Rising Seas Forces Us To Re-IMAGINE HK

Rising Seas Forces Us To Re-IMAGINE HK: The IPCC AR6 warnings on rising seas bring bad tidings for Hong Kong. If you are 20 years old or younger, Hong Kong could become the new Atlantis in your lifetime unless we take action now.

So this month, we delved into the impacts of rising seas with 3D maps of submerged districts, investigated if Hong Kong is tracking worst-case scenarios, and came up with 3 first steps to take to adapt & thrive; even our young interns caught the bug and had a go with their architectural skills to design resilience & Re-IMAGINE HK.

Globally, the call to build resilience faster is just as urgent – hear from the CEO of Singapore’s National Water Agency, sponge city experts plus check out our key action takeaways from World Water Week in Stockholm.

The first step to survival is to know the risks, so get on top of the stats with CWR’s newly published factsheets which showcase 3D maps of Hong Kong’s Central Financial District and the Kowloon Peninsula inundated by rising seas in 2100 and 2150. Impacts are dire as 70% of commercial activity and 27% of Hong Kong’s population are clustered in low-lying reclaimed land. See how many residents will be affected here.

There is no denying that Hong Kong faces existential threats from rising seas and everyone will be affected. Yet, many of us feel that sea level rise (SLR) is not something that we need to worry about right now as we believe it will only happen in a hundred or few hundred years’ time.

You are wrong. Now scientists worry over an abrupt jump in SLR after around 2060 if we continue down our current path. So don’t be lulled into a false sense of security and take the 3 first steps to protect Hong Kong from rising seas.

The only thing that can stop this is rapid decarbonisation by 2030. What we will face in the future depends on what we do today. Timing is key – reaching net zero by 2030 matters but global momentum has stalled and AUKUS doesn’t help. So it’s time for Hong Kong to step up and fast track carbon neutrality to 2030-2040 by upping its green energy supply from the Greater Bay Area (GBA).

Seas are virtually certain to rise so we might as well embrace the threats. IPCC AR6’s warnings mean that Hong Kong must adapt, adapt, adapt. If you’re not convinced that we’re heading down this “worst-case path”, the city is already experiencing worst-case scenario impacts today. Don’t get caught out and check out 8 reasons why HK must act now – from hot weather, strong winds to flash floods. Be prepared … you’ve been warned!

There’s also the FOMO angle to consider. Some governments are already revisiting their adaptation plans given advancing threats: Copenhagen is building a new island to protect the city and Singapore has announced robust adaptation plans – it’ll raise critical infrastructure to 5.5m above sea levels. At these levels, Queen’s Road Central will be the new coastline.

Don’t just take our word … hear directly from Singapore’s PUB CEO Peter Joo He Ng and global water guru, Prof. Biswas as they explain why Singapore is prioritising adaptation to water threats.

Their frankness is refreshing: Ng admitted that “Singapore is as flat as a pancake” and that “as the coastal protection agency, PUB is working to make sure Singapore does not become a modern day Atlantis”. Surely, it’s about time Hong Kong takes threats posed by rising seas just as seriously as Singapore? Anything less is borderline reckless.

While the PUB also has plans for more rain, elsewhere in China, the public has doubts over the effectiveness of sponge cities. Experts Dr. Faith Chan, Dr. Dimple Thadani and Lei Li break down how the government got the public on side by using social media.

Today, Sponge City Program policy changes are increasingly driven by the public and media in China. While they may not protect against a 1/1000yr rain event like Zhengzhou, sponge cities have proven to successfully protect against urban floods with a 1/30yr return period.

With this summer of new extremes, building resilience faster was also the theme during World Water Week. Typically held in Stockholm, this year’s event was virtual and urged that we must go from words to action – so what should we do now? We break down 3 important action takeaways from multiple water and climate seminars during the weeklong event.

Basically, no one around the world is immune from climate threats; Hong Kong is no exception. And since ALL of us in the city will be affected, we must all roll up our sleeves to chart a regenerative roadmap for a climate ready and resilient Hong Kong.

Yes, it will be scary and there will be many firsts but there’s no reason why we can’t do this as we have done it before: Hong Kong has had multiple firsts in coastal engineering from Plover Cove Reservoir to the HK-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge.

Still in denial? Singapore’s already committed 20% of its GDP to coastal protection. Hong Kong on the other hand is slated to spend over a fifth of its GDP on building an entirely new island for its Lantau Tomorrow Vision. Don’t get us wrong, we are not saying that we don’t need public housing, we do … but we must build public housing that will survive the new climate threats ahead.

Rising seas are forcing us to adapt and Re-IMAGINE HK. And we need to prepare for hotter days and flash floods from more extreme rains, plus there may come a day when our skyscrapers may no longer withstand rising typhoon wind speeds – a grand re-design is on the cards.

And since it is the youth that will see these impacts, surely they must be involved in designing their future? On this note, we leave you with an interview with our 20 year old interns – Fergal Tse & Oscar Wong. See why two architecture students wanted to work with CWR and gain some insights into what local youths think about climate change.

On a hot 30°C day, it just hailed in Hong Kong. Nothing is normal anymore. We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to build a city that is carbon positive, climate ready and resilient. We must grab it. Don’t run away. Stay and join us to Re-IMAGINE HK and build a Hong Kong that will still thrive in a vibrant GBA even when our 20 year olds are in their 80’s.