Bridge, cable car over Hong Kong harbour for cyclists, pedestrians proposed to open up city
Urban design firm based in city says 23km HarbourLoop would promote ‘a healthy and active means of moving around’, but a cyclist cautions more would need doing before people could bike to work
There’s nothing like images of smog-shrouded cities such as Beijing and New Delhi to get people thinking about their own environment and the impact pollution has on one’s health and quality of life.
With this in mind, a proposal by local design firm Lead 8 to transform the city’s waterfront into a 23km urban cycling, running and walking network seems more relevant than ever.
Coined HarbourLoop, the network that promotes zero-emission modes of transport and connects Hong Kong to Kowloon in a continuous loop. For the western harbour crossing, a cable car transports users from Central to a new deck overlooking the West Kowloon Cultural District in a 1.5km journey more than 60 metres above the harbour.
Cities where you can walk, run or cycle, rather than drive, are more appealing places in which to live and work
The eastern end of Victoria Harbour is crossed by a bridge with a span of 500 metres, linking the Museum of Coastal Defence and the Shau Kei Wan waterfront with the village of Lei Yue Mun, traversing from hill to hill and creating a new gateway to Hong Kong.
The proposal was submitted this month to the Harbourfront Commission, which advises the Government on all harbourfront matters.
“There’s an urgent need to invest in more people-focused networks to complement and connect Hong Kong and promote a healthy and active means of moving around,” says Simon Blore, director and co-founder of Lead 8.
Blore says it seems a waste to see the waterfront so underused in what is one of the world’s most densely populated cities, with a density of about 6,300 people per square kilometre.
Lead 8 says as well as the potential to become an attraction for tourists, the HarbourLoop would be within 10 minutes’ walk of the homes of over 1.7 million of the city’s residents.