Sai Kung are much more characterised by larger numbers of small pleasure craft. Inner Victoria Harbour is characterised by large numbers of vessels of a wide variety such as ferries, cargo vessels, cruise liners and pleasure craft. In other coastal waters such as the South Hong Kong Offshore Waters or Pearl River Estuary, infrequent fishing vessels are more typical.
Anchorages
5.4.74 As a major port, Hong Kong has a number of major anchorages in the waters west of Victoria Harbour. In these locations, significant numbers of large cargo vessels remain anchored off-shore while they are loaded and unloaded by lighters and barges. These vessels form distinct patterns in the coastal waters landscape, often brightly lit at night.
Marinas and Typhoon Shelters
5.4.75 As a predominantly coastal territory, Hong Kong possesses numerous marinas and typhoon shelters, where large numbers of small pleasure craft or fishing craft lie close to each other at anchor. In the case of marinas such as that in Hebe Haven or Aberdeen Harbour, such landscapes are often patterned by series of pontoons and walkways where pleasure craft are moored. In the case typhoon shelters, such as those in Aberdeen Harbour or Cheung Chau, their distinguishing feature is their breakwater, enclosing large numbers of fishing vessels, sampans and other working craft. These features add considerably to the vibrancy, colour and diversity of the coastal waters landscapes in which they occur.
Victoria Harbour
5.4.76 Victoria Harbour is a unique landscape environment with a relationship of water, landform and urban environment not found in quite the same configuration anywhere else in the world. The Harbour itself is a vibrant and bustling coastal landscape characterised by frequent movements of a diverse range of maritime craft. In this environment, it is the interface between elements: between sea and land, between buildings and land and between sky and land that is of key importance, as well as the relative size of each element when seen in composition. As a corollary to this, the product of this environment is somewhat more than the sum of its parts, such that a change to any single element (e.g. building height, width of the Harbour, or ridgeline) tends to have a disproportionate effect on the entire relationship of these elements and the landscape as a whole.
Other Features
5.4.77 A variety of miscellaneous features can also be found in various locations in the coastal waters off Hong Kong. These include the floating timber store in Yam O Bay, Lantau; the floating restaurant in Aberdeen Harbour; the floating dry-dock off the north shore of Lantau and also the oyster beds off Lau Fau Shan in Deep Bay. Such unique features add quite significantly to the character and distinctiveness of the landscapes in which they lie.
THE OUTLYING ISLANDS
Variation in Landscape Character within the Outlying Islands Landscape
5.4.78 The Outlying Islands have in common a certain physical remoteness from the mainland and main island land masses of Hong Kong. Often small in scale and generally unpopulated, they almost always possess a sense of remoteness and exposure. The majority of these islands are of such small size that they cannot be meaningfully sub-divided into Landscape Character Types. Therefore, many of the Outlying Islands are classified under the Island Landscapes LCT. These landscapes are characterised by the proximity of water in all views of the landscape and typically steep rocky topography with limited vegetation, often limited to grass and scrub. The effects of exposure and weathering mean that many of these islands are characterised by striking coastal rock formations. Human features in such landscapes are usually limited to single small-scale features such as light-houses, jetties or telecom stations. They are also ideal locations for social facilities which require remoteness from centres of population, such as detention facilities. By virtue of their remoteness, relative lack of development and the striking effects of weathering upon their geology, many of these smaller outlying islands constitute some of the most spectacular landscapes in Hong Kong.
5.4.79 A small number of outlying Islands are large enough to possess a variety of different landscapes within them, including Cheung Chau and Lamma Island. On Cheung Chau, the main fishing village forms a Rural Township landscape with Miscellaneous Rural Fringe elsewhere on the island, reflecting its relatively developed characteristics.
5.4.80 On Lamma which is the largest of the Study's Outlying Islands, there are Rural Coastal Plains at Sok Kwu Wan, Yung Shue Wan, and Tai Wan. More typical of these larger outlying islands are Coastal Uplands and Hillsides on Lamma and Cheung Chau. The elevated area of Mount Stenhouse on Lamma also comprises a small area of Peaks landscape. The valley running south from Sok Kwu Wan constitutes the sole example of an Unsettled Valley on the outlying islands.
Key Landscape Features in the Outlying Islands Landscape
5.4.81 A number of natural and man-made features serve to characterise or define the landscape of Hong Kong's Outlying Islands. The following section of the report identifies these features and explains their significance to the wider landscape.
Sea Cliffs
5.4.82 Exposure and weathering by both wind and sea action results in highly weathered shorelines. The precise form this weathering takes depends entirely on the underlying geology. In the case of islands of volcanic rock, this tends to result in high and spectacular angular sea cliffs, often with striking columnar jointing such as those in the eastern waters of Hong Kong, e.g. Basalt Island or the Ninepins. On islands of granitic rock, typically in the south or west, coastal cliffs tend to be slightly less steep and more rounded such as those on the Soko or Poi Toi Islands.
Sea Arches, Sea Caves and Stacks
5.4.83 Sea arches can be found on a number of Hong Kong's Outlying Islands and tend to be formed when a peninsula or promontory of softer rock (typically volcanic ash) is affected by wave action from two sides. This results initially in a series of notches or clefts at the base of the cliff, but over time the waves will cut through the promontory, to form an arch. In the case of a coast or thicker promontory, a sea cave will be formed by the same processes, typically at faults, where the rock is weaker.
5.4.84 Where a sea arch is so eroded that it cannot support the weight of rock above it, it will collapse, leaving a pillar or 'stack' of rock protruding from the sea. Over time, these stacks may become so eroded that they disappear under the surface of the sea. A number of islands typically in the eastern waters of Hong Kong, such as Port Island, contain fine examples of stacks running out into the sea.
Tomboli
5.4.85 Where two islands are located in close proximity to each other, they may act so as to bend the incoming current around them so that their energy sweeps sand onto the gap between them. This then forms a sand bar, known as a 'tombolo'. The overall result is a distinctive 'dumb-bell'-shaped island with a low narrow central part and larger higher ends. Examples of tomboli in the outlying islands can be seen at Cheung Chau and Sha Chau.
Small Beaches
5.4.86 Beaches form as a result of wash, swash and backwash and require reasonable amounts of sediment to form into extensive areas. This means that beaches on outlying islands tend to be somewhat shorter and narrower than those elsewhere in the mainland and larger islands of Hong Kong. However, they will typically form in small pockets between promontories or headlands on outlying islands and such small beaches are characteristic of the Outlying Islands. More extensive beaches can be found on Ping Chau and Cheung Chau.
Ping Chau
5.4.87 Ping Chau is an exceptional landscape that warrants a special mention in its own right. Physically remote from Hong Kong and unique in terms of its geology and resulting landscape, Ping Chau is notable for its striking flat topography (unusual for Hong Kong). It is also remarkable for its spectacular sedimentary coastal rock formations and cliffs as well as its coral-strewn beaches and its distinctive littoral and coastal vegetation communities. Largely abandoned today, its landscape and villages possess an unique and distinctive character.
Navigational and Communications Features
5.4.88 The location of many outlying islands at the geographic periphery of Hong Kong's territory and their relative remoteness and elevation, makes them suitable locations at which to site (maritime and aerial) navigational and communications features of many kinds. These include light-houses and weather stations (Ninepins and Po Toi Islands) and telecommunications stations (Lung Kwu Chau and Sha Chau).
