Experts call for a more "walkable city"

*Julian Kwong, a consultant to the Asian Development Bank on highway and expressway safety, talks about imposing speed limits to promote walkability at a forum themed "Walkable City; Living Streets". *

"It is time for us to pause, to rethink the future of our city design and transport planning, and to put pedestrians back on our policy map," a Hong Kong official said

on Tuesday in a public forum.

Anthony Cheung, head of the Transport and Housing Bureau, was speaking at the forum themed "Walkable City; Living Streets". The forum gathered leading experts and professionals to discuss how to balance the interests of different road users and entice people to walk longer before taking transport so as to improve walkablity of the city.

**Vehicle-oriented roads **

While Hong Kong boasts its reputation of a world-class transport system, a major emphasis has been the efficient movement of vehicle traffic, which often overrides the interests and needs of pedestrians. Walking in many neighborhoods, whether commercial or residential, is frequently adversely affected by heavily trafficked and pedestrian-unfriendly street environments.

Vehicular traffic is often prioritized over pedestrian movement. For instance, pedestrians are often required to climb up and down in using footbridges or tunnels, so as not to obstruct the flow of street-level crossings.

"The result is that we now have footbridges on turnoffs nearly every two kilometers of road," said Paul Zimmerman, director of non-government organization "Designing Hong Kong". "I don't think any city in the world has that density."

Citing a survey result that over 77% of the city's residents prefer crossing at street level rather than subways or footbridges, Zimmerman said that the lack of at-grade crossings could waste pedestrians a lot more time. "People have to spend over 5 minutes in tunnels instead of 30 seconds to cross the road," he said, referring to the crossing between the popular shopping area and Tsim Sha Tsui MTR station.

Pedestrians walk on the footbridgeto cross the roadin Central, Hong Kong. (Xinhua).

In addition to the lack of street-level crossings, he also gave various other examples where urban planning is at the expense of pedestrians, including obstructed or narrow pavements, missing footpath, lack of toilets and seating, and excessive signage that could block pedestrians' sightlines.

Examples of undesirable walking conditions (source: "Walkable city, living streets" report from Civic Exchange).

However, Anthony Cheung, head of the transport department, said that while the government has been dedicated to promoting walkability in recent years, it needs more support from the local communities.

"Since 2000, the Transport Department has implemented more than 70 pedestrian schemes in various parts of Hong Kong, imposing different degrees of restrictions against vehicle access to provide a more pedestrian-friendly environment, " said Cheung.

"While they are generally welcomed by the public, further introduction of pedestrian schemes is becoming more difficult due to limited road space available for competing needs and street management considerations." Cheung also said that some local residents and district councils have raised concerns about noise and environmental problems created by the pedestrians and on-street promotion activities.

**Universally accessible **

Another issue highlighted in the forum is how to make the road universally accessible, not just for the young and fit, but also for the elderly and the physically handicapped.

Joseph Kwan, consultant of Universal Design and Accessibility, cited many cases in which "walking friendliness" on street is hampered, such as the lack of ramp route to the sidewalk, the block from wheelchair access to the park, and the building of blind path right next to the roadside constructions.

Referring to the concept of "universal design", Kwan said urban design should make city facilities accessible for all people, including wheelchair users and the blind who can "go around independently without reliance on somebody else."

The city's government announced a policy on universal accessibility last August, setting up 170 projects for retrofitting of barrier-free access facilities, such as lifts to footbridges and subways. These projects have not been completed yet and more work needs to be done to promote universal accessibility.

**Safer road and fresher air **

Promoting walkability also involves making the road safer and reducing road fatalities. Statistics show that the traffic density of Hong Kong is the highest in the world, with around 250 vehicles per kilometer. Meanwhile, Hong Kong also has a population density of around 6516/sq km, over 135 times the world average. How to make so many people navigate safely around the street without being hitting by a car?

Julian Kwong, an expert in road safety engineering, suggested that lower speed limits should be imposed in downtown areas, which could reduce the average vehicle speed and cut down pedestrian causalities. Depending on the traffic volume, different zones featuring 20km/h, 30km/h and 40 km/h speed limits should be set up, Kwong said.

To improve roadside air quality, Dr. Zhi Ning, an expert on urban air pollution, suggested that government should speed up the elimination of Euro II diesel vehicles, which could emit as much as 12.5 times of particulate matters as the modern Euro V model.

Citizens have to inhale polluted airwhile waiting for the bus. (xinhua).

He also suggested that Hong Kong should learn from European countries and set up low emission zones within the city, where only zero- and low-pollution vehicles are allowed to drive.

While traffic restrictions have been imposed in some high-end residential districts such as Ma Wan island and Discovery Bay, such low emission zones are yet to become the main trend in the city's urban planning.

Hong Kong chief executive C.Y. Leung pledged in his policy address early this year to earmark HK$10 billion to phase out those heavily polluting vehicles, and set aside funding for franchised bus companies to try out electrical buses. Positive signs for a more "walkable" city seems to have emerged, but much more yet to be done.