Oral Presentation World Sustainable Built Environment Conference 2026

Advancing SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities and SDG 17 Partnerships Through Modular Integrated Construction for Affordable Housing Delivery in Hong Kong (133752)

Prof Kar Kan Ling 1 , Dr Calvin Luk 1 , Tina Wong 1 , Prof Eddie Hui 2 , Prof Heng Li 1 , Ir Prof Kwok Fai Chung 1 , Prof Shiu Keung Tang 1 , Prof Daniel Lai 3 , Wallace Chang 4 , Dr Tin cheung Cheung 5 , Prof Stephen Tang 6 , Dr Elvis Au 4 , Bernard Lim 7 , Thomas Chung 6 , James Law 8 , Thomas Tong 9 , Dr Rosana Wong 10
  1. The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, -, Hong Kong
  2. City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
  3. Baptist University, Hong Kong
  4. The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
  5. BEAM Society Limited, Hong Kong
  6. Chinese University Hong Kong, Hong Kong
  7. ADRG, Hong Kong
  8. James Law Cybertecture, Hong Kong
  9. Construction Industry Council, Hong Kong
  10. Yau Li Holdings Ltd, Hong Kong

Hong Kong's Transitional Housing Programme demonstrates how SDG 11 and SDG17 catalyse affordable housing at unprecedented scale and speed. In five years, over 21,000 units—86% using Modular Integrated Construction (MiC)—were delivered by mobilising government, 20 NGOs, private land donors, consultants, contractors, and manufacturers into a public–private–people ecosystem producing dignified homes and supportive neighbourhoods. This global-leading societal participation achieved the fastest relocatable building delivery, repurposing idle land and coordinating cross-department infrastructure support. The programme operationalised SDG11 and SDG17 through co-creation rather than mere coordination: NGOs functioned as builders and operators; private developers contributed underutilised sites at nominal cost; manufacturers, consultants, and charities jointly solved technical and social challenges. This integrated approach was essential - no single actor could have achieved this alone. Government's agility and funding model enabled responsive partnerships; NGO networks activated grassroots trust; and private sector innovation accelerated MiC adoption via learning-by-doing, overcoming regulatory hurdles and positioning Hong Kong as a global modular leader. Comparative analysis with Vancouver and London reveals that centralised tenant systems, sustainable operational funding, and design standardisation compress delivery timelines while preserving local context. Hong Kong's whole-of-society model offers a replicable blueprint: co-design governance balancing government oversight with NGO autonomy; establish transparent benefit-sharing mechanisms; standardise processes to reduce transaction costs; plan early for unit circularity and reuse. Persistent challenges—short site tenures, uneven NGO capacity, low cross-project standardisation—demonstrate that partnerships require sustained commitment and policy alignment. This presentation, stemming from a Strategic Public Policy Research, consolidates the lessons learnt and operationalises SDG11 and SDG17 through structural interdependence: shared problem-framing, aligned incentives, distributed accountability, and genuine power-sharing. By documenting both triumphs and pain points, this work offers cities a transferrable partnership governance model for scaling dignified, affordable housing through multi-sector collaboration—transforming emergency responses into durable, sustainable built environment practices aligned with global development goals.