Green green grass is what HK urbanites need, says legislator
Bernard Chan says Hong Kong needs far more open grassy spaces for the public and he intends to raise the matter during a motion debate in the Legislative Council this week.
The executive councillor and lawmaker, who has two young children aged five and seven, said not having enough open grass spaces for them to run around freely and safely was a big problem.
He said many people had expressed their concerns online about the lack of such areas.
'If you look at discussion forums on the internet, you will find there are many parents in Hong Kong complaining about this,' Mr Chan said.
A green Hong Kong did not just mean having lots of trees, he said. The government should develop a wider view of the issue, including the shortage of open grass spaces. He said he planned to raise this issue in Wednesday's debate.
He pointed out that Victoria Park in Causeway Bay devoted only one-tenth of its 17 hectares to lawns.
'When we talk about greenery, we always think of trees or grass lawns for decorative use. However, greenery also means grass spaces on which people can walk and lie on,' Mr Chan said.
'In Hong Kong, big parks such as Hong Kong Park in Central and Kowloon Park in Tsim Sha Tsui have more concrete than vegetation.'
Mr Chan said he would ask the government to allocate more resources for the maintenance of lawns in parks. He also wanted it to reduce unnecessary regulatory controls in parks.
'I was once told by the administration that it would be impossible to have more lawns because of the high maintenance costs. Officials were also worried that the lawns would [be swamped] with domestic helpers.
'It would be stupid to stop the public making use of these lawns for the reasons the government has given,' Mr Chan said.
He said having more open green spaces would improve the quality of life in Hong Kong.
According to the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, the total maintenance cost of the 37 open lawns in Hong Kong managed by the department is about HK$6 million.
Peter Lee, one of the co-convenors of Hong Kong Alternatives, agreed that Hong Kong should have more open grass spaces.
According to data from a green group, London and New York have far bigger parks.
Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens in London cover 251 hectares, while Central Park in New York provides 341 hectares for public use. The ratio of urban parkland to 1,000 people is 0.7 in London and New York, but just 0.05 in Hong Kong.
Mr Chan said future urban planning should take a broader view.
'We might not be able to change the sites that have already been built, but there are projects like West Kowloon.'
