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A PARK WE SHARE – PUBLIC SURVEY ON THE OPERATION OF THE FUTURE WEST KOWLOON CULTURAL DISTRICT PARK

西九公園人人共享 ─ 「如何管理將來的西九公園」公眾意見調查

West Kowloon Cultural District Authority

Final Report

Submitted by

Culture and Development Consultancy Limited

4 September 2014

____________________________________________________________________________________ Provision of Consultancy Service for the Park Engagement Exercise to WKCDA

Executive Summary 1. Culture and Development Consultancy (CDC) Ltd in collaboration

with Policy 21 Ltd has been commissioned by West Kowloon Cultural District Authority (WKCDA) to conduct ‘A Park We Share – Public Survey on the Operation of the Future West Kowloon Cultural District Park’ (hereafter ‘the Survey’).

2. Objective of the Survey was to help the Consultation Panel of the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority to collect views and ideas from the public on how the Park in the West Kowloon Cultural District (WKCD) can be operated and managed in new, innovative ways that would meet the aspirations of the public.

3. The survey mainly comprised an online questionnaire as well as 7 focus group discussions. Throughout the survey period, two written submissions were received. Public opinions about the use and management of the Park collected from two major public events, viz. Freespace Fest (14-15 December 2013) and Tai Kok Tsui Temple Fair (2 March 2014) were also analyzed. The results of the survey would be used as references for drafting the Park bylaws.

Public Opinions collected from Freespace Fest and Tai Kok Tsui Temple Fair

4. 472 responses expressed in text and drawings were collected from the Freespace Fest and Tai Kok Tsui Temple Fair.

5. The top mentions for what the public would like to see in the WKCD park, ranked in descending order, were ‘Lawn’ (that includes ideas about a fence-less lawn, well-maintained lawn, big lawn and a lawn that allows visitors to do a wide-range of activities, such as stargazing, picnicking, reading and lying down), ‘Playground or children’s facilities’ (such as swings, slides, seesaws, etc), ‘Greenery/ trees’ (there were mentions about more special trees or trees with fruits), ‘Cycling / Cycling path’ (some other related mentions are ‘providing family bikes’, ‘bikes for children’ and ‘free-of-charge renting of bicycles’) and ‘Shelters’.

6. The top mentions for what the public do not want to see in the WKCD park, ranked in descending order, were ‘Property development/ tall buildings’, ‘Commercialized’, ‘Smoking area or smokers’ and ‘Crowds’.

Online Survey Findings

7. The online questionnaire was conducted from 9 May to 29 June 2014. There were 3,302 completed cases in total.

8. Among the 3,302 respondents, 53.8% were males and 46.2% were females, with age distribution as follows: 30 or below (49.6%), 31 -

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Provision of Consultancy Service for the Park Engagement Exercise to WKCDA

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45 (38.9%), 46 – 60 (9.8%) and 61 or above (1.8%). 87.3% of the respondents had attained post-secondary education or above.

9. More than two-thirds (67.1%) of the respondents visited the West Kowloon Waterfront Promenade and participated in some events over the past two years. About 17.2% visited the Promenade but did not participate in any event. 15.7% did not visit the Promenade at all.

10. An overwhelming majority of the respondents reported that they wished “Lying/ Picnicking on the lawn” (96.3%), “Street art” (91.6%) and “Cycling” (90.8%) to be allowed in the WKCD Park while the majority wished “Skateboarding/Roller-skating” (78.8%), “Bringing pets” (78.3%), “Ball games” (75.7%), “Water games/Water guns” (69.5%), “Fishing” (65.9%) and “Tree climbing” (57.8%) to be allowed.

11. More than half of the respondents expressed that they would conduct the activities such as “Lying/Picnicking on the lawn” (93.4%), “Cycling” (81.4%), “Ball games” (64.4%) and “Water games/Water guns” (56.0%), “Street art” (51.4%) in the WKCD Park, but less than half would conduct the activities such as “Bringing pets” (44.9%), “Tree climbing” (44.6%), “Skateboarding/Roller-skating” (41.0%), and “Fishing” (35.7%) in the WKCD Park.