Major Public Infrastructure Facilities
5.4.89 The remoteness of many outlying islands has made them seem appropriate places in which to locate major public facilities that might seem more objectionable in more populated areas or which are intrinsically more suited to more inaccessible locations. For these reasons, many outlying islands house or have housed public facilities such as power stations (Lamma Island); quarries (Lamma Island); prisons and detention centres (Hei Ling Chau and the Soko Islands) and fuel stores (Sha Chau). Similarly, the development of the airport at Chek Lap Kok airport required that both the Brothers Islands be leveled.
Fishing Villages
5.4.90 The location of many outlying islands at the geographic periphery of Hong Kong's territory and their relative remoteness and elevation, makes them suitable locations at which to site (maritime and aerial) navigational and communications features of many kinds. These include light-houses and weather stations (Ninepins and Po Toi Islands) and telecommunications stations (Lung Kwu Chau and Sha Chau).
THE SOUTH-EAST NEW TERRITORIES
Variation in Landscape Character in the South East New Territories
5.4.91 The South East New Territories landscape coincides with the extensive area of volcanic tuffs which underlies the eastern area of the Hong Kong landmass. This underlying geology is the primary cause of the distinctive characteristics of this landscape which is largely determined by the distinctive pattern of volcanic rock which was forced upwards to form high peaks. Volcanic rock weathers somewhat differently from the granites elsewhere in Hong Kong, so that it forms steep jagged peaks and ridges and precipitous cliffs which are a key characteristic of the SENT landscape.
5.4.92 The variable pattern of geological faults in the SENT also results in a complex pattern of valleys which trend in a variety of directions. This variable underlying geology combined with the highly eroded volcanic rock has resulted in highly complex and indented coastline of islands, headlands, straits and bays.
5.4.93 The SENT landscape is also highly weathered, receiving the full force of Hong Kong's prevailing easterly wind and the heaviest rainfall in Hong Kong (over 2,400mm per year over much of the SENT).
5.4.94 This combination of geology and weathering results in a spectacular, rugged landscape of steep ridges, peaks and valleys, making it relatively inaccessible. The central uplands of the SENT contain a number of Peaks landscapes above 300mPD, all exposed and rugged landscapes, dominated by grassy crags and tors, such as High Junk Peak, Sharp Peak and Ma On Shan.
5.4.95 In the central uplands are a number of Uplands and Hillsides Landscapes somewhat less precipitous which are dominated by grasses or scrub vegetation and which are interspersed by a number of Settled Valleys. Some of these valleys contain remnant farmland or villages. Elsewhere, the remoteness of the SENT has resulted in relatively high numbers of Unsettled Valleys which have never been settled in any form, a relatively rare occurrence in Hong Kong.
5.4.96 Proximity to the coast results in significant areas of Coastal Uplands and Hillsides landscapes, particularly in the Sai Kung East Country Park Peninsula and Clearwater Bay Peninsula. These landscapes are characterised by their indented coastlines, exposure, poorly developed vegetation and maritime location. At the coast, these landscapes form significant rocky headlands or fall dramatically into the sea, often with striking coastal rock formations.
5.4.97 Given the mountainous topography of the Island, it is not surprising that Rural Coastal Plains are found infrequently (in particular, at Sai Sha and Wong Ma Tei) and are of limited size. They form less exposed landscapes than the uplands, with correspondingly greater vegetation cover, although their character is still significantly influenced by their maritime location.
5.4.98 The SENT is also greatly characterised by its offshore Island Landscapes. Generally these islands, such as Basalt Island and Kau Sai Chau, are rugged, highly weathered and very little developed. Their exposure and coastal location means that their vegetation is often not particularly well developed, but results in unusual and striking grassland landscapes as at Tap Mun and Bluff Island.
5.4.99 The damming of the straits between the coast of the SENT and High Island created the striking Reservoir Landscapes of High Island Reservoir, vast in scale and with a distinct remote and tranquil character.
5.4.100 Another distinctive feature of the SENT landscape are its two extensive Golf Course Landscapes at Kau Sai Chau and Clearwater Bay Peninsula, which are highly manicured landscapes set amongst otherwise rugged natural scenery.
5.4.101 The complex and precipitous geology of the SENT means that the area is relatively inaccessible. The few roads in the area follow the course of valleys or the coast. What little settlement there has historically been has been limited to small villages on the coast, many of which have been increasingly abandoned in the last century. Significant development is therefore relatively uncommon in the SENT. Around the Rural Township Landscape of Sai Kung Town lie areas of Miscellaneous Urban Fringe Landscape and Miscellaneous Rural Fringe Landscape. Similarly on the periphery of Tseung Kwan O new town are areas of Residential Urban Fringe Landscape and Miscellaneous Urban Fringe Landscape as well as a diversity of uses such as Quarry/Landfill Landscapes south of the new town and the significant areas of ongoing reclamation forming large tracts of Reclamation / Ongoing Major Development Landscapes associated with the development of Tseung Kwan O new town.
5.4.102 Tseung Kwan O new town itself comprises a largely undifferentiated landscape which falls broadly into New Town Mixed Urban Landscape and Residential Urban Landscapes.
Key Landscape Features in the South East New Territories Landscape
5.4.103 Given the relatively undeveloped nature of the South East New Territories, it is not surprising that the key landscape features which go to define its landscape character are almost all natural, rather than man-made. The following section of the report identifies these features and explains their significance to the wider landscape.
Weathered Peaks and Ridges
5.4.104 The uplands and peaks of the SENT comprise weathered volcanic rock and are some of the steepest in Hong Kong. The summits of peaks are often weathered into steep pyramidal forms such as those at Sharp Peak, High Junk Peak or Pyramid Hill. These peaks are landmarks in their own right. Elsewhere, narrow precipitous ridges have been formed such as that at Ngau Ngak Shan.
Crags, Tors and Rock Forests
5.4.105 At the summits of peaks, weathering has produced a striking landscape of deeply weathered tors (such as the rock forest at Luk Chau Shan or West Buffalo Hill), crags and cliff features, interspersed with grass, such as those on Ma On Shan. Rugged and dramatic, these are one of the key characteristic features of the landscape of the SENT.
Steep Valleys
5.4.106 The particular geology of SENT has produced numerous narrow and steep valleys. In their upper parts, they are usually steep and undeveloped with riparian woodland vegetation in the bottom. Towards the mouths, the valleys floors have often been settled for agriculture (often now abandoned) with a village located at the mouth near the coast. This particular combination of landscape features, evident at places such as Sai Wan, Pak Tam Chung and Hoi Ha as well as in numerous other lesser examples, is particularly characteristic of the SENT landscape.
Rocky Streams and Waterfalls
5.4.107 The steep topography of the SENT landscape results in numerous steep rocky streams, many of which lie in spectacular locations such as the streams at Sheung Luk and at Chau Fung Stream. It has also resulted in a very high incidence of spectacular waterfalls and plunge pools. Good examples are the Tai No Falls in the Ho Chung Valley, the Chek Ngai Falls, the Emerald Falls and Red Wall Falls at Tin Mei Hang and those at Pak Shui Nai. These form dramatic features and landmarks in the landscape and are particularly characteristic of the SENT landscape.
Rocky Headlands and Shores
5.4.108 The steep topography of the SENT generally plunges dramatically into the sea, with few coastal plains forming naturally. There is generally a progression of grass and scrub at the mid levels of hillside to scrub woodland just above the sea, below which are often steep rocky foreshores. Where spurs and ridges drop down to the coast, they form rocky headlands with a slight covering of grass.
5.4.109 The SENT coastline is particularly well endowed with a variety of spectacular coastal rock formations including the folded layers of volcanic ash at Lai Chi Chong, the exposed carbonaceous shales at Starfish Bay (Ma On Shan) and the spectacular columnar jointing at High Island Reservoir. Occasionally, spectacular rock features or sea arches are formed in these coasts (see below). These rocky foreshores and headlands are a key element of the landscape character of the SENT.
