Hierarchical constellations offer a different property of robustness to the multiple bits that construct a symbol according to channel errors. We apply the characteristics of hierarchical constellations to a multi-user cellular system that has limited modulation levels, in order to improve cell capacity. We propose an adaptive resource allocation scheme based on the hierarchical constellation in which a symbol is shared by multiple users and each bit in a symbol is allocated adaptively according to the channel condition of each user. The numerical results show that the proposed resource allocation scheme provides mobile users with higher modulation levels so that the cell capacity is improved.