12. About half of the respondents indicated that there should be no restriction on “Lying/Picnicking on the lawn” (63.3%) and “Street art” (46.0%). On the other hand, more than half of the respondents suggested that “Ball games” (66.8%), “Skateboarding/Roller-skating” (65.3%), “Water games/ Water guns” (56.9%) and “Bringing pets” (50.4%) should be restricted to designated areas. Less than half of the respondents indicated that “Cycling” (47.9%), “Fishing” (41.3%), “Street art” (39.6%), “Tree climbing” (37.3%) and “Lying/Picnicking on the lawn” (25.1%) should be restricted to designated areas. “Designated hours” for carrying out certain activities was not favored by majority of the respondents as less than one-fifth of them indicated that the restriction should be imposed.

13. Among all respondents, 64.1% of them indicated that “Self-discipline of park users” was the most important condition to allow harmonious co-existence of different activities in the WKCD Park. 11.7% of them suggested “Good management system” was the most important condition while 10.7% suggested “Clear rules and regulations”.

14. Concerning “Special area for children”, slightly less than half of the respondents expressed that the area should not be restricted (48.8%) whereas 43.6% suggested that age restriction should be

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imposed (43.6%). 15. More than half of respondents reported that there should be

designated areas for “Cycling path” (60.0%), “Bazaar or street markets” (59.4%), and “Food/ Vendor Kiosk” (55.1%).

16. With regard to street performance policies, "Designated Hours" (71.7%), "Designated Area" (73.7%) and "Volume Control" (63.8%) were considered acceptable to most of the respondents. On the other hand, about half of the respondents indicated that "Requiring permit" (54.2%) and “Book in advance” (43.1%) were not acceptable. About 43.8% of the respondents considered it acceptable to apply an overall curatorial policy for performances while nearly one-fifth of the respondents did not have comments.

17. More than two-thirds of the respondents (74.1%) indicated that they would definitely visit the WKCD Park in future while 21.9% indicated that they would probably do so. Among those who would definitely or probably visit the WKCD Park in future, the majority (54.4%) expected to visit the park once a month or more frequently.

18. About half of the respondents (51.1%) had provided other views on the management of the Park and public space in the WKCD. A higher proportion of respondents mentioned that there should be ‘Fewer rules and restrictions/ promote self-discipline in using the Park’, ‘Allow more freedom in using the space’, ‘More cultural activities/ music activities/street performance’ and ‘More artistic elements and activities’.

Focus Group Findings Positioning and Aspiration of the WKCD Park

19. A clear positioning and the vision and mission of the Park were important in determining the management practice. Participants perceived that WKCD Park was a park for arts and culture and a signature project for arts and cultural development. The Park could also serve as ‘gateway’ to bring park visitors to the cultural venues in WKCD, hence it would have a role in audience development.

20. The location of the Park would also inform its function. Participants thought that since the Park was not conveniently located, it should position itself with a particular theme instead of a general leisure park.

21. The Park should also be a ground to nurture ‘Park culture’, where users would learn how to share or co-own space with each other.

Drafting of Park Bylaws

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22. Bylaws should be minimal as focus group participants believed that creativity might be constrained under rules and regulations.

23. Vision and mission should be inserted before the bylaws to help the legal interpretation of the bylaws.

24. Exception clauses e.g. ‘…except in designated areas’ or ‘upon permission of WKCD’ should be added to the bylaws to allow flexibility.

25. Other than the Park bylaws, some suggested Park User Charter could be adopted to engage the users with a bottom-up approach to build a trustful relationship between park management and users.

26. The language of the signages in the park should be positive and friendly.

Management Structure

27. It was suggested that WKCDA should set up a management sub-committee (include stakeholders, young people and minorities) to review rules and regulations, and management approach regularly.

28. Some suggested to engage independent agency to co-manage the Park and to learn the best-practices.

29. A pilot stage could be applied to find out the most appropriate management model.

30. There were diverse views on whether the management should be ‘stringent first, then relax’ (stringent means following rules and regulations strictly) or vice versa.

Arts and Cultural Programmes

31. There were diverse views on whether the arts and cultural programmes should be directed by a ‘curator’ or an ‘open/ fair/ transparent booking system’ should be adopted. It was suggested that WKCDA should consider and balance the proportion of arts and cultural programmes under these two approaches.

32. Application criterion for conducting arts and cultural activities in the park should be as transparent as possible.

33. Maintenance issues should be considered when organizing large-scale events. There should not be too many large-scale events for better maintenance of facilities.

