LettersCoronavirus: Hong Kong’s zeal for steel in urban design could be a health hazard

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A child with a fishing rod at the Central harbourfront on September 1, 2019. Steel handrails are ubiquitous along Hong Kong harbourfront promenades. Photo: Nora Tam

Published: 9:00am, 17 Mar 2020Updated: 1:15pm, 17 Mar 2020

While concrete dominates the Hong Kong skyline, steel is ubiquitous at the street level. Not all steel structures are eyesores – but there are many which are truly appalling.

Steel handrails are common in our parks and playgrounds, where a different choice of material, such as wood, would have been much more congruous. Increasingly, steel bars are being put on benches in public spaces to prevent, not only the homeless, but everyone else from lying down on them. Hostile architecture has sparked public outcries in Sydney and New York.

Steel installations – like doors and large name plates – are a common sight in public premises, such as the public hospitals and municipal offices.

On both sides of the harbour there are steel railings along parts of the waterfront. Thankfully, steel has yet to become the material of choice in our country parks.

Metal loops gird a walkway in Tung Chau Street Park, Sham Shui Po, to prevent people from sleeping on it. Photo: Jonathan WONG

The authorities probably chose to use steel in all the above instances because it is easier to clean, even though it is in poor taste and risks the city looking bland and sterile. Even the benefits related to public hygiene may be illusory – the coronavirus that causes Covid-19 survives the longest on smooth surfaces like steel.