Reducing Crime in Hong Kong

Reducing Crime in Hong Kong
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Introduction
Currently, China has one of the leading and fast growing economies in the world. Since the 1978 reforms on the economic strategies, China now uses a market based system that has seen the country grow rapidly. The economy and the social development are clearly indicated by the GDP growth, in which the World Bank averages to be about 10% at an annual rate. This has led to the uplifting of more than 500 million people being lifted from their abject poverty (Gaylord, Gittings & Traver, 2009). Of all the millennium development goals only a few of them have not been achieved and most of them are within reach. Although the country boasts of a great leap in the economic realms, there are quite a number of persons that are living under the poverty line. According to the World Bank, China has the second highest percentage of people living under the poverty line. It comes second after India which is leading in this category. As such poverty level is one of the aspects the government of China is trying to improve. Other than that there is the aspect of crime rates that can be a hindrance to economic growth (Choi & Lo 2003).
The center of the economic growth is Hong Kong one of the biggest cities in the republic of China. Located on the southern coast of China, Hong Kong started off as a coastal island. Surrounded by the Pearl River delta, the city boasts of one of the deepest harbors and the land mass is approximately 1,100 square kilometers (Barbosa, 2014). This is a city that takes up some of the most fundamental administrative aspects of the country. With the Chinese being the majority of the ethnic community living in the city, it is also rated as one of the most populated cities in the world today (Gaylord & Traver, 1994). With the rapid economic growth experienced in the country, there have been a few challenges that are associated with the fast ascendance. Some of the common problems that are associated with the fast ascendance include, environmental issues of sustainability, demographics pressure from the aging population, rapid urbanization, high rates of inequality and crime rates soaring (Ho, 2011). This paper tries to evaluate the crime aspect in Hong Kong, and brings attention to the sustainable strategies that can be used to reduce the rate of crime in the city and its environs.
Effects of Crime on the Economy
Crime is one of the major aspects of the urban societies. As Hong Kong grows relative to the Chinese economy, it is expected that crimes related to the economic imbalance in the society, will also be on the rise. There are costs that are associated with the crimes with respect to material and immaterial aspects of the victims involved (Wacks, 1999). Persons affected may have to deal with loss of life sometimes and in most cases loss of their assets. This may be an additional cost after the individuals have invested in heavy locking mechani...