34. There should be certain areas regularly open for public use.

Attract Visitors to the Park

35. There should be a balance between ‘diverse and leisure activities’ and ‘pure-arts-and-cultural activities’ with an aim of introducing artistic experience to non-art patrons.

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36. Transportation and facilities for elderly and physically challenged should be improved.

Role of Frontline Staff

37. Adequate training should be provided for the frontline staff, so that they could act as ‘facilitators’, instead of mere security guards, to assist park users to enjoy the park and take pre-emptive measures before conflict arises.

38. Recruit volunteers from community members and arts students to serve as ambassadors.

39. Diverse range of volunteer programmes should be designed and adopted.

Education and Promotion

40. Some participants regarded rules and regulations inadequate to educate the public; ongoing promotion and education, as well as engagement in park design and management, were important to cultivate responsible park using behaviors.

Avoid Conflicting Uses

41. Some believed too many designated areas were undesirable as it would decrease the vitality of the Park.

42. Spatial design was important in engendering uses.

Allowable Activities

43. Activities that focus group participants generally agreed to be allowed in the Park included picnic, street performance and political speech. However, they had different views on whether pets, cycling, graffiti, busking and camping should be allowed.

44. With regard to street performance, focus group participants expressed that the application procedures should be simple and transparent. Allowing street performance in areas near the harbour to limit the nuisance created and to control the noise level was suggested.

45. With regard to the flea market, there should be a balance between commercial and non-commercial players, experienced and new sellers. The product range should also be diverse.

Opening Hours

46. There were different views as to whether the park should open 24 hours. However, it was generally hoped that the park should open

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longer hours or only be closed at late hours.

Other comments

47. It was suggested that water areas should be incorporated for performing arts programmes to explore new performance direction.

Summary of Recommendations

Positioning of the Park 1. Clear positioning of the Park is essential for determining the best

management practice. The WKCD Park should allow a diverse range of leisure activities while demonstrate strong arts and cultural elements and should be a ground to breed arts and culture and ‘Park culture’, and to develop audience for the arts.

Activities 2. A diverse range of leisure activities should be allowed while

designated areas or strategic spatial design might be considered for active uses and pets.

Bylaws 3. The Park Bylaws should be minimal to allow more freedom for

diverse park activities, with discretion for WKCDA to execute with flexibility.

4. A vision and mission statement should be inserted before the bylaws to help the legal interpretation of the bylaws under the vision of WKCDA.

Mode of Governance 5. A management sub-committee should be set up to include the

stakeholders, such as young people, representatives from large and small arts and cultural organizations, residents, general public, minorities as members to co-manage the park with the WKCDA. Community engagement is important for building a trusting relationship between park management and users.

Transparency 6. Transparency is crucial for management and programming-related

decisions for street performances and other programmes in the Park. A balance should be maintained between curated programmes and self-designed programmes from the public.

Flexibility

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7. The mode of management should be reviewed with stakeholders from time to time and due adjustments made if necessary.

Frontline staff 8. The frontline staff should be given adequate training to resolve

issues in a way that would benefit arts and cultural development in Hong Kong.

9. Volunteers may be recruited from the arts and cultural sectors, from arts students or from the neighbourhood to work as facilitators to assist park users to enjoy the park and take pre-emptive measures before conflicts arise. A wide range of volunteer programmes should be adopted.

Park design 10. Park design plays an important role in influencing park users’

behaviour. Spatial design should be applied strategically to direct uses and to avoid conflicting uses.

Education and Promotion 11. Education and promotion to cultivate self-disciplined and

responsible uses alongside rules and regulations are important investment to nurture ‘park culture’.

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Contents

I. Background and Objectives

II. Public Opinion Collected from Freespace Fest and Tai Kok Tsui Temple Fair

III. Online Survey Findings

IV. Focus group Findings

V. Recommendations

ANNEX 1 - Online Survey Questionnaire

ANNEX 2 - List of Focus Group Participants

ANNEX 3 - Focus Group Summary Notes

ANNEX 4 - (i) Written Response received on 28th Jun 2014

(ii) Written Response received on 21st Jul 2014

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I. Background and Objectives

About West Kowloon Cultural District

Stretching across about 40 hectares of reclaimed land, the West Kowloon Cultural District (“WKCD”) is one of the largest cultural projects in the world. Its vision is to create a vibrant cultural quarter for Hong Kong where the local arts scene can interact, develop and collaborate.

