Walkable City, Living Streets October 2012 Simon Ng, Wilson Lau, Fred Brown, Eva Tam, Mandy Lao and Veronica Booth 社 區 連 Vitality 繫 可達性 Accessiblity 行人 Pedestrian 城 市 密度 Density 設 計 1 About Civic Exchange Civic Exchange is a Hong Kong-based non-profit public policy think tank that was established in October 2000. It is an independent organisation that has access to policy-makers, officials, businesses, media and NGOs—reaching across sectors and borders. Civic Exchange has solid research experience in areas such as air quality, energy, urban planning, climate change, conservation, water, governance, political development, equal opportunities, poverty and gender. For more information about Civic Exchange, visit www.civic-exchange.org. About the authors Simon Ng is Head of Transport and Sustainable Research of Civic Exchange. His major research interests include sustainable transportation, liveable cities, air quality management, energy issues and local community planning. Simon is known for his work on ship emissions inventory and control in Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta. He is also passionate about making Hong Kong a better place to live. Wilson Lau is the Research and Projects Coordinator at Civic Exchange. His research is broadly centered around liveability issues, which includes nature conservation, city well-being and urban walkability. Fred Brown is the Honorary Chairman of MVA and has over 35 years international experience in transport and traffic planning and development. He has taken a leading role with MVA in promoting priority to public transport and pedestrians over the past thirty years, as far back as the development of the extensive pedestrian networks in Central and the Mid-levels escalator in the early 1980s. Since then through a series of projects for government, public transport operators and the private sector he has helped develop living environments and planning processes in the interests of promoting sustainable development throughout Hong Kong. Most recently he has led the MVA team in developing under various studies a large scale traffic zone in West Kowloon, encompassing and interlinking West Kowloon HSR Terminal, Austin MTR station, Kowloon station and the West Kowloon Cultural District. Eva Tam graduated with a Master of Urban Planning in 2009, after attaining an award in 2007 for best dissertation, which explained spatial changes in Modern China through the lens of Henri Lefebvre. She is a strong advocate for appropriate land use and is now Project Manager at Designing Hong Kong, in charge of proposing various development alternatives. Mandy Lao is a Project Manager of Civic Exchange who graduated at Cardiff University with MSc in City and Regional Planning specialising in urban design and built environment. She has extensive research experience with proven ability in managing qualitative and quantitative research projects commissioned by the government, institutions, academic sectors, NGOs, and private sectors. She is the co-author of the Rethinking the Small House Policy published by Civic Exchange in 2003. Veronica Booth is Senior Project Manager at Civic Exchange. Since joining Civic Exchange in 2003, she has directed high-profile multi-stakeholder projects and worked on issues ranging from sustainable urban development, air pollution and its public health effects, and political reform and development in Hong Kong. 2 Preface and Acknowledgments This is one research project where almost every person at Civic Exchange played a role in. We mapped out walking routes in various parts of Hong Kong and created a system on how to assess each route. While some of the routes were familiar, but by being a conscious walker, we discovered many things about the journeys. That experience has deepened the entire organisation’s understanding to the importance of making the city easily walkable. A barrier-free walking experience enables us to walk much further. Moreover, if the experience is also pleasant, we enjoy the experience and this has the capacity to change our behavior. For example, we linger longer in nice surroundings but rush away when they are unpleasant. We are convinced that by investing in good pedestrian experience throughout the city, it is an excellent investment for the HKSAR Government to make because it benefits a very large number of people by improving their quality of life. It helps to build community in a specific locality and along certain routes, as well as make walking an important mode of transport that is free, emissions- free and good for health. It may well be good for the economy as well, especially if districts are well-planned and public spaces well-maintained. Indeed, improving walkability can be one of the government’s major social, economic, environmental