Chasing space: boost for plan to bar cars and buses in Central, Hong Kong
Plans to pedestrianise the business district have been afoot for years, but could get back on the agenda with the setting-up of a new charity to push for it
Anyone who has walked through Hong Kong’s Central district and longed for a quieter experience with cleaner air may be closer to getting their wish.
A new blueprint, on the way this year, will include a study on how traffic there can be managed if no cars or buses are allowed on part of Des Voeux Road Central, as well as smaller initiatives that could pave the way for a full roll-out.
Markus Shaw, who chairs the group’s board, said it needed high-level policymakers on board to move past department-level bureaucracy.
“Real estate owners want to see it happen, the tram company wants to see it happen, the retailers want to see it happen and even the bus companies ... are quite neutral as they realise it would ease congestion,” he said.