Sea Cliffs, Sea Arches and Sea Caves
5.4.110 Exposure and weathering by both wind and sea action results in highly weathered shorelines around the coast of the SENT. The precise form this weathering takes depends entirely on the underlying geology. In the case of volcanic rock, this tends to result in high and spectacular angular sea cliffs, often with striking columnar jointing such as those in the eastern waters around the SENT, e.g. Bluff Island, Po Keng Teng Cape or Pak Fu Shan or Fu Tau Fan Chau.
5.4.111 Sea arches can be found around the coast of SENT and are formed when a peninsula or promontory of softer rock (typically volcanic ash) is affected by wave action from two sides. This results initially in a series of notches or clefts at the base of the cliff, but over time the waves will cut through the promontory, to form an arch. In the case of a coast or thicker promontory, a sea cave will be formed by the same processes, typically at faults, where the rock is weaker. Good examples of sea arches are those such as the 'Lung Min Arch' at Fu Tau Fan Chau, the 'Muk Min Cave' at Leung Shuen Wan Chau, 'Sha Tong Hau' Arch at Bluff Island and the 'Grand Arch' at Wang Chau.
Isolated Beaches
5.4.112 Forming by longshore action in shallow bays between rocky headlands around the coast, sandy beaches and sand spits are a distinctive coastal feature of the SENT landscape. Many are very isolated and a number are extensive, such as those at Tai Long Wan, and have a distinct sense of place.
Rocky Islands
5.4.113 The coast of the SENT is greatly characterised by the presence of numerous islands which lie just off the coast. These islands are for the most part steep, rugged with highly indented coastlines and often with striking coastal features such as sea arches, caves or geological formations. These islands generally have little vegetation cover other than low shrubs and grass and are usually wholly unsettled. Lying just of the indented coast of the SENT, these islands help to define striking coastal landscapes defined by the interlock of land, sea and sky and are very characteristic of the landscape of the SENT.
Hiking Trails, Golf Courses and Marinas
5.4.114 The remoteness, lack of development and striking natural scenery of the SENT has made it a significant recreational destination. This manifests itself in the landscape by the many recreational footpaths and trails, but more obviously by features such as golf courses (such as those at Kau Sai Chau and Clearwater Bay) and also marinas (such as those at Hebe Haven and Clearwater Bay) which are significant landscape evidence of the importance of this landscape in terms of recreation.
Fung Shui Woodlands
5.4.115 Fung shui woodlands are woodlands preserved behind the older villages of Hong Kong for spiritual or geomancy reasons. Richard Webb has recorded around 340 significant fung shui woodlands covering around 700 hectares (Stokes, 1995). Fung shui woodlands often have broadly similar species composition and form a habitat in their own right. The South-east New Territories contains a relatively high concentration of fung shui woodlands particularly in the area east of Sha Tin and in Sai Kung West Country Park.
KOWLOON / TSUEN WAN / SHA TIN
Variation in Landscape Character across Kowloon / Tsuen Wan / Sha Tin
5.4.116 Kowloon / Tsuen Wan / Sha Tin lies at the most southern point of the central area of mainland Hong Kong and meets the South China Sea at Victoria Harbour. It possesses a particularly diverse landscape that is unified by its underlying geology. Its geographic diversity includes both the Sha Tin and Shing Mun Valleys, the islands of Tsing Yi and Ma Wan as well as the coastal plain along the Kowloon coast. This diversity includes both natural, almost totally untouched, upland landscapes as well as some of the most densely developed urban areas in the world. It results from the combination of natural characteristics, particularly the area's geology, topography and its location at the nodal point in the growth of Hong Kong, combined with very significant human intervention in the form of extensive reclamation and urban development. This development takes the form of a diverse urban landscape comprising older areas as well as areas of new development.
5.4.117 The Kowloon / Tsuen Wan / Sha Tin landscape coincides with an area of granitic and igneous rock found along the southern coast of mainland Hong Kong which form two distinct peninsulas at Kowloon and Lei Yue Mun, where they meet the predominantly volcanic rocks which underlie the South East New Territories. The islands of Tsing Yi and Ma Wan lie between Kowloon and Lantau Island and their geology reflects the meeting of the granites of Kowloon / Tsuen Wan / Sha Tin and the volcanic tuffs that force their way down from the North Eastern New Territories.
5.4.118 The meeting of the granites of Kowloon / Tsuen Wan / Sha Tin and the volcanics of the SENT forms the long prominent ridge of hills that runs from Lei Yue Mun westwards to Lion Rock. This results in rugged and steep Peaks Landscapes which form the ridgeline backdrop to Kowloon / Tsuen Wan / Sha Tin. Many of these, such as Tai Sheung Tok, Lion Rock, Beacon Hill, Eagle's Nest and Golden Hill lie above 300mPD and are dominated by grassy crags and tors.
5.4.119 North of Lion Rock, the Cretaceous granites of southern Kowloon give way to the predominantly Jurassic granite of the Shing Mun - Sha Tin Valley. This underlying geology is the primary cause of the distinctive characteristics of the Kowloon / Tsuen Wan / Sha Tin landscape which are exemplified by the distinctive pattern of rolling lowlands and rounded peaks. Granite rock weathers somewhat differently from the volcanic tuffs elsewhere in Hong Kong, so that it forms lower, more gentle rounded peaks and ridges which are a key characteristic of the Kowloon / Tsuen Wan / Sha Tin landscape.
5.4.120 This results in a number of Uplands and Hillsides Landscapes below the Peaks along the Sha Tin and Shing Mun Valley and above the urban area of Kowloon. These are somewhat less precipitous than the Peaks Landscapes and are dominated by grasses or scrub vegetation. Where these landscapes meet the coast at Lei Yuen Mun, the result is an area of Coastal Uplands and Hillsides landscape, comprising a rocky shoreline which falls dramatically into the sea.
5.4.121 The Lai Chi Kok-Tolo Channel Fault Zone, a north-east trending fault and one of the major faults in Hong Kong, is a point of geological weakness where streams and weathering have incised the landscape forming the Shing Mun and Sha Tin valleys which are a major feature of the Kowloon / Tsuen Wan / Sha Tin landscape. The hillsides along the Sha Tin Valley and the head of the valley itself are characterised by a number of small Settled Valleys landscapes. These valleys generally contain remnant farmland or villages, some now abandoned. The proximity of Kowloon / Tsuen Wan / Sha Tin to major centres of population and development pressures means that there are relatively few Unsettled Valleys in this area, and those which do exist are found mainly in the Shing Mun area.
5.4.122 In these upland areas and valleys, a number of Hong Kong's older reservoirs were constructed resulting in a number of small reservoirs found in Settled Valleys, but also in the case of the more extensive Shing Mun Reservoir, in a striking Reservoir Landscapes with a distinct remote and tranquil character.
5.4.123 Below the hills, lies the lowland of the Kowloon Peninsula. The geology of Kowloon leads to what is said to be its particularly propitious fung shui, since the Kowloon peninsula is 'embraced' by the north shore of Hong Kong Island. Lying south of mountains and north of water, Kowloon is said to have Yang (male) characteristics which combine particularly well with the Yin (female) characteristics of north shore of Hong Kong Island.
