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Institutions, Culture and Sustainable Development - Part II. Daniel C.W. Ho and Lawerence W.C. Lai
Introduction
"Sustainable development" is a phrase that means different things to different people; the emphasis within the understanding of the phrase will depend on the individual's politics, geographical location, culture, education, etc. ([50] Pezzoli, 1997). One factor that all can agree on is that it implicates the way development is conducted, and will in future be conducted, particularly in rural settings. That the concept also addresses conservation of the natural environment in some form would also be universally agreed, though without unanimity as to how. The recent issuance of a nature [10] conservation policy (2004) (NCP) by the Environment, Transport and Works Bureau (ETWB) of HK Government has set a change of pace in land use and planning in the territory, due to its obvious potential impact on rural development, and also whether such development will be sustainable. The frame of reference for the policy is thus part of sustainable development: the integration of nature conservation and development, without specifically addressing other aspects of sustainable development, notably the human-centred productive assets, such as enhancing man-made, social and human capital. This paper thus focuses on that part of sustainable development addressed by the policy, that is, ecologically sustainable development.
[55] The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (1999) has previously considered how it would address sustainable development with the publication of the final report of the SUSDEV 21 consultancy study (2000). Whilst this outlined principles for attaining sustainable development in HK, it also narrowed the definition of sustainable development from that in the earlier Chief Executive's 1999 Policy Address ([28] Hills, 2002). One might be forgiven for believing that the general understanding of sustainable development in Hong Kong is that it is synonymous with "sustained economic growth". This was noted in 1997 ([28] Hills, 2002) and continues to be true. Academic focus on sustainable development in HK has typically been in an urban context ([46] Ng, 2002; [9] Chiu, 2000; [47] Ng et al. , 2001). This is natural given the intensity of HK urban development. Similarly, studies with a coastal and/or marine context, e.g. [40] Liu and Hills (1998), [54] Tam and Wong (2002) and [62] Wu et...