and quality of life policy. We are grateful to the MTRC for funding this research project. We also called on many experts and friends to help with this project. Our advisers were Bill Barron, Fred Brown, Aidan Eaglestone, Robert Footman and Ng Mee Kam. Our collaborators were Eva Tam, Oren Tatcher, Frankie Wong and Paul Zimmerman. Our walking teams consisted of Veronica Booth, Garf Chan, Iris Chan, Martin Lai, Mandy Lao, Wilson Lau, Cissy Lui, Kendice Luk, Simon Ng, Chloe Or, Eva Tam, Michelle Wong, Bonnie Yim and Paul Zimmerman. Our research and writing team consisted of Veronica Booth, Fred Brown, Mandy Lao, Wilson Lau, Simon Ng as lead author and Eva Tam. We are grateful to MVA for the use of some of the visual materials, and to photographer Dave Choi for the many excellent original photographs and multimedia materials. Carine Lai designed and laid out the report, Bill Leverett edited the report and Pinky Choy proof-read the report. Special mention must go to Simon Ng for overseeing the project. Yan-yan Yip Chief Executive Officer October 2012 3 Table of contents Executive Summary................................................................................ 6 1. Introduction................................................................................ 8 1.1 Walking and walkability 1.2 Potential for unobstructed walking in a city 1.3 Benefits for the city 1.4 The Hong Kong cityscape: key challenges 2. Hong Kong’s urban & transport development.............................. 25 2.1 Urban development 2.2 A world-class transport system 2.3 Transport externalities and the need for a new approach 2.4 Pedestrian planning in Hong Kong 2.5 International examples 3. Improving walkability in Hong Kong........................................... 45 3.1 Three types of transformation 3.2 Local surveys 3.3 Victoria Harbourfront—Central 3.4 Victoria Harbourfront—Tsim Sha Tsui 3.5 Mong Kok 3.6 Ma On Shan 4. Making Hong Kong a world-class city for pedestrians.................. 94 4.1 The state of walkability in Hong Kong 4.2 Lessons from overseas and insights for Hong Kong 4.3 Root issues 4.4 A walkability framework for Hong Kong 4.5 Strategies and actions for a walkable, layered city 4.6 Benefits of a walkable Hong Kong 5. Conclusion................................................................................. 103 5.1 Sustaining dynamism 5.2 Improving connectivity and pedestrian networks Appendix 1: Public transport journeys.................................................... 106 Appendix 2: Cross-boundary trips.......................................................... 106 Appendix 3: Roadside air quality............................................................ 107 Appendix 4: Air quality standards around the world.............................. 108 Appendix 5: Pedestrian schemes in Hong Kong...................................... 109 Appendix 6: City profiles........................................................................ 110 1. Barcelona 2. New York 3. London 4. Melbourne 5. San Francisco 6. Seoul 7. Shanghai 8. Singapore 9. Tokyo 10. Toronto References............................................................................................ 159 4 List of abbreviations API—Air Pollution Index AQO—Air Quality Objectives CBD—Central Business District CGO—Central Government Offices HKSAR—Hong Kong Special Administrative Region IFC—International Financial Centre LEZs—Low Emission Zones MTR—Mass Transit Railway MTRC—Mass Transit Railway Corporation NO2—Nitrogen Dioxide PlanD—Planning Department PM2.5—particulate matter up to 2.5 micrometres in size PM10—particulate matter up to 10 micrometres in size PRD—Pearl River Delta TD—Transport Department UV—Ultraviolet WHO—World Health Organisation WKCD—West Kowloon Cultural District WKRA—West Kowloon Reclamation Area WKT—West Kowloon Terminus 5 Executive Summary Reclaiming walking in Walking is one of the most natural human activities. Throughout history, car-oriented cities walking connected people not only to what they needed to do, but also to each other socially. Walking is not just a means to an end, but an experience in itself. However, the advent of modern transport modes has enabled people to travel beyond walking distances, resulting in changes in city design. Having a car became a “must”, especially in the economically advanced cities. In developing economies where walking once was the key mode for low- income residents, rapid urban development and motorization has turned city planning into a race to accommodate the rising number of vehicles, accompanied by traffic jams, air pollution and noise. Against such trend, walking has slowly regained ground in the past decade and a half, for the sake of human health, environmental sustainability and city liveability. Many