Self-containment of Hong Kong new towns from the perspective of job accessibility : a case study of Tin Shui Wai new town

Abstract

New town development is important to improve over-crowding populations and pollution problem in urban areas. After decades of development, Hong Kong new towns residents also face the problems in urban areas. Self-containment level is always used to an indicator to determine whether the new town development is successful or not. Complaints about high population density, inadequate job opportunities, high travel cost and lack of recreational facilities are common in Tin Shui Wai. This dissertation focuses on self-containment level of employment and examines the job accessibility of Tin Shui Wai residents as well as whether spatial mismatch is the determining cause for high unemployment rate. The job accessibility in terms of job availability, job proximity and job competition is low in Tin Shui Wai. However, it is less likely related to access barrier for job imposed by spatial mismatch. The dissertation concludes that insufficient job opportunities and the lack of local economy in Tin Shui Wai are the main causes for its low containment level of employment. The imbalance of job-housing distribution due to inconsistent housing policies, the job choices are not matched with local residents and the expensive commute cost also have their roles in reducing job accessibility. Maintaining even distribution of job opportunities and residential flats as well as diversification of job choices within the community is recommended to improve the employment situation and self-containment level of the community.