Rope in private sector, learn from Singapore and others: advisers tell Hong Kong government over ‘boring’ waterfront management
- Harbourfront Commission members raise need to tap on creativity and flexibility of companies to enhance spaces
- Outdated law perceived as oppressive and binding on government department managing waterfronts
Hong Kong’s prized waterfront should receive more creative input from the private sector, taking reference from Singapore and other port cities to move away from “boring” and rigid government-run spaces, official advisers have said.
Members of the Harbourfront Commission, a watchdog supported by the Development Bureau, spoke after Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po announced a HK$6 billion (US$764 million) boost to extend and enhance promenades on both sides of Victoria Harbour. The work will be carried out over the next decade to achieve an interconnected waterfront.
Commission members raised the need to harness the private sector’s creativity and flexibility, as well as to learn from other countries and cities, to make public spaces along the water’s edge in Hong Kong more fun and enjoyable.
Officials are also looking into collaborating with private companies to design, build and manage such sections in Wan Chai and Hung Hom.
“Looking forward, as we extend the harbourfront, if we stick to the government’s monotonous management style, it will just be very boring,” commission chairman Vincent Ng Wing-shun said in an interview with the Post.
If we stick to the government’s monotonous management style, it will just be very boring
“Private participation in managing public spaces should be encouraged, since they have a lot of innovative designs and are not subject to rigid laws.”