Designers fine but bureaucracy is a worry, observers say

The architects chosen for the West Kowloon Cultural District are fine - it's the bureaucracy that is creating worries, observers say. 'The architects are all world-renowned people and we have confidence in them. What we're concerned with is there are things beyond their control,' said Helen Leung Hay-lin, of the Hong Kong Institute of Architects' task force on the district.

Transport planning showed little sign of breakthrough thinking, she said, after recent meetings with the authority and officers from the Transport and Highways departments.

'Highways and roads will continue to surround the site, subways will be added, but few prominent' ground-level links would be made to connect Jordan, Kowloon Park and Tsim Sha Tsui, she said. 'We should not just focus on the shopping mall Elements.'

Government should slow down planning for the surrounding areas and wait for the designers, said Paul Zimmerman, a member of the Harbour-front Enhancement Committee, which monitors waterfront projects. He also pointed to the option of combining the best aspects of the three designs into one after a public consultation.

Ko Tin-lung, artistic director of the Chung Ying Theatre Company, said he was not surprised by the selection of a star-studded line-up to build the arts hub, but asked why talents of equally high calibre had yet to be found in developing 'cultural software'.

'It appears to the public that the authority has put more resources into the buildings, which can be built efficiently in Hong Kong. But talent grooming is not like that,' Ko said.