When Macau “returned” to Mainland China in 1999, its economic
growth rate was 5.49%. To enrich the economic growth rate after
Macau's return, the government of Mainland China began to execute
many developmental strategies for Macau, such as allowing people
from Mainland China “to freely travel in Hong Kong and Macau” and
re-legalizing casino gambling in 2002. These related political and
economic policies brought a large number of tourists to Macau; in
particular, the tourists from Mainland China grew from 11 million in
2008 to 18 million in 2013 (Statistics and Census Service, 2014b). In
addition, these official policies also stimulated its economic growth
rate (to 16.69% in 2002). However, behind these bright developments
and this positive economic growth, Macau's residents
also had a horrible price to pay: a decrease in leisure/recreational
spaces and green belts, a dependence on tourists from Mainland
China for its economic growth, and socio-economic vulnerability
(Hung & Peng, 2011). From the other perspective, visitor arrivals in
Singapore had increased to nearly 50% in 2012 compared with the
end of 2009 and reached an estimated high of 14.4 million since the
first casino gambling establishment opened in February 2010.
Although the establishment of casino gambling in 2010 could earn a