Hong Kong, located along the eastern edge of the Pearl River Delta, is one of the most densely populated coastal cities in the world. Its growth has long been shaped by its relationship with the sea, which offered deep natural harbors and room for urban expansion through extensive land reclamation. Today, however, these very reclaimed areas make the city particularly vulnerable to sea level rise, coastal flooding, and storm surges.
The territory consists of a peninsula and more than two hundred islands, marked by steep hills and narrow coastal plains where most people live. Many urban districts sit close to mean sea level and are among the most exposed. Over the past decades, sea levels at Victoria Harbour have risen by more than 13 centimeters, and projections indicate further increases by the end of the century, heightening the impact of the tropical storms that regularly strike the region.
The experience of Typhoon Mangkhut in 2018 revealed the city’s fragility: storm-driven waters overtopped coastal defenses, flooding low-lying neighborhoods, ports, and infrastructure. As sea levels continue to rise, similar events could become more frequent, especially in reclaimed areas around Victoria Harbour, parts of Kowloon, and the coastal plains of the New Territories, home to hundreds of thousands of residents.
To confront these risks, authorities are strengthening seawalls, updating building standards, expanding drainage systems, and planning structural measures in the most exposed zones. The challenge for Hong Kong — a city whose identity and prosperity are deeply tied to the sea — will be to develop adaptation strategies capable of protecting its communities and infrastructure in a future where the ocean continues to rise.