Urbanie & Urbanus

Issue 2026 Jan

AI and Urban Design

Basketball Courts in Hong Kong: A historic and socio-political perspective on social infrastructure in a high-density city

Jeroen van Ameijde

Assistant Professor and Director of the MSc in Urban Design programme at the School of Architecture, The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Figures

Figure 1. Sports hall in the Chinese YMCA of Hong Kong’s Bridges Street Centre in Sheung Wan, Hong Kong, which opened in 1918 (Photo Source: Chinese YMCA of Hong Kong).


Figure 2. An outdoor basketball court in Upper Shek Kip Mei Estate, 1975 (Courtesy of Ko Tim-Keung).


Figure 3. The basketball courts at Ming Tak Shopping Centre, Tseung Kwan O, designed by One Bite Design Studio.


Figure 4. Basketball court at Tin Heng Estate in Tin Shui Wai, as featured in ‘Shooting Hoops’, by Austin Bell.


Table 1. Extract from the ‘Standards of Provision for Core Activities’, Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines.