Logistics of Natural Resources in Hong Kong - A Case Study of Urban Ecological Problems in a Locality with High Density Population

Abstract

The purpose of the paper is to examine the interaction between the natural resources, the environment and the human population in Hong Kong. It is a case study of urban ecological problems in a locality with very high density population. With more than four million people dwelling in a total area of about 400 square miles, which is extremely poorly endowed with natural resources, Hong Kong has a population density of ca. 100,000 persons per square mile, a figure which is seldom exceeded anywhere in the world. This fact gives rise to a variety of ecological problems in Hong Kong, some of which are quite unique. Our logistics study shows how the limits are rapidly being approached in land availability and water and food supply with growth of population which will double in about 35 years from now at the current annual growth rate of 2 per cent. So it will not be over-exaggerated that if the population growth is not checked immediately and effectively, no technological legendemain and economic development can fend off the time of reaching the “carrying capacity” of the finite environment of Hong Kong and all efforts to augment the “carrying capacity” will merely postpone the time of mass starvation and increase the agony when it inevitably occurs.