About the Park

As an integral part of the 23-hectare public open space within the WKCD, the Park will provide a major green open space in the heart of the city with a waterfront promenade which wraps the entire headland, offering spectacular views over Victoria Harbour. The Park will also house a series of small-scale arts and cultural venues, including the Arts Pavilion and Freespace (with a Black Box and an Outdoor Stage). Other planned provisions of the Park include retail, dining and entertainment facilities; cycling tracks and bicycle rental points; marine landing facilities (subject to Protection of the Harbour Ordinance and relevant Government departments’ agreement); and other recreational and leisure facilities. The design of the Park is underway and the Park is scheduled to open in stages starting from 2015.

Survey Objectives

The Park in the WKCD is envisaged to be open, welcoming and accessible for all. The management mode for the Park should encourage a wide range of uses and activities within shared spaces, while respecting and balancing the needs of different users. To achieve this, the Consultation Panel of the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority seeks to collect views and ideas from the public on how the Park in the WKCD can be operated and managed in new, innovative ways that would meet the aspirations of the public. The survey will comprise an online questionnaire as well as a series of focus group discussions. The results of this survey will be used as references for drafting the Park bylaws.

Culture and Development Consultancy (CDC) Ltd has been commissioned by WKCDA to conduct this survey. Our understanding of the crux of the matter is managing public expectations in accepting

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regulations and restrictions while exercising citizen’s civic and cultural rights in public spaces.

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II. Public Opinions collected from Freespace Fest and Tai Kok Tsui Temple Fair 1. Apart from the 3-stage public engagement exercises of the WKCD

from 2009 to 2011 that collected some views regarding the use and management of the Park and public open spaces, the WKCDA has also used the opportunity of two major public events held earlier to gauge public opinions about the use and management of the Park, viz. Freespace Fest (14-15 December 2013) and the Tai Kok Tsui Temple Fair (2 March 2014).

2. Participants for the events were invited to write about what they want and do not want in the future Park and pin their notes on a backdrop. The notes were subsequently collected and categorized according to “want”, “don’t want”, “want + don’t want” and “others”. Some participants drew sketches instead of writing texts on the sheets. Although the setting and activities of these two events were rather casual and informal, these sheets nevertheless formed the preliminary responses from the public about their feelings and aspirations of how they would like the Park to be used and managed. These views could serve as reference for this study.

3. There were in total 472 responses expressed in text and drawings.

4. The table below listed the ideas in the participants’ ‘wish list’ and their number of mentions, ranked in descending order. The top five mentions were ‘Lawn’ (that includes ideas about a fence-less lawn, well-maintained lawn, big lawn and a lawn that allow visitors to do a wide-range of activities, such as stargazing, picnicking, reading and lying), ‘Playground or children’s facilities’(such as swings, slides, seesaws, etc), ‘Greenery/ trees’ (there were mentions about more special trees or trees with fruits), ‘Cycling / Cycling path’ (some other related mentions are ‘providing family bikes’, ‘bikes for children’ and ‘free-of-charge renting of bicycles’) and ‘Shelters’.

Table 1 List of items and the number of mentions that Freespace Fest and Tai Kok Tsui Temple Fair participants want in WKCD park

Type In my park, I wish Mentions (text)

Mentions (drawings)

Total mentions

Design Lawn (without fences, well-maintained, big, freedom on lawn) 31 13 44

Facility Playground or children’s facility 23 21 44

Environment Greenery/ trees 29 14 43

Facility Cycling / Cycling path 35 4 39

Design Shelters 16 5 21

Programme Music events/ festivals 18 3 21

Activity Hand made craft market/ market / booth/ flea market 19 1 20

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Facility Resting Facility (more seatings) 20 20

Activity Diverse cultural Activity 19 19

Design Public space/ Space/ Free Space 19 19

Design Transportation/ easy access 19 19

Facility Theme park (Ferris Wheel, rollar coaster, circus, racing course, clown) 7 12 19

