Historical Local Climate Zones (LCZ) maps for Hong Kong (1845-2000)

This dataset contains GIS maps of the historical urbanization of Hong Kong at 12 timeslices from 1845-2000 (1845, 1888, 1895, 1913, 1938, 1945, 1952, 1961, 1975, 1984, 1995, and 2000). These maps were compiled through classification of historical map material, photographs, paintings, and contemporary textual accounts. The maps describe the land cover of the historical urban core of the territory of Hong Kong: Victoria City on Hong Kong Island, and the Kowloon Peninsula on the mainland. Urban form is described in terms of the Local Climate Zones (LCZ) scheme presented by Stewart & Oke (2012).

The dataset is currently in the format of a QGIS archive, but other file formats will be made available in the future and can be requested from the authors at any time.

For further details on the process of generating the maps and their application, please see Yee and Kaplan (2022).

Yee, M., & Kaplan, J. O. (2022). Drivers of urban heat in Hong Kong over the past 116 years. Urban Climate. doi:10.1016/j.uclim.2022/101308

Stewart, I. D., & Oke, T. R. (2012). Local Climate Zones for Urban Temperature Studies. Bulletin of The American Meteorological Society, 93(12), 1879-1900. doi:10.1175/bams-d-11-00019.1