Built environment and children's academic performance – A Hong Kong perspective

Studies around the world have shown that there is a significant correlation between young children's development and the neighbourhood environment in which they are brought up. While the neighbourhood environment is a master set of a vast number of inter-dependent and inter-mingled variables, one particular factor, the physical land use environment sometimes tends to be overlooked. In fact, all other environmental variables work inside the framework of the land use settings as all human activities take place on and above land and certainly within some form of physical structure. In this paper, we try to provide some insights into this particular aspect by a relatively quantitative analysis. A major youth survey was carried out and views from the young people on two major aspects of land use settings are collated. In the micro-system, we examine how the physical land use system affects young people and how much they enjoy it. In the macro level, we tally their views on certain land use policy objectives and examine how much they can and are willing to articulate their views. We have found that land use environment in the neighbourhood does impose important effects on young people and they do recognise that. However, young people seem not being able to capitalize the benefits of the “routine activities” due to various reasons, and among them management of public space is a major one. In general, we feel that there is an inadequate government effort in trying to stimulate young people's interest in contributing to the debate of urban land use policy, making most young children rather indifferent on a number of socio-economic land use issues.