Environment Flowers 6 12 18

Programme Exhibition/ Exhibits 17 17

Facility Pet area/ pet friendly 10 6 16

Facility Sports field/ Sports demonstration/ Facility 7 6 13

Facility Facilities/ exercise Facility for elderly 10 10

Activity Picnic 8 1 9

Facility Swimming pool 8 1 9

Facility Cultural Venues 8 8

Facility Kiosk/ a wide range of snacks/ Restaurant 6 1 7

Facility Street art area/ venue 7 7

Programme Big Sculptures/ Installations 6 1 7

Facility Drinking fountain 6 6

Management 24 hours/ longer hours 6 6

Programme Free style, less programmed 6 6

Programme Local arts and culture/ tradition/ performances/ architecture 6 6

Facility Skateboarding ground 4 1 5

Activity Xiqu 4 4

Facility Fountain (safe for kids) 4 4

Facility Shuttle bus in the park 3 1 4

Facility Wifi 4 4

Management Less management 4 4

Management More promotion 4 4

Programme Free event 4 4

Programme Opportunities for young people 4 4

Design Jogging area/ with soft pavement 3 3

Facility Aquarium/ zoo 3 3

Programme All age all background (all-embracing and fairness) 3 3

Programme Performance of local indie music 3 3

Activity Camping 2 2

Activity Film screening 2 2

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Activity Fishing 2 2

Activity Gardening Activity/ Community planting area 2 2

Design Graffiti area/ wall (for public) 2 2

Design Open area/ plaza 2 2

Facility Adequate washroom 2 2

Facility BBQ area 1 1 2

Facility Bicycle for children 2 2

Facility Child nurseries 2 2

Facility Coffee shop/ coffee 2 2

Facility Computer games centre/ computer games 2 2

Facility covered stage 2 2

Facility Facility for disabled 2 2

Facility Family bikes 2 2

Facility Free-of-charge bicycle renting 2 2

Facility Helicopter pane 2 2

Facility Hotel 2 2

Facility Ice-skating venue 1 1 2

Facility Kids Water Park 2 2

Facility Rope course 2 2

Facility Shopping centres 2 2

Facility Walking machine/ Walking path 2 2

Facility Democracy wall (民主牆) 2 2

Management Diverse use 2 2

Management Less expensive 2 2

Management Social ventures 2 2

Programme Art festival 2 2

Programme Painting 2 2

Programme Wine festival 2 2

Activity Archery 1 1

Activity Climb trees 1 1

Activity Cocktail party 1 1

Activity Kite flying 1 1

Activity Local food culture 1 1

Activity Remote control car/ helicopter 1 1

Activity Speech 1 1

Design Art history trail 1 1

Design Certain area without commercial Activity 1 1

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Design Connected promenade (from Star ferry to WKCD) 1 1

Design No direct sunlight 1 1

Design Proper drainage for vegetation 1 1

Design Unblocked night views/ harbour views 1 1

Design Wind shields 1 1

Environment Beach 1 1

Environment Protect wildlife specifies 1 1

Facility Centre for photography 1 1

Facility Chinese medicine clinic 1 1

Facility Computers 1 1

Facility Contemporary visual art centre 1 1

Facility Guidance to appreciate the exhibition 1 1

Facility Library 1 1

Facility Mist during summer 1 1

Facility Phone charging station 1 1

Facility Photo booth 1 1

Facility Roller-skating area 1 1

Facility Sketching area 1 1

Facility Sport history museum 1 1

Facility Stone throwing area 1 1

Facility Transportation museum 1 1

Management Bottom up planning 1 1

Management Quietness 1 1

Management Time control on music events 1 1

Programme Art workshops 1 1

Programme Lion Dancing Performance 1 1

Programme Performance on land and on water 1 1

5. The table below listed the ideas that participants ‘do not want’ and their number of mentions, ranked in descending order. The list was much shorter than the ‘wish list’. The top four mentions were ‘Property development/ tall buildings’, ‘Commercialized’, ‘Smoking area or smokers’ and ‘Crowds’.