5.4.124 The Kowloon Peninsula comprises a higher central spine with extensive areas of reclamation along its edges. The higher central areas are less intensively developed than areas along the coast. On this undulating central spine are extensive areas of Institutional Landscapes (comprising loose groupings of civic buildings and facilities, with extensive open areas, as well as extensive Residential Urban Fringe Landscapes where development densities are relatively low and residential developments are more scattered than elsewhere. Also in this area and along the northern part of the urban area of Kowloon lies a line of large scale Residential Urban Landscapes. These form an almost continuous line from Lei Yue Mun to Wang Tau Hom in the east and between Kowloon Tong and Tsuen Wan in the east, as well as along the Sha Tin Valley from Tai Wai to Ma On Shan.
5.4.125 Kowloon Tong itself forms an unique Low Rise Residential Urban Landscape. It is the product of comprehensive estate planning and development in the first half of the 20th Century and has remained low-rise due to its location under the former Kai Tak airport flight path. It therefore has a distinct suburban landscape of low-rise villas set in wide leafy streets.
5.4.126 Other older landscapes located on the original shoreline of Kowloon include the older urban areas of Tsim Sha Tsui and Kwun Tong which form Organic Mixed Urban Development Landscapes, comprising narrow streets densely developed often winding up and along hillsides and characterised by a higher incidence of older urban features. Tsim Sha Tsui itself contains a number of landscape types including its Civic Urban Waterfront Landscape along the coast and its High-rise Commercial Urban Landscapes at East Tsim Sha Tsui, both rarely found elsewhere in Kowloon / Tsuen Wan / Sha Tin. Striking and characteristic landscapes across the Kowloon / Tsuen Wan / Sha Tin area are its Park Urban Landscapes found in Kowloon Park, but also at Lam Tin, Tsing Yi, Kowloon City, Lai Ch Kok and Tsuen Wan. These landscapes are all relatively modern but provide significant relief and variety in the urban landscape.
5.4.127 Reclamation is a key characteristic of the landscape of Kowloon / Tsuen Wan / Sha Tin. The whole of the southern shore of Kowloon has been reclaimed to a greater or lesser degree, as has most of the Sha Tin Valley. This gives rise to the distinctive pattern of low-lying but highly urbanised waterfront landscapes with mountains rising dramatically behind them. On this area lie very extensive areas of City Grid Mixed Urban Landscapes (an older urban landscape type found across the northern shore of Hong Kong Island and in Kowloon). Extensive areas of Cheung Sha Wan, Mongkok, Yau Ma Tei, Tok Wa Wan and Ma Tau Kok are characterised by this landscape type with its orthogonal street pattern with very dense medium-rise development and limited vegetation.
5.4.128 Much of the reclaimed area of Kowloon / Tsuen Wan / Sha Tin comprises extensive Industrial Urban Landscapes, particularly on the waterfront at Kwai Chung, Tsing Yi and Tsuen Wan in the west and at Kwun Tong in the east. Predominantly port-related these landscapes are extensive and very characteristic of much of the Kowloon / Tsuen Wan / Sha Tin landscape.
5.4.129 Also characteristic of many of these reclaimed areas are Late 20C/Early 21C High Rise Commercial / Residential Complexes in and around Whampoa and Kowloon Bay.
5.4.130 Elsewhere on the reclamation, large areas remain reclaimed but undeveloped, producing large areas of monotonous and degraded Reclamation / Ongoing Major Development Landscapes, such as those at West Kowloon and the former Kai Tak Airport.
5.4.131 The landscape of Kowloon / Tsuen Wan / Sha Tin is also characterised to a great extent by it Transportation Corridor Landscapes, areas where significant number of highway and railways infrastructure coincide such as those at Hung Hom, West Kowloon and Tsing Yi.
5.4.132 The design of new development areas at Tsing Yi, Tsuen Wan and Kwai Chung and new town at Sha Tin and Ma On Shan has resulted in distinctive New Town Mixed Urban Landscapes of modern buildings and shopping complexes, highways infrastructure and associated urban features. These are usually found close to extensive areas of Residential Urban Landscapes and Parks Urban Landscapes. Close to these new urban areas are found Urban Peripheral Village Landscapes at Tsuen Wan, Tsing Yi, Sha Tin and Lai King. These represent the remains of the former villages and their rural environs which predated this newer development.
5.4.133 On the fringes of the urban areas of Kowloon, Sha Tin and Ma On Shan are a variety of miscellaneous landscapes which include Miscellaneous Urban Fringe landscape, where distinct uses and coherent urban fabric breaks down (particularly in east Kowloon, Sha Tin and Ma On Shan). These are accompanied by other urban fringe landscapes such as Cemetery Landscapes (Lei Yuen Mun), Quarry/Landfill Landscapes (at Anderson Road) and areas of Residential Urban Fringe Landscape dotted around the periphery of the area.
Key Landscape Features in the Kowloon / Tsuen Wan / Sha Tin Landscape
5.4.134 Given the combination of dramatic geology as well as its location as a centre of settlement and development, the key landscape features which go to define its landscape character are both natural and man-made. The following section of the report identifies these features and explains their significance to the wider landscape.
The Devil's Peak to Golden Hill Ridgeline
5.4.135 Much of the landscape of Kowloon / Tsuen Wan / Sha Tin is characterised by the prominent ridge of hills which runs from Lei Yue Mun in the east to Golden Hill in the west. Between these points lie a number of craggy hills and peaks which enclose and give definition to the landscape. These include Devil's Hill (222mPD); Chiu Keng Wan Shan (247mPD); Black Hill (304 mPD); Ta Sheung Tok (now eroded by Anderson Road Quarry); Kowloon Peak (603mPD); Middle Hill (585mPD); Tung Shan (542mPD); Tai Lo Shan 577(mPD); Temple Hill; Lion Rock (495mPD); Beacon Hill (457mPD); Eagle's Nest (305mPD) and Golden Hill. Certain of these peaks, such as the craggy Lion Rock and Kowloon Peak serve as landmarks and orientation points over a much wider area than Kowloon itself. These peaks are generally weathered and covered with woodland and scrub on lower slopes with grassland and rocky outcrops at higher peaks.
Kowloon Peninsula Urban Area
5.4.136 The Kowloon Peninsula is one of the oldest settled landscapes in Hong Kong, at least in historical times. It contains a variety of historic buildings and features which give it an increased landscape diversity and texture. It's western and eastern parts are also one of the most densely developed and populated parts of Hong Kong, although until recently, unlike Hong Kong Island, building height was restricted by its proximity to the former Kai Tak Airport. These areas include Tsim Sha Tsui, Yau Ma Tei, Mongkok, Shamshuipo, Cheung Sha Wan, Hung Hom, Tok Wa Wan and Ma Tau Kok. However, it is far from being an homogenous area and the peninsula's topographic variety also gives its various parts a distinct sense of place (e.g. Signal Hill, Ho Man Tin hills). These areas have a distinct sense of place based on their either flat or undulating topography, reasonably regular grid geometry of streets, dense medium rise development and their often vibrant streetscape (including colourful night-time commercial signage) and street life.
Historic and Cultural Buildings and Features
5.4.137 Across Kowloon / Tsuen Wan / Sha Tin are found a number of buildings dating from the British Colonial Period. Though not as prominent or as numerous as those on Hong Kong Island, they include the KCRC Terminus Clocktower, the Peninsula Hotel, Royal Observatory, the former Marine Police HQ and on the edges of Kowloon, the Shing Mun Redoubt and Devil's Peak Fort.
5.4.138 The landscape of Kowloon / Tsuen Wan / Sha Tin also possesses a small number of significant historic vernacular Chinese buildings which are significant landscape elements. These are largely located on the periphery of the urban area and include the Han dynasty tomb at Lei Cheng Uk (Shamshuipo), four Tin Hau Temples at Yau Ma Tei, the newer Wong Tai Sin Temple, walled villages such as those at Tsang Tai Uk (Sha Tin) and Sam Tung Uk (Tsuen Wan) and remnants of the Kowloon Walled City (in Kowloon Walled City Park).
