West Kowloon Cultural Desert – or great park?

[DocMartin]

Hong Kong Univ has just launched the West Kowloon and Harbour-Front Opinion Platform – where can sign in, and visit forum to give views on plans for the West Kowloon Cultural District. Right now, this district is in rather desert like condition; and I’m afraid I don’t anticipate having a huge amount more culture even if the planned developments happen. I’ve posted the following to the Opinion Platform: Horrible slogan as title of this thread ("Let’s create a World Class Cultural Green Park").

"Let’s blah blah blah" tends to be kind of thing officials might put before something abstract and meaningless. And "world class" – what’s that? But right idea. Having concreted over yet another expanse of the supposedly beautiful Victoria Harbour, should at least do something good with the land, not just create something akin to a "cultural" Cyberport – bringing money for developers, with little but sterile concrete to show for it for the rest of us.

I thought the Swire plan, with tree canopies over a park, was by far the best of the plans I’ve seen for the area. Could indeed create an excellent green park, with some cultural venues (nothing too large for the latter; HK hardly a city of culture, and won’t become it simply by having more culturally-oriented concrete). If to be "world class", maybe emulate Central Park, say, albeit on smaller scale.

But I don’t believe this govt has interest in really creating things for regular people; instead, hell-bent on concreting, and generating proceeds to developers. (Hah, let’s see if any of officials or Kings of Concrete stop by to comment, say things are otherwise.) See also: Hong Kong Alternatives: "A group of concerned longtime residents unaffiliated with any commercial or political groups, committed to the development of the West Kowloon site in the best interests of the Hong Kong people."

[simonosborne]

It doesn’t require intellectualization, just a big field of grass suffices.

Parks are rubbish in Hong Kong. The one behind the Ritz Carlton for example, you can see how its been planned out. A third: planting (in ginormous concrete planters), a third: water feature. (i.e a flat pond – of no use to anyone), a third: pedestrian piazza

So the only thing you can access is the concrete part. Which is not very parklike but just an extension of the pavement.

There’s plenty of unused space for parks out at North Point. No point having one in west kowloon. Nobody lives there.

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