Creating responsive layouts in React applications can be achieved without relying solely on CSS media queries by using React Hooks, which offer a more dynamic and reusable solution. By utilizing the `useState` and `useEffect` Hooks, developers can manage the viewport dimensions and update component rendering based on screen size changes. A custom Hook, `useViewport`, can be created to encapsulate this logic, allowing for a clean and efficient way to handle responsive design across multiple components. Further optimization can be achieved by implementing a React Context to share a single resize event listener throughout the application, improving performance. This approach not only simplifies the process of building responsive UIs but also showcases the flexibility and power of React Hooks, enabling developers to create scalable and maintainable applications.