Cultural areas proposed to stop squabbling over heritage sites

The government has been urged to create cultural areas rather than continue debating whether to demolish or preserve individual buildings.

A policy paper published yesterday by the Bauhinia Foundation Research Centre, a think-tank closely associated with the administration, said Hong Kong had been polarised between cultural preservation and economic development.

The centre recommends the use of a 'district planning principle' that would create cultural areas, encouraging both the appreciation and production of the arts.

Chan Wai-kwan, a senior director of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce who co-convened the study group for the paper, said districts with cultural areas should be 'experienced and enjoyed,' rather than sterilised by turning buildings into antiques.

The paper proposes forming 'creative clusters' such as in the Central and SoHo areas.

'The Central police station compound, for instance, can be preserved and developed in connection with the neighbouring cultural venues [such as the Fringe Club] and the leisure district of Lan Kwai Fong, as well as the cultural market and antique shops alongside Hollywood Road,' the paper said.