Heavy on light? Hong Kong LED screen size of five tennis courts sparks community concern
Located on roadside facade in busy shopping district, installation is one of largest in Asia-Pacific
Concerns on worsening light pollution have been raised after a new LED screen in the size of five tennis courts started operating on Friday in the heart of Hong Kong’s shopping district Causeway Bay already notorious for being very bright at night.
The screen was installed on the facade of the Sogo department store, located in Causeway Bay, and has a surface area of around 1,400 square metres, one of the largest in the Asia-Pacific region.
The towering LED billboard has worried anti-light pollution campaigners that it will cause a nuisance to nearby residents and add to the problem.
“We asked [Sogo] to not install the LED board, but they refused. I think Causeway Bay residents nearby will be affected by those lights,” Roy Tam Hoi-pong of the environmental activist group Green Sense said.
I think Causeway Bay residents nearby will be affected by those lights
Tam said he had been campaigning against the construction of the LED board for the last six months.
A spokeswoman for Sogo said it had signed the Charter on External Lighting, pledging to switch off the board from 11pm to 7am.