Opinion | Occupy protests have revealed how to improve the quality of city life

The dire consequences of the Occupy movement on Hong Kong haven't materialised as the doomsayers predicted. The foreshadowed billions of dollars of financial losses, a plunge in the stock market, collapse of housing prices and the sharp decline in tourist numbers were merely scare-mongering. Two weeks later, the protests still spluttering on, and all we've got to complain about is the traffic - something that has always been bothersome in a place with more vehicles than roads can handle. Put aside the inconvenience, a small cut in profits for chain stores, the loss of school time, and we're left with insights into improvements to our lives that officials have been reluctant to implement.

Walking around the barriers outside Sogo in Causeway Bay gave a taste of what could be if the government was committed to putting citizens ahead of big business. Pre-protest, the footpaths were shoulder-to-shoulder with people and the main thoroughfare, Hennessy Road, bumper-to-bumper with pollution-belching buses and trucks. But with the street occupied by a few scores of sitting students, the crowds were thinned out and the noxious fumes and din of traffic had disappeared. Causeway Bay long ago became a place I avoided - but this I liked.

A people-friendly policy to our city's most famous shopping district would take this a step further and make it a place for more than just shopping. Hennessy Road, between Percival and Yee Wo streets, could be permanently closed to traffic and turned into a street mall. Pave the road, liberally sprinkle seats, trees, fountains, artworks and sculptures, cafés and kiosks, and an experience that can be aggravating and exhausting can be turned into one of relaxation and pleasure. All that is required to make it happen is a little digging into those bulging government coffers and a few traffic diversions.

The shutting down of major roads by protesters most noticeably cut street-level pollution. If only the government insisted on bus and delivery companies retiring old diesel vehicles, we could have this all the time. Never again would passing buses blast people with fumes and shower them with lung-damaging nitrogen dioxide and small particulates as they wait at bus stops and street crossings. Our health would improve and we would live longer.

However, the closures have also taught us good habits. Office workers, deterred from driving onto Hong Kong Island by traffic that was more than usually snarled, opted to take public transport. Some did as authorities have been encouraging and parked near New Territories and Kowloon MTR stations and caught trains. Cheaper parking, smooth tunnel traffic flow and less crowded streets in Central - it was a matter of win-win for all.

It is wrong to paint the protests as bad for Hong Kong. For the government and Beijing, it has shown through massive international media attention that the world is watching and cares about our city's development; that extra layer of oversight is much-needed. There have been negatives, but those have been amply outweighed by the positives. The wrangling for a democratic government will drag on, but making use of the insight we have been given into more attainable matters has to be quickly taken up.