If you have ever tried to travel across Tsim Sha Tsui, by foot or by road, you know it is far from an easy task. Pedestrian and traffic congestion make covering even short distances troublesome, but a pilot study into the creation of an underground zone beneath Kowloon Park has the potential to ease the overcrowding above ground. According to conceptual plans, three storeys of underground space are designed to alleviate street-level traffic, enhance pedestrian access, and create a diversified retail destination. With the addition of three storeys above ground, the development will cover about 620,000 square feet, including retail and food offerings, community facilities, car parking, and pedestrian passageways. But it could go further – both literally and figuratively. When it comes to improving pedestrian access around the area, the current plan does not reach some desirable destinations. While the proposed space connects to Tsim Sha Tsui’s existing metro and subway systems and their extensive 26 exits to local landmarks, sightseeing spots, and private commercial developments, it does not add anywhere meaningful to that list – nor does it cross any streets, apart from an exit to Kowloon Park Drive. Kowloon Park underground zone ‘should boost local brands’ say Hong Kong legislators This undermines the project’s objective of alleviating congestion, since pedestrians exiting the underground space and crossing roads at ground level will continue to interrupt the flow of traffic and vice versa. Furthermore, while it may be controversial to propose connections with private commercial developments, these should not be dismissed out of hand. Such networks are not unprecedented – land premium waivers have previously been used to incentivise private developments to finance footbridges or subways connecting to public spaces. Integrating the Kowloon Park project with nearby private destinations would further enhance its reputation as a community destination, and increase its economic value to the surrounding area. The government should also take this opportunity to create a broader transport interchange for the Kowloon peninsula. While it appears that planners considered case studies from cities such as Osaka, Tokyo, Singapore, Montreal, and more – which have successfully proven that underground spaces can link multiple transport hubs and reduce pressure on public transportation and road traffic for short journeys – similar ideas were not adopted in the Kowloon conceptual scheme. One of the proposed exits for the Kowloon Park project falls 200 metres short of joining up with Austin MTR station – a connection that would ease access to the West Kowloon Cultural District and the Express Rail Link, a key transport hub for the Greater Bay Area. Integration with Jordan MTR station also remains elusive. It is possible that there may be technical challenges to enabling these underground avenues, but these are not outlined clearly in the study digest. Red Lobster seafood chain optimistic as it prepares to open first Hong Kong outlet in protest hotspot Causeway Bay Whatever connections are established, convenient, air-conditioned walkways alone will not be enough to attract users to the scheme. The retail and community amenities currently planned should help to solicit interest, but again there appear to be limitations to the scope of these. The proposed design is for premises most closely resembling an underground mall. Its retail spaces will be concentrated in the storeys below the Nathan Road, Austin Road and Tsim Sha Tsui MTR exits, leaving the proposed passageways to Haiphong and Kowloon Park Drive bare. In contrast, successful subterranean retail projects elsewhere in the world, such as Umeda Station in Osaka, have taken the form of underground shopping ‘streets’ lining underground pedestrian routes to many different destinations. Indeed, there is already such a shopping ‘street’ in Hong Kong. Queensway Plaza – with its footbridges branching off to neighbouring office buildings, the Pacific Place mall and Admiralty MTR station – is a retail arcade as well as a pedestrian passageway across the district. This combination has been shown to boost both the rental returns for Queensway Plaza and the economy of the whole district. The potential for the Kowloon Park project to help create an interconnected underground network in the southern Kowloon peninsula is undeniable. Tsim Sha Tsui’s reputation as one of Hong Kong’s commercial capitals and its existing underground system make the area the natural home for the city’s first subterranean shopping destination, while West Kowloon’s expanding cultural and transport infrastructure makes it ever more crucial to control traffic flows and create convenient pedestrian access from one part of the district to another. Connecting these two hubs will therefore be crucial to the success of the Kowloon Park underground scheme – the government just needs to ensure that its plans go far enough. Jacqueline Wong is a director of strategic consulting with JLL’s valuation advisory services team