Hong Kong: What's Changed, What Hasn't

Hong Kong's pollution
SAMANTHA SIN / AFP/GETTY IMAGES

What's Changed

Pollution

The soupy haze bathing Hong Kong testifies to the city's chronic air pollution. According to one 2005 study, Hong Kong's pollution costs the city more than $700 million a year in medical costs and lost productivity. The problem has gotten dramatically worse since 1997 — in part due to the epic industrial boom in the Pearl River Delta.

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