I saw in the news recently that Hong Kong just set a new world record for the most expensive parking spot. I think it also held the previous record.
Last month somebody paid HKD 6 million for a single stall in the Ultima apartment complex in Kowloon. That’s about USD 765,000 or CAD 1 million based on today’s rates. And the spot is 16.4 feet x 8.2 feet, so that works out to about CAD 7,436 per square foot.
The number of parking spaces grew just 9.5 per cent to 743,000 from 2006 through 2016 [in Hong Kong], while the private car population surged 49 per cent to 536,025, according to a report by the city’s Transport Department.
There are a number market forces which are undoubtedly bringing down the ratio of parking stalls to housing units. That same phenomenon is also pretty clear here in Toronto. But it is interesting to note the continued growth in private cars.
I saw in the news recently that Hong Kong just set a new world record for the most expensive parking spot. I think it also held the previous record.
Last month somebody paid HKD 6 million for a single stall in the Ultima apartment complex in Kowloon. That’s about USD 765,000 or CAD 1 million based on today’s rates. And the spot is 16.4 feet x 8.2 feet, so that works out to about CAD 7,436 per square foot.
The number of parking spaces grew just 9.5 per cent to 743,000 from 2006 through 2016 [in Hong Kong], while the private car population surged 49 per cent to 536,025, according to a report by the city’s Transport Department.
There are a number market forces which are undoubtedly bringing down the ratio of parking stalls to housing units. That same phenomenon is also pretty clear here in Toronto. But it is interesting to note the continued growth in private cars.
This morning I was reading a snippet about Hong Kong changing its drinking laws in order to curb “Club 7-Eleven” and it made mention of the “country” being the freest economy in the world according to the Heritage Foundation.
I was immediately curious and so I looked up their 2018 Index of Economic Freedom. Below are the top 10 countries. Apparently Hong Kong has been #1 for the last 24 consecutive years.
This morning I was reading a snippet about Hong Kong changing its drinking laws in order to curb “Club 7-Eleven” and it made mention of the “country” being the freest economy in the world according to the Heritage Foundation.
I was immediately curious and so I looked up their 2018 Index of Economic Freedom. Below are the top 10 countries. Apparently Hong Kong has been #1 for the last 24 consecutive years.
My friend Jeremiah shared this ULI article with me this morning, which talks about Hong Kong’s land supply problem. The interesting thing about this problem is that only 9.3 square miles of the city’s land (out of ~424 square miles) is actually developed (and about 60% of the region’s area is water). The rest has been preserved for parks, farmland, and so on. And that is certainly a remarkable characteristic of Hong Kong. It doesn’t take very long to escape its hyper-urbanism and be in the countryside.
Preserving greenspace is of course vital. But at what point do population and growth pressures justify the unlocking of some of that land for development? This is the question that Hong Kong appears to be asking itself. At the same time, it is looking at developing other islands (such as Lantau, which I understand is a pretty lush place); reclaiming (i.e. creating) additional land; and positioning the city as part of a planned “Greater Bay Area.”
If it were up to you, how would you suggest that Hong Kong deal with these pressures? The city is already fairly adept at building up.
The Heritage Foundation describes economic freedom as “the fundamental right of every human to control his or her own labor and property.”
And to measure this they look at 12 aspects of economic freedom, which are grouped into the following 4 categories: rule of law; government size; regulatory efficiency; and market openness.
If you’re really keen, there’s also this free book that was published alongside the 2018 index. But come to think of it, this index appears to have very little to do with lax alcohol laws.
My friend Jeremiah shared this ULI article with me this morning, which talks about Hong Kong’s land supply problem. The interesting thing about this problem is that only 9.3 square miles of the city’s land (out of ~424 square miles) is actually developed (and about 60% of the region’s area is water). The rest has been preserved for parks, farmland, and so on. And that is certainly a remarkable characteristic of Hong Kong. It doesn’t take very long to escape its hyper-urbanism and be in the countryside.
Preserving greenspace is of course vital. But at what point do population and growth pressures justify the unlocking of some of that land for development? This is the question that Hong Kong appears to be asking itself. At the same time, it is looking at developing other islands (such as Lantau, which I understand is a pretty lush place); reclaiming (i.e. creating) additional land; and positioning the city as part of a planned “Greater Bay Area.”
If it were up to you, how would you suggest that Hong Kong deal with these pressures? The city is already fairly adept at building up.
The Heritage Foundation describes economic freedom as “the fundamental right of every human to control his or her own labor and property.”
And to measure this they look at 12 aspects of economic freedom, which are grouped into the following 4 categories: rule of law; government size; regulatory efficiency; and market openness.
If you’re really keen, there’s also this free book that was published alongside the 2018 index. But come to think of it, this index appears to have very little to do with lax alcohol laws.
