'Floating oasis' rooftop garden plan for Hong Kong's Central Market scrapped
Hong Kong’s historic Central Market will not get its "floating oasis" after all
A rooftop garden in the former Central Market - the main feature from the original design chosen after public consultation - has been scrapped in the newest plans, the Urban Renewal Authority announced yesterday.
The original design, known as the Urban Floating Oasis, will no longer have a "floating oasis", as the authority cited structural issues, costs trebling and the time factor for the change.
But the new "simplified design" will not be put to public consultation and the decision also goes against the planning intent set out in the outline zoning plan, which stated that "a minimum of 1,000 square metres of public open space, mainly in the form of a roof garden, should be provided within the site".
"The original design was chosen by the public, yet four years later [the authority] just decides on their own to scrap it. This isn't a decision to be made by the board behind closed doors," said Ivan Ho Man-yiu from the Hong Kong Institute of Architects.
The original design would cost an estimated HK$1.5 billion now, which authority chairman Victor So Hing-woh said was money that could be put to better use elsewhere.