5.4.139 Other features in the Kowloon / Tsuen Wan / Sha Tin landscape have a cultural significance rather than any particular historic value. These include features such as the street markets at Temple Street and in Mongkok / Prince Edward, which transform the urban landscape on an ephemeral basis.
5.4.140 The visual presence of these historic buildings in what are otherwise entirely modern urban environments adds to the diversity and character of the urban landscape.
Reclamation Landscapes
5.4.141 The process of reclaiming landscapes from the sea is certainly not one unique to Kowloon / Tsuen Wan / Sha Tin, but it is one that has historically been characteristic of this urban area. Reclamations in Kowloon / Tsuen Wan / Sha Tin are more recent as those on Hong Kong Island and considerably more extensive. The combination of reclamation and rectilinear urban blocks leads to a distinctive (if somewhat homogenous) urban landscape and form in areas such as Shamshuipo or To Kwa Wan and is a distinctive characteristic of the east and western sides of the Kowloon peninsula. In addition, there are considerable areas of vacant reclamation awaiting further development at West Kowloon and around the former site of Kai Tak Airport. These large homogenous areas of waterfront land have a transitory and monotonous visual character and contrast dramatically with the intensely developed urban landscape adjacent to them.
New Towns and New Development Areas
5.4.142 Population pressures on Kowloon's limited space has meant that in the latter part of the twentieth century a number of urban expansion plans were put into place across the Territory. These included new urban areas on the periphery of the conurbation such as Kwai Chung or Tsing Yi or new town developments such as those at Tsuen Wan, Sha Tin and Ma On Shan. These new development areas have resulted in a ring of newer development surrounding the older urban core, a feature that is particularly characteristic of the Kowloon / Tsuen Wan / Sha Tin landscape.
Reservoirs
5.4.143 In the upland areas of Kowloon / Tsuen Wan / Sha Tin around Shing Mun, lie a number of reservoirs which are particularly characteristic of this landscape. These include the Kowloon Reservoir, Byewash Reservoir, Shek Lei Pui Reservoir, Kowloon Receptor Reservoir, Jubilee Reservoir and Lower Shing Mun Reservoir. As Hong Kong has no significant natural lakes, these tranquil water bodies add considerable diversity to the landscape of Kowloon / Tsuen Wan / Sha Tin.
Highways Infrastructure
5.4.144 As a major centre of population and commerce and because of its nodal position in relation to the SAR as a whole, the landscape of Kowloon / Tsuen Wan / Sha Tin is characterised to a very great extent by major highways infrastructure, which serves as transport connection with Hong Kong Island and the New Territories and Lantau. These features include not only major arterial highways on the edges of the conurbation such as the West Kowloon Expressway, Kwun Tong Road but also elevated highways which travel through the centre of densely populated urban areas such as Prince Edward Road West, Waterloo Road and Kowloon City Road. Other major highways features include numerous tunnel portals and toll plazas including the three Cross-Harbour tunnels, the Tate's Cairn Tunnel, Lion Rock Tunnel and Tseung Kwan O Tunnel each of which is accompanied by extensive elevated highways interchanges and toll booth areas. These highways features are major characteristics of the landscape of Kowloon / Tsuen Wan / Sha Tin. Along the ridgeline above Kowloon / Tsuen Wan / Sha Tin are evidence of some of the first highways in Hong Kong, built first by the British Army in the early days of the Colonial period. These include Sha Tin Pass, Jat's Incline and Route Twisk. These small highways snake their way up the steep gradients above Kowloon / Tsuen Wan / Sha Tin and are today relics of Hong Kong's early transportation system.
Kowloon Tong
5.4.145 Kowloon Tong is one of Hong Kong's most distinctive urban landscapes. Its character and landscape derives from its origins as a Garden Suburb planned in 1922 as a community "for persons of small means...to enable such persons to reside in their own houses or homes in more healthy and pleasant surroundings than the usual alternative...The scheme contemplated a small community living in detached or semi-detached houses with small gardens and enjoying a common recreation ground" (quoted in Bristow, 1984). The regular grid of spacious tree-lined streets and detached low-rise buildings with ample public and private open space has a character that is almost unique in Hong Kong and which was preserved for much of the last century by virtue of its proximity to the flight path of Kai Tak Airport.
THE NORTH-WEST NEW TERRITORIES
Variation in Landscape Character across The North West New Territories
5.4.146 The North West New Territories comprises the western part of mainland Hong Kong, where it meets the Pearl River Estuary and Deep Bay. It possesses a particularly diverse landscape and topography that is the result of its underlying geology. The southern part of the North West New Territories landscape lies on an area of granitic rock of the Jurassic period which forms two distinct upland areas of Castle Peak and Tai Lam, separated by the valley in which Tuen Mun lies. This results in two Peaks Landscapes above 300mPD (one in each location) which are characterised by grassy crags. Due to the process under which granite peaks are produced and under which they weather, these peaks are noticeably lower and more rounded than those of volcanic rock in the eastern New Territories.
5.4.147 Below these peaks are a number of Uplands and Hillsides Landscapes. The uplands of Tai Lam and Castle Peak have very steep southern and eastern slopes respectively and considerably more gentle opposite slopes. These are somewhat less precipitous than the Peaks Landscapes and are dominated by scrub vegetation. A notable feature of these landscapes are the significant areas of eroded natural hillside, known as badlands. Combined with the extensive deforestation of the area during World War 2 and periodic hill fires, this chemical weathering process results in large scars on hillsides, which is a very typical characteristic of the NWNT landscape. Where these landscapes meet the coast at Lan Kok Tsui, the results is an area of Coastal Uplands and Hillsides landscape, comprising a rocky shoreline which falls dramatically into the sea.
5.4.148 The hillsides below Tai Lam and Castle Peak are characterised by numerous Settled Valleys landscapes. These valleys generally contain remnant farmland or villages, some now abandoned. There are also relatively high numbers of Unsettled Valleys landscapes in this area, perhaps due to the relative remoteness of the area from centres of population in Kowloon, but also because of the relatively high presence elsewhere in the area of readily cultivable low-lying land.
5.4.149 In these upland areas and valleys of Tai Lam, a number of small reservoirs have been constructed resulting in a number of small reservoirs found in Settled Valleys, but also in the case of the more extensive Tai Lam Chung Reservoir, in a striking Reservoir Landscape with a distinct remote and tranquil character.
5.4.150 Elsewhere in these upland areas are a few isolated Quarry/Landfill Landscapes (quarries and borrow areas in the Tai Lam uplands and the landfill at Lan Kok Tsui.)
5.4.151 On the eastern edge of the Tai Lam uplands are a number of upland Plateaux landscapes, elevated flat areas which have typically been settled in the past.
5.4.152 At the point at which the uplands of Castle Peak and Tai Lam fall to the coast, there is typically a narrow coastal plain. These generally have been used as transportation routes, such as the Tuen Mun Highway and Deep Bay Road. In the eastern part of the area, these coastal plains have generally been developed intermittently to form Residential Urban Fringe Landscapes where development densities are relatively low and residential developments are scattered between other land uses and undeveloped hillsides.
5.4.153 In other places, where land use is more mixed, these coastal areas form Miscellaneous Rural Fringe landscapes, which although still rural, are very much characterised by intrusive non-rural land uses, typically the abandonment of agriculture and the arrival of open storage, scrap metal yards, golf driving ranges and other transitional uses. On the waterfront of these areas, are a number of waterfront Industrial Urban Landscapes, typically port, manufacturing industries as well as two Power Stations at Pillar Point and Black Point.
