Signs of the Times

Take a bus ride down Nathan Road and you’ll see one of the great sights of Hong Kong: a corridor of neon lights, lighting the path to the harbor. But these iconic elements of Hong Kong’s street life are slowly disappearing as they fall into disrepair, and they’re giving way to their bigger, uglier—and not necessarily safer—brothers. As advertising companies begin to rent lit-up billboards to big brands, traditional neon signs belonging to small businesses are becoming an increasingly rare sight. A newly implemented Signboards Control System aims to protect us and our city’s signs—but who needs more help?

Fixing the System

The Buildings Department hazily estimates that the majority of Hong Kong’s 120,000 street signs are unauthorized. This means that most of the 100-kilogram billboards that hang above our heads every single day have not been approved by a registered engineer.

With a lack of regulation, these street signs clearly pose a threat to public safety. However, the government has been unable to address the problem because the Buildings Department only carries out inspections or issues removal notices if it recieves a complaint.

For the past five years, the department has been removing problematic signboards at a rate of 3,000 per year between 2006 and 2012—not quickly enough for the many district councillors and residents who believe the signs to be unsafe.

To tackle the problems of the previous system, and to try to maintain the traditional signs that lend so much vibrancy to the city’s streets, the Buildings Department introduced a new Signboards Control System at the beginning of this month. Instead of allowing the illegal signs to languish until they a) fall and hurt someone, or b) the department recieves a complaint, the new validation scheme will allow street sign owners to keep their signs if they apply for approval, perform quality checks and reinforce the structure if needed. If this is not done, the signs must come down.

Safety First

However, the new system may not be enough to address the many issues plaguing the city’s street signs. First up, the safety concerns.

While the new system is a step forward in improving safety, progress is too slow, according to district councillors. The department plans to authorize 10,000 signs per year, meaning it’ll take 12 years just to make sure every existing sign is up to standard. “What use is that?” asks Mong Kok District Councilor Francis Chong. “There are already so many dangerous signs in the area.”