Under Construction

Walking through Hong Kong, you can’t help but notice the bamboo scaffolding covered with green netting all over town. While bamboo scaffolding has largely been banished from most high-rise construction sites in other Asian countries, the practice continues throughout Hong Kong.

The sight of the skyscraper tall bamboo scaffolding is pretty amazing and to my unfamiliar eye it looks very unsafe and flimsy. Particularly when you see that the bottom of the bamboo skeleton is resting on the diagonally cut ends of the bamboo and that the bamboo components are hold together by a thin piece of plastic.

But no matter how unsettling it may look, it is argued that bamboo is in fact very strong and surprisingly functional. Defenders of bamboo scaffolding argue that it is strong, extremely lightweight, flexible, cost-effective and eco-friendly as bamboo is the fastest growing type of wood. Bamboo also has an advantage over other types of scaffolding in typhoon prone areas such as Hong Kong as bamboo bends in high winds, while steel scaffolding breaks.

Despite these arguments in favour of bamboo scaffolding, bamboo scaffolding has been banned from many other countries mainly for safety and environmental reasons. It remains to be seen whether it will also be banned from Hong Kong or if the sight of buildings clad in green netting and bamboo scaffolding will remain part of the Hong Kong skyline.

Bye for now!

Ridiculous Hong Kong Rent

Hong Kong is well known for being an expensive city to live in but in the past year things have gotten a little bit worse with average rental costs jumping by 22% according to a recent report by ECA International. This makes Hong Kong the third most expensive city to live in after Tokyo and Moscow.

Hong Kong is one of the world’s most populated cities with more than 7 million people living in less than 500 square miles. Many residents therefore find themselves living in tiny apartments in one of Hong Kong’s many high rise apartment buildings.

Average rental prices can differ significantly depending on the area, size and the amount of luxury that you are after. If you have a very limited budget but are adamant to live close to where it’s all happening, you’ll probably find yourself living in the tiniest one room apartments. You’ll most likely have an electric hot plate on a table as a kitchen and in some cases you might even have to share a coin-operated bathroom with the rest of your floor. On the other end of the housing scale you can find the most amazing luxury apartments on the Peak and in the Midlevels with harbour views and facilities. In between these extremes most expats on average incomes will find that they need to make a choice between location and space and sacrifice one for the other. 

In our case we sacrificed location for space and
live in a wonderful apartment with a great pool
but a bit of a commute into city

Hong Kong may only be the third most expensive when it comes to average rental prices, but when you look at luxury apartments, Hong Kong rentals are found to be the most expensive in the world. An average two-bedroom apartment in Hong Kong costs about US$2,830 (HK$22,074 or €2059 euro) a month. However, when it comes to luxury rents in desirable expat areas, Hong Kong beats Tokyo by 30% with an average rent of US$16,700 (HK$1,3m or €121,413) a month!  With an average median income of US$2,246 (HK$17,500 or €1,624) per month you can imagine that this is far beyond the reach of the average Hong Kong resident and that you have to be on a pretty decent expat package to be able to afford such accommodation! I wish.


Not everyone lives in high rises.
These fishing families in Tai O still live in traditional stilt houses on the water.

Check out this video on youtube to see how one local architect has found a solution for his small 33 square feet apartment.

Ciao!

Sources:
http://www.eca-international.com/news/press_releases/7310/Rents_up_22_per_cent_in_Hong_Kong_as_confidence_returns_to_Asia_http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=1&art_id=108132&sid=31310001&con_type=1&d_str=20110216
http://www.gov.hk/en/about/abouthk/factsheets/docs/population.pdf