5.4.154 The north of the NWNT varies dramatically from southern areas, being the only significant low-lying and flat area of Hong Kong. This part of the NWNT lies on superficial geological deposits (including silts, sands and gravels) and forms an expansive and low-lying coastal plain on the edge of Deep Bay. Much of this area has been reclaimed for the sea within the last 500 years (and most of it in the last 100 years). Unlike the thin acidic red-yellow podsols found on the uplands of the western NT, the soils in northern areas consist of either paddy soils, poorly drained and compacted or Solenchak, gley saline soils affected by salt water often reclaimed from marine marsh. This area had in the past been a major agricultural centre. It still retains extensive areas of active agricultural land, with traditional low-rise villages and little modern development other than village housing. These remaining rural agricultural features result in the most extensive areas of Rural Inland Plain landscapes in Hong Kong in the northern part of the Kam Tin Valley. On the coast, there are similar landscapes at Sheung Pak Nai and the Lau Fau Shan Peninsula, resulting in Rural Coastal Plain landscapes. Further north along the coast of Deep Bay, extensive areas of fish ponds result in spectacular Rural Coastal Plain landscapes of a slightly different type.
5.4.155 The decline of agricultural practice in Hong Kong combined with the ease with which these low-lying landscapes can be developed has led to the steady encroachment of development into the northern part of the NWNT. This includes the expansion and infill of traditional villages with modern village housing, but also the abandonment of agricultural land and its re-use for transitional land uses such as nurseries, open storage, scrap yards and modern residential developments. This results in a landscape that still retains significant components of its original rural landscapes but whose pattern and palette of components has been significantly degraded, resulting in extensive areas of Miscellaneous Rural Fringe Landscapes.
5.4.156 A number of major developments are also located in the NWNT. These include the planned self-contained residential developments of Palm Springs and Fairview Park on the coastal plain, which are low-rise developments, built to a regular plan and forming Comprehensive Residential Development Landscapes. Elsewhere, the development of the new towns/developments at Tin Shui Wai, Yuen Long and Tuen Mun has resulted typically in a core of New Town Mixed Urban Landscapes surrounded by extensive areas of Residential Urban Landscapes as well as town parks constituting Park Urban Landscapes. On the edges of these developments are typically areas of original village landscape forming Urban Peripheral Village Landscapes, relatively limited areas of Miscellaneous Urban Fringe Landscapes and areas of Industrial Urban Landscapes.
Key Landscape Features in the North West New Territories Landscape
5.4.157 The following section of the report identifies the key landscape features in the NWNT landscape and explains their significance to the wider landscape.
Badlands
5.4.158 The granitic uplands of Castle Peak and Tai Lam form relatively low and rounded peaks, covered by shallow acidic soils. Deforestation before and particularly during World War Two as well as hill fires since that time have permitted erosion of soils on hillsides and promoted a chemical weathering process termed 'badlands', whereby granite breaks down. This manifests itself by the formation of large gullies and scars on hillsides. These are visible over considerable distances and are a key feature of the landscape of the uplands of the NWNT.
Remnant Arable Agricultural Landscapes
5.4.159 The NWNT has some of the most significant areas of agricultural landscape in Hong Kong, notably in the Kam Tin Valley. The abandonment of agricultural practice began several decades ago and there are few if any areas of Hong Kong where no fields have not been abandoned. However, where the process of wet arable agriculture persists, these landscapes still exist in some form or other, especially in the Pat Heung area. In this low-lying and flat landscape, streams and rivers meander between fields which are punctuated by occasional trees or blocks of woodland. Lanes wander across the landscape passing through nucleated villages. Such landscapes are notable for their rich visual texture and strong pattern, resulting in a distinct agrarian landscape character, which is still extant in parts of the NWNT.
Fish Ponds
5.4.160 Reclamation of land from the sea is a distinct characteristic of the NWNT adjacent to Deep Bay. In these areas, extensive areas of fish ponds have been formed. Often large, these ponds are arranged in tightly packed patterns, usually separated only by narrow bunds, or narrow drainage channels and streams. A hut or small dwelling is often associated with each pond, as are mulberry trees scattered along their bunds. Most are still actively used although changes in the rural economy have led to the gradual abandonment of many ponds. Often extensive, these low-lying landscapes are as much water as land and create exceptionally striking landscapes of which the best examples are found in the NWNT at Nam Sang Wai, Lut Chau and San Tin.
Land Drainage Features
5.4.161 The NWNT is characterised by aquatic features of many kinds, from Deep Bay itself to the extensive areas of fish pond found in the area and the numerous streams that meander across its low-lying plains. However, because of its low-lying character, much of the NWNT has been prone to flooding in the past. This was controlled historically by ditches around areas of agricultural land and in recent years by nullahs such as the Western Channel at Tin Shui Wa and the Tuen Mun River Channel. In more recent times, river retraining has been employed to assist with flood control and the Kam Tin River ('Main Drainage Channel') and streams at Ngau Tam Mei have been canalised in addition to the construction of the Yuen Long Floodway Bypass. These constitute creating striking engineered features in the landscape and are a characteristic feature of the NWNT.
Container Storage and Scrap Yards
5.4.162 Changes in agricultural practice have in recent years led to the abandonment of significant areas of agricultural land in the NWNT. As this land is not developed, and easily accessible, it has been reused in many cases (both legally and illegally) for storage purposes. This can take the form of container storage, whereby several containers are stacked on top of each other over and extensive area. It also takes the form of open parking for vehicles (often surrounded by ubiquitous steel fences) or by scrap metal yards whereby vehicles are dumped in heaps. Such features are very typical of parts of Castle Peak Road, Kam Tin Road and Lau Fau Shan Road. The visual texture and colour of these features, not to mention the additional lorry movements they create are all features which contrast with the traditional rural characteristics of the NWNT landscape.
Intertidal Wetlands
5.4.163 A key characteristic of the low-lying NWNT landscape is its inter-tidal wetlands. These are found over extensive areas in the far north-west of the area (in and around Mai Po and Tsim Bei Tsui) and comprise areas of reed bed, mangrove, gei wai and mudflat. Mai Po, designated a RAMSAR site (wetland site of international importance) is also home to the sixth largest stand of mangrove in greater China. These different features go to produce striking coastal landscapes which have a distinct sense of place and remote and tranquil landscape character as well as particular wildlife associations.
Nucleated Rural Villages and Historic Features
5.4.164 The NWNT still retains some of its traditional rural character and one of the features that contribute to this character are its nucleated villages and historic features. The traditional brick-built villages of the NWNT such as On Lung Tsuen, San Lung Tsuen (San Tin), Tai Sang Wai (Nam Sang Wai) Tai Kiu (Yuen Long), Lau Fau San, Pak Nai and Kat Hing Wai as well as many of the villages of Shap Pat Heung retain their traditional morphology and sense of place despite the encroachment of more modern development.
5.4.165 Other historic features in the landscape include the Tsui Shing Lau Pagoda and Kun Ting Study Hall at Ping Shan, Man Lun Fung Ancestral Hall, Tai Fu Tai (San Tin) Hau Wong Temple (Yuen Long), Tsing Shan Monastery (Tuen Mun) and Chi Kuei Study Hall (Kam Tin). These features, though often fairly isolated, still contribute to the richness and texture of the NWNT landscape.
New Towns and New Development Areas
5.4.166 Population pressures on Kowloon's limited space has meant that in the latter part of the twentieth century a number of urban expansion plans were put into place across the Territory. These included new town developments such as those at Tuen Mun and new development areas such as those at Tin Shui Wai and on the edges of Yuen Long. Population pressure and the need for increased housing supply also results in the development of low-rise suburban estates beyond the urban fringe, such as Fairview Park.
