Long & Short of 4.2%
A quick look at land usage and road network in Hong Kong
The 25%
With 1,108 square kilometres, Hong Kong is not as tiny as you may think.
Hong Kong is 70% the size of London and 1.4 times as big as New York City. However unlike London and New York, Hong Kong’s hilly terrain covers about two-thirds of the city’s land area, and consists of 250 mostly uninhabited islands. With development confined to such a small and concentrated area, Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated urban areas in the world.
Green Area % and Population Density
Only 25% of Hong Kong's land area has been developed, the remaining 75% is left in a relatively natural state.
Most people outside of HK assume the entire city looks like this…
…but a large part of the city looks more like this
How is land being used in Hong Kong?
Around 75% of Hong Kong’s land is made up of no-built-up areas with country parks or protected areas under statutory protection. Among its developed area, infrastructure and supporting facilities takes up the most land area with 41% of the developed land. As the home to over 7.6 million people, only 28% of the developed area has been built for residential use. What is even more surprising is that despite Hong Kong’s status as one of the busiest commercial centres in the world, land area dedicated to commercial use only makes up 1.8% (5 square km) of Hong Kong’s developed area.
4.2%
…of Hong Kong’s total land area is covered by streets and roads
The 4.2%
With public roads and streets covering just 4.2% of the city’s total land area, Hong Kong has one of the highest road traffic density in the world. As of January 2022, there are more 4,000 throughways in Hong Kong’s road network totalling 2,193km in length – 449 km on Hong Kong Island, 479 km in Kowloon and 1,264 km in the New Territories.
Land Area used for Streets and Roads
Road Network in Hong Kong
How Far Does 2,193 km Take You?
The Long and Short of It
These 2,193km of throughways come in all shapes and sizes, and their lengths vary a lot. The longest road in Hong Kong is 4,500 times the length of the shortest one. Some streets seem to have self-descriptive names based on their shapes and sizes but is that really the case?
Did You Know?
Cross District
Castle Peak Road
54km
The longest road is the height of 6 Mount Everest 🏔️?
Kowloon Tsai
Short Street
60m
Short Street isn't the shortest street 📏 ?
Fo Tan
Lok Kwai Path
12m
The shortest street is the height of 2 giraffes 🦒?
Wanchai
Triangle Street
It encloses a small right-angled triangle with Johnston Road and Wanchai Road.
Triangle Street isn't a triangle 🔺?
Ngau Tau Kok
Horse Shoe Lane
It is shaped as a horseshoe as the name suggests, leading to Ngau Tau Kok Road and Kwun Tong Road.
Horse Shoe Lane is actually the shape of a horseshoe 🐎?
Sheung Wan
Square Street
Its Chinese name refers to the geometric shape but some said it was named after a public square closeby.
No one is sure where Square Street came from 🔲?
Next Up
Does the length or shape of throughways determine if they are a street or road?
Find out in the next post