Table 2 List of items and the number of mentions that Freespace Fest and Tai Kok Tsui Temple Fair participants do not want in WKCD Park

Types In my park, I don't want Mentions (text)

Mentions (drawings)

Total mentions

Overall Property development/ tall buildings 9 9

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Overall Commercialized 5 5

Facility Smoking area/ smokers 2 1 3

Overall Crowds 3 3

Design Cars 1 1 2

Facility Kiosk/ too many kiosk/ restaurants 2 2

Facility Shopping malls 2 2

Management Noise 2 2

Overall High speed rail 2 2

Programme Entry tickets 2 2

Programme Expensive tickets 2 2

Design Concrete 1 1

Facility Chain stores 1 1

Facility Cycling 1 1

Facility Idle space 1 1

Facility Only one bicycle station 1 1

Facility Pet 1 1

Facility Theme park 1 1

Management Centralised announcement/ broadcasting 1 1

Management Long queues/ long waiting hours 1 1

Management Restrictions 1 1

Management Rubbish 1 1

Management Signs warning 'not-to-dos' 1 1

Overall Expensive consumption 1 1

Overall Fake conversion projects 1 1

Overall Tourist area 1 1

Programme Censorship 1 1


Figure 1 Examples of drawings by participants from Tai Kok Tsui Temple Fair and Freespace Fest

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III. Online Survey Findings

Completed cases

1. The online questionnaire survey was conducted from 9 May to 29 June 2014. Totally, 3 302 respondents filled in the online questionnaire. The results summarized below are compiled based on 3 302 responses.

Demographic Characteristics

2. Among the 3 302 respondents, 53.8% were males and 46.2% were females, with age distribution as follows: 30 or below (49.6%), 31 - 45 (38.9%), 46 – 60 (9.8%) and 61 or above (1.8%).

3. On educational level, 87.3% of the respondents had attained post-secondary education or above, 11.5% attained secondary educational level and 1.2% had primary education or below.

Preliminary Results

Activities in the WKCD Park 4. An overwhelming majority of the respondents reported that they

wished “Lying/ Picnicking on the lawn” (96.3%), “Street art” (91.6%) and “Cycling” (90.8%) to be allowed in the WKCD Park while the majority wished “Skateboarding/Roller-skating” (78.8%), “Bringing pets” (78.3%), “Ball games” (75.7%), “Water games/Water guns” (69.5%), “Fishing” (65.9%) and “Tree climbing” (57.8%) to be allowed.

5. More than half of the respondents expressed that they would conduct the activities such as “Lying/Picnicking on the lawn” (93.4%), “Cycling” (81.4%), “Ball games” (64.4%) and “Water games/Water guns” (56.0%), “Street art” (51.4%) in the WKCD Park, but less than half would conduct the activities such as “Bringing pets” (44.9%), “Tree climbing” (44.6%), “Skateboarding/Roller-skating” (41.0%), and “Fishing” (35.7%) in the WKCD Park.

Chart 1: Views on Activities in the WKCD Park

http://www.policy21.org/wkcda/index.php?lang=2�

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6. About half of the respondents indicated that there should be no

restrictions on “Lying/Picnicking on the lawn” (63.3%) and “Street art” (46.0%). On the other hand, more than half of the respondents suggested that “Ball games” (66.8%), “Skateboarding/Roller-skating” (65.3%), “Water games/ Water guns” (56.9%) and “Bringing pets” (50.4%) should be restricted to designated areas. Less than half of the respondents indicated that “Cycling” (47.9%), “Fishing” (41.3%), “Street art” (39.6%), “Tree climbing” (37.3%) and “Lying/Picnicking on the lawn” (25.1%) should be restricted to designated areas. “Designated hours” was not favored by the most of the respondents as less than one-fifth of them indicated that the restriction should be imposed.

Chart 2: Views on the Restrictions of Activities in the WKCD Park

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The importance of conditions to allow visitors conducting activities in the WKCD Park without affecting the well-being of others

7. Among all respondents, 64.1% of them indicated that “Self-discipline of park users” was the most important condition to allow harmonious co-existence of different activities in the WKCD Park. 11.7% of them suggested “Good management system” was the most important condition while 10.7% suggested “Clear rules and regulations”.

8. With regard to the second most important condition, around one-third (33.0%) of the respondents indicated “Good management system”. 23.5% of them indicated “Clear rules and regulations” while 20.0% of them picked “Different activities in different designated areas”.

9. Concerning the third most important condition, 26.8% of the respondents indicated “Clear rules and regulations”, 23.0% indicated “Different activities in different designated areas”, 21.2% indicated “Good management system” and 18.7% indicated “Adopt certain measures during activities”.