THE NORTH-EAST NEW TERRITORIES
Variation in Landscape Character across the North-East New Territories
5.4.167 For the purpose of this Study, the North East New Territories (NENT) landscape is that area which falls within the northern and north-eastern part of mainland Hong Kong. This landscape comprises both an area of volcanic uplands on the east coast of the Hong Kong mainland, as well as lower lying hills, valleys and flood plains in central northern part of the Hong Kong mainland.
5.4.168 The NENT coincides largely with an extensive area of volcanic rock (Rhyodactic crystal tuff), which extends from the border with the PRC in the north, to Tsuen Wan in the south and from Ngau Tam Mei in the west to Double Haven in the east. This underlying geology is the primary cause of the distinctive characteristics of the NENT landscape which is largely determined by the distinctive pattern of volcanic rock which was forced upwards to form high peaks. Volcanic rock weathers somewhat differently from the granites elsewhere in Hong Kong, so that it forms steep jagged peaks and ridges which are a key characteristic of the NENT landscape. Much of the NENT landscape is also highly weathered, receiving the full force of Hong Kong's prevailing easterly wind and much of its area receives the heaviest rainfall in Hong Kong (over 2,800mm per year on Tai Mo Shan).
5.4.169 Across the eastern part of the of the NENT area, this combination of geology and weathering results in a spectacular, rugged landscape of steep ridges, peaks and valleys, making it relatively inaccessible. Across the NENT generally, are a number of Peaks landscapes above 300mPD, all exposed and rugged landscapes, dominated by grassy peaks. Most notable amongst these are the spectacular ridge of Pat Sin Leng including the peak of Wong Leng (at 639mPD), the massive landmass of Tai Mo Shan (at 957mPD, Hong Kong's highest peak), Kai Kung Leng (at 585mPD) and Tai To Yan (at 566mPD) north of Kam Tin, Robin's Nest (at 492mPD) in the far north east and Cloudy Hill (at 440mPD) north of Tai Po.
5.4.170 Below these peaks, are Uplands and Hillsides Landscapes, which are somewhat less precipitous and which are characterised by grass and scrub vegetation and which form the foothills for the peaks, dropping down to plains and valleys below.
5.4.171 The variable pattern of geological faulting in the NENT results in the complex pattern of valleys which trend in a variety of directions. Two set of faults cross the NENT. The first set is orientated in a NE-SW direction and results in valleys such as the Lam Tsuen Valley, Lead Mine Pass Valley, Sha Tau Kok Valley and the Tolo Channel. The second set is orientated roughly in a NW-SE direction and results in valleys such as Long Valley and the Kam Tin Valley. These valleys are all relatively wide and low lying and generally watered by meandering streams and rivers. In these locations, significant superficial geological deposits (sand, silts and gravel) have accumulated, creating ideal conditions for agriculture and Settled Valleys landscapes have resulted. These typically consist of extensive areas of (largely abandoned) farmland watered by meandering rivers with villages perched just above the flood plain. In the intersections of valleys and where the valley floors are wider, flood plains form (such as the Fan Kam flood plain) where rivers deposit superficial geological deposits, resulting in Rural Inland Plains. These have similar characteristics to the Settled Valleys, although typically with rather higher numbers of fishponds and without the same sense of enclosure.
5.4.172 Elsewhere, the remoteness of much of the eastern part of the NENT has resulted in a number of Unsettled Valleys which have never been settled in any form, a relatively rare occurrence in Hong Kong.
5.4.173 In the east of the NENT, proximity to the coast results in significant areas of Coastal Uplands and Hillsides landscapes, particularly in the far north-east at Starling Inlet, Crooked Harbour, Double Haven and Tolo Channel. These landscapes are characterised by their indented coastlines, exposure, poorly developed vegetation and maritime location. Their variable underlying geology, combined with high levels of weathering, has resulted in highly complex and indented coastline of islands, headlands, straits and bays. (This is particularly true of the deposit of Sandstone, Siltstone and Mudstone which forms the coast of Double Haven and the north coast of Tolo Channel). At the coast, these landscapes form significant rocky headlands or fall dramatically into the sea, occasionally with striking coastal rock formations such as those at Wong Chuk Kok Tsui.
5.4.174 The NENT is also characterised by its offshore Island Landscapes. Generally these islands, such as Double Island, Crooked Island and Ma Shi Chau are rugged, highly weathered and very little developed. Their exposure and coastal location means that their vegetation is often not particularly well developed, and the result is striking weathered coastal landscapes.
5.4.175 Above Tai Po lies the upland Plateau landscape of Sha Lo Tung, an elevated flat area settled in the past with a distinct remote and tranquil landscape character. Elsewhere in the upland area is the isolated Quarry/Landfill Landscape of the NENT Landfill.
5.4.176 The mountainous topography of the NENT and the fact that it is landlocked to the west where land is lower lying mean that Rural Coastal Plains are found very infrequently in the NENT (the only sizeable examples are at Sha Tau Kok and at Tai Mei Tuk). They form less exposed landscapes than the uplands, with correspondingly greater vegetation cover, although their character is still significantly influenced by their maritime location.
5.4.177 The decline of agricultural practice in Hong Kong combined with the ease with which these low-lying landscapes can be developed has led to the steady encroachment of development into the western part of the NENT. This includes the expansion and infill of traditional villages with modern village housing, but also the abandonment of agricultural land and its re-use for transitional land uses such as nurseries, open storage, scrap yards and modern residential developments. This results in a landscape that still retains significant components of its original rural landscapes but whose pattern and palette of components has been degraded to a large degree, resulting in extensive areas of Miscellaneous Rural Fringe Landscapes.
5.4.178 The damming of the mouth of Plover Cove has created the striking Reservoir Landscape of Plover Cove Reservoir, vast in scale and with a distinct remote and tranquil character.
5.4.179 At Fanling is an example of a Golf Course Landscape: a highly manicured landscape set amongst mature belts of tree planting.
5.4.180 The isolated town of Sha Tau Kok forms a Rural Township Landscape in the far north east of Hong Kong, characterised by its limited extent and low and medium rise buildings.
5.4.181 At the point at which the uplands of Tai Mo Shan fall to the coast, south of Tai Po, there is a narrow coastal plain, on which has been constructed a transportation corridor consisting of the Tolo Highway and KCRC Eastrail. Together, these form a Transportation Corridor Landscape.
5.4.182 The coastal hillsides both south and east of Tai Po have generally been developed intermittently to form Residential Urban Fringe Landscapes where development densities are relatively low and residential developments are scattered between other land uses and undeveloped hillsides. North of Tai Po lies the self-contained residential development at Hong Lok Yuen, which is a low-rise development, built to a regular plan and forming a Comprehensive Residential Development Landscape.
5.4.183 Elsewhere, the development of the new towns/developments at Tai Po and Sheung Shui / Fanling has resulted in each case in a core of New Town Mixed Urban Landscapes surrounded by extensive areas of Residential Urban Landscapes as well as Park Urban Landscapes (as at Tai Po). On the edges of these developments are typically areas of original village landscape forming Urban Peripheral Village Landscapes. Relatively limited Miscellaneous Urban Fringe Landscapes as well as areas of Industrial Urban Landscapes (as at Tai Po Industrial Estate) are also found on the peripheries of these new towns.
Key Landscape Features in the North East New Territories Landscape
5.4.184 The following section of the report identifies the key landscape features in the NENT landscape and explains their significance to the wider landscape.
