A vision of ensuring equal access to a city's amenities for all residents, regardless of their age and physical conditions, is the ultimate goal of architects and city planners.
But Hong Kong - squeezed for space, high-rise and traffic-bound - is still a city most suited to the young, fit and able-bodied.
The notion of 'barrier-free access' was virtually unheard of 20 years ago, and wheelchairs were rarely seen on the city walkways and pavements. But over the past two decades, more comprehensive building regulations and a greater awareness of the need for accessible architectural designs slowly redressed the oversights of the past.
The government will complete renovation of more than 190 public housing estates by the end of this year, adding features such as ramp accesses and tactile guide-paths to outdoor spaces, and grip rails and shower facilities to individual flats. It will also issue the new building planning regulations - the Design Manual 2008 - which will increase the mandatory requirements for disabled access to new buildings, and reinforce the shift from barrier-free access to 'architecture for all'.
'There is higher public expectation and a growing demand for a more sustainable and accessible built environment in which people with diverse needs and lifestyles can be satisfied,' said a spokesman for the government's Architectural Services Department. 'In terms of accessibility, the goal of the department is to adopt a holistic approach to cater for diversity in meeting the needs of all sectors of society, including those with different abilities, the young and the elderly.'
The new regulations will reinforce mandatory architectural features such as a ramped access to the entrance way of a building, a wide-roomed toilet for wheelchair users and lifts with Braille buttons. It will also outline a number of 'good practice' features such as increasing the lux level of lights to help the partially sighted, the use of auditory signals to help the visually challenged, and wider walkways and doorways to increase the mobility of wheelchair and pushchair users.