Six ways to solve Hong Kong housing problem – from water pipes to plastic bottles

With plans in place to turn shipping containers into public housing in Kowloon, we’ve found six other intriguing building alternatives that could be implemented to help ease the city’s growing affordability crisis

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Welcome to Container City in London. This is one example of an apartment block that has been made out of shipping containers. Could it work in Hong Kong? Photo: Alamy

Published: 7:48pm, 20 Apr 2018Updated: 8:03pm, 20 Apr 2018

It was announced this week that stackable units converted from shipping containers are to be erected in Hong Kong for the first time to create cheap alternative housing.

This new form of housing will be used in Sham Shui Po, a largely residential district that is the poorest in Hong Kong, to help provide homes for needy families. The container homes will serve as temporary housing for some 100 families for up to two years. Three blocks of the prefabricated modular housing units will be built on the site.

Why Hong Kong can’t solve housing problem with smaller flats

Using shipping containers for cheap housing is innovative, but they are not the only option for providing transitional social housing. Here are six other examples of alternative housing that could be introduced in Hong Kong.

The first modern earth-sheltered house in Britain. Built in 1975, it is pictured here in Yorkshire in 1996. Photo: Alamy

Earth berms

The Hong Kong government has toyed with the idea of turning some parts of the city’s lush country parks into housing estates to the outrage of conservationists, but earth berms could be the perfect compromise. An earth berm or earth house is an architectural style that uses natural terrain to help form the walls of a home. It is usually set partially in the ground and covered with thin growth. You may feel like you’re living like a hobbit, but the building’s low cost, good insulation and protection from the weather will soon win you over.