Remnant Arable Agricultural Landscapes
5.4.185 The NENT has some of the most significant areas of agricultural landscape in Hong Kong, notably in the Lam Tsuen Valley, Sha Tau Kok Valley, Closed Border Area and Long Valley. The abandonment of agricultural practice began several decades ago and there are few if any areas of Hong Kong where no fields have been abandoned. However, where the process of arable agriculture persists, these landscapes still exist in some form or other. In this low-lying and flat landscape, streams and rivers meander between fields which are punctuated by occasional trees or blocks of woodland. Lanes wander across the landscape passing through nucleated villages. Such landscapes are notable for their rich visual texture and strong pattern, resulting in a distinct agrarian landscape character, which is still extant in parts of the NENT.
5.4.186 Historically, when the Hakka people arrived in Hong Kong, the native Punti had already settled the lowlands. Therefore, the Hakka farmed the upland valleys and hillsides. Almost all abandoned today, these relict upland agricultural landscapes are still visible in the form of field patterns in upland valleys and terraced hillsides such as those at Luk Keng. Such upland arable landscapes, though rarely farmed today, are a visible link with Hong Kong's landscape past.
Fish Ponds
5.4.187 In low-lying areas of NENT, particularly areas in the north, extensive areas of fish ponds have been formed. Often large, these ponds are arranged in tightly packed patterns, usually separated only by narrow bunds, or narrow drainage channels and streams. A hut or small dwelling is often associated with each pond, as are mulberry trees scattered along their bunds. Many are still actively used although changes in the rural economy have led to the gradual abandonment of many ponds. Elsewhere, fishponds are a prevalent feature in settled valleys and are typical features of the NENT landscape.
River Valleys and Flood Plains
5.4.188 Hong Kong has very few rivers to speak of and the largest of these are little more than wide streams. However, the largest concentration of rivers in Hong Kong is found in the NENT. Rivers such as the Lam Tsuen River, Ng Tung River, Tam Shui Hang River, Shek Sheung River, Sham Chun River and Kwan Tei River generally rise in the uplands of NENT before plunging dramatically down to the valleys and flood plains of the area, where they meander through the lowland countryside. Once a key component of low-lying agricultural landscapes, they have in many cases been subject to retraining and canalising in recent years in order to mitigate their attendant flooding problems.
Container Storage and Scrap Yards
5.4.189 Changes in agricultural practice have in recent years led to the abandonment of significant areas of agricultural land in the NENT. As this land is not developed, and is easily accessible, it has been reused in many cases (both legally and illegally) for storage purposes. This can take the form of container storage, whereby several containers are stacked on top of each other over and extensive area. It also takes the form of open parking for vehicles (often surrounded by ubiquitous steel fences) or by scrap metal yards whereby vehicles are dumped in heaps. Such features are very typical of areas such as Hung Lung Hang and Sha Tau Kok Road. The visual texture and colour of these features, not to mention the additional lorry movements they create, are all features which contrast with the traditional rural characteristics of the NENT landscape.
'Wai' and Nucleated Villages
5.4.190 The NENT still retains much of its traditional rural character and one of the features that contribute to this character is its brick-built walled villages (or 'wai') and its other nucleated villages. The area of five walled villages just east of Fanling (including San Wai and Lo Wai) forms a distinctive landscape in its own right of small wooded knolls, and villages set amongst fields and lanes. Elsewhere, Ma Wat Wai, Hakka Wai and Ping Kong are further examples of these distinctive settlements. Few are wholly intact or un-altered, but these features, though often fairly isolated, still contribute to the richness and texture of the NENT landscape.
Closed Area Landscapes
5.4.191 The Closed Area is a buffer zone at the border with the PRC and extends from east to west along the entire northern border of Hong Kong. The buffer zone is created by two sets of parallel security fences running east-west across the landscape an average of about 1km apart.
5.4.192 The Closed Area is a fine example of how geopolitics manifest themselves in the landscape, particularly in terms of the presence of the security fences which are dramatic landscape features, particularly when seen in the upland landscape of the Closed Area.
5.4.193 However, the indirect impacts of the Closed Area on the lowland landscape are just as striking, for the Closed Area is a restricted zone open only to residents. This has in turn prevented significant development for many years, resulting in a landscape in the NENT Closed Area which appears just as much of the landscape might have looked around 20 years ago when rural development was far less prevalent. In lowland parts of the Closed Area, there is little urban fringe or rural fringe development typical of other lowland areas of Hong Kong and much of the land looks at least superficially agrarian in character with small villages lying in areas of open farmland (although much farmland has in fact been abandoned in recent years). The result is a largely undeveloped lowland landscape which is almost unique in Hong Kong.
Steep-sided Peaks and Ridges
5.4.194 The uplands and peaks of the NENT comprise weathered volcanic rock and are some of the steepest in Hong Kong. The summits of peaks are often weathered into steep forms such as those at Tai Mo Shan, Kai Kung Leng, Tai To Yan / Pak Tai To Yan, Tiu Tang Lung, Wong Leng and Robins Nest. These peaks are landmarks in their own right and form a dramatic backdrop to lowland landscapes in the NENT.
Rocky Streams and Waterfalls
5.4.195 The steep topography of the NENT landscape results in numerous steep rocky streams, many of which lie in spectacular locations, and which form waterfalls such as those at Shek Pan Tam, Nam Chung, Bride's Pool. These form dramatic features and landmarks in the landscape and are particularly characteristic of the NENT landscape.
Sedimentary Coastal Formations
5.4.196 Between Ma Shui Chau in Tolo Harbour and east along the north coast of the Tolo Channel and round the coast of the NENT as far as Sam A Wan, there are significant deposits of sedimentary rock. There are few areas of sedimentary rock in Hong Kong and these deposits are the most extensive. These rocks include mudstone, sandstone, siltstone and conglomerate. Where such rocks are eroded at the coast, they result in unusual coastal formations, such as the differential erosion at Ma Shi Chau, the complex undulating coastal plain at Sam A Wan and the yellow and red rock coastal formations at Ma Shi Chau, Wong Chuk Kok Tsui and Hung Shek Mun.
Sea Arches and Sea Caves
5.4.197 Sea arches can be found around the coast of NENT and are formed when a peninsula or promontory of softer rock (typically volcanic ash) is affected by wave action from two sides. This results initially in a series of notches or clefts at the base of the cliff, but over time the waves will cut through the promontory, to form an arch. In the case of a coast or thicker promontory, a sea cave will be formed by the same processes, typically at faults, where the rock is weaker. Good examples of sea arches are those such as those at Ap Chau and Pak Sha Tau Tsui (Plover Cove).
Rocky Islands
5.4.198 The coast of the NENT is characterised by the presence of a number islands which lie just off the coast. These islands are for the most part, steep, rugged and often with striking coastal features such as sea arches or geological formations. These islands generally have little vegetation cover other than low shrubs and grass and are usually wholly unsettled. Lying just off the indented coast of the NENT, islands such as Ma Shi Chau, Double Island, Crooked Island and Crescent Island help to define striking coastal landscapes, created by the interlock of land, sea and sky and are very characteristic of the landscape of the eastern NENT.
Fung Shui Woodlands
5.4.199 Fung shui woodlands are woodlands preserved behind the older villages of Hong Kong for spiritual or geomancy reasons. Richard Webb has recorded around 340 significant fung shui woodlands covering around 700 hectares (Stokes, 1995). Fung shui woodlands often have broadly similar species composition and form a habitat in their own right. The North-east New Territories contains a high concentration of fung shui woodlands particularly in the far north-east around Starling Inlet.