Chart 3: The most important condition to allow visitors to conduct the activities in the

WKCD Park without affecting well-being of other visitors

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Chart 4: The second most important condition to allow visitors to conduct the activities in the WKCD Park without affecting well-being of other visitors

Chart 5: The third most important condition to allow visitors to conduct the activities in the WKCD Park without affecting well-being of other visitors

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Restrictions on the usage of facilities

10. Concerning “Special area for children”, slightly less than half of the respondents expressed that the area should not be restricted (48.8%) whereas 43.6% suggested that age restriction should be imposed (43.6%).

11. Less than half of respondents reported that there should be no restriction on the usage of “Food/ Vendor Kiosk” (37.7%), “Bazaar or street markets” (27.1%) and “Cycling path” (36.3%).

12. Particularly, more than half of the respondents indicated that “Cycling path” (60.0%), “Bazaar or street markets” (59.4%) and “Food/ Vendor Kiosk” (55.1%) should be restricted to designated areas. However, less than half of respondents (ranging from 7.2% to 37.7%) expressed that the restriction of designated hours should be imposed to all of the four kinds of facilities.

Chart 6: Restrictions on the usage of Special area for children in the WKCD Park


Chart 7: Restrictions on the usage of other facilities in the WKCD Park

Street Performance Policies

13. "Designated Hours" (71.7%), "Designated Area" (73.7%) and "Volume Control" (63.8%) were considered acceptable to most of the respondents. On the other hand, about half of the respondents indicated that "Requiring permit" (54.2%) and “Book in advance” (43.1%) were not acceptable. About 43.8% of the respondents considered acceptable for applying an overall curatorial policy for performances while nearly one-fifth of the respondents did not have comments.


Chart 8: Views on Street Performance Policies in the WKCD Park

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Likelihood and history of visiting the WKCD Park

14. More than two-thirds of the respondents (74.1%) indicated that they would definitely visit the WKCD Park in future while 21.9% indicated that they would probably do so. Among those who would definitely or probably visit the WKCD Park in future, the majority (54.4%) expected to visit the park once a month or more frequently.

Chart 9: Likelihood of visiting the WKCD Park in future


Chart 10: Expected frequency of visiting the WKCD Park in future

15. More than two-thirds (67.1%) of the respondents visited the West

Kowloon Waterfront Promenade and participated in some events over the past two years. About 17.2% visited the Promenade but not participated in any event. 15.7% did not visit the Promenade at all.

Chart 11: History of visiting the West Kowloon Waterfront Promenade

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16. Among 3 302 respondents, 1 686 respondents (51.1%) had provided other views on the management of the Park and public space in the WKCD. The open-ended answers were analysed and coded. About 14.7% of the respondents (out of 3 302) expressed that the rules and restrictions should be kept as minimal as possible, less rules and regulations were preferred on the management of the Park and self-discipline in using the Park should be promoted. About 14.3% of the respondents suggested to allow more freedom in using the space. About 7.7% and 7.0% respectively suggested that more cultural activities/music activities/street performances and artistic elements/activities could be allowed and conducted.

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IV. Focus Group Findings 1. In the period of May 31 to June 27, 2014, a total of seven focus

groups discussions were held to invite participants to exchange views on the management of the future WKCD Park. 3 focus groups were dedicated for general public and 4 focus groups were dedicated for the ‘Councillors, Cultural and Creative Industries Sectors or Non-government Organizations’ (hereafter ‘Sectors’). (Please refer to Annex 1 for the list of participants).

2. The groupings for the focus group discussions, 'General Public' and ‘Sectors' were to facilitate the design of focus group participant mix to ascertain the diversity of the focus group participants' background so that the discussion can engage as many perspectives as possible. On top of that, the ‘Sectors' targeted organizations whilst the 'General Public' group targeted individuals. The content of discussion of these two groups was the same.

3. The formation of the ‘Sectors’ is as follows:

Categories Invitees/ potential participants

1 Legislative Council Members of the Joint Subcommittee to Monitor the Implementation of the West Kowloon Cultural District Project and District Council members

2 Cultural and Creative Industries Sectors, e.g.

• Advertising

• Art, antique and craft

• Design

• Film & video

• Digital Entertainment

• Performing Arts (e.g. music, theatre etc.)

• Publishing

• Software and computing

• TV & Radio

3 Non-governmental Organisations (NGOs) (arts, cultural and social groups)

• