New advice for developers aimed at encouraging air flow and ventilation in built-up areas were issued by the government yesterday.
But the voluntary guidelines were swiftly dismissed by conservation groups as offering little help to improve the environment.
Their comments came after the Planning Department said it had added the recommendations to its planning standards and guidelines for urban design, encouraging developers to carry out feasibility studies for air ventilation when they plan projects.
The guidelines include varying the height of buildings, widening streets along the prevailing wind direction and providing more open, green areas.
The department said that as one of the most densely populated cities in the world, with hot and humid summers, Hong Kong needed more wind to provide relief and comfort in built-up areas.
But Conservancy Association chief executive Lister Cheung Lai-ping said the guidelines would be useless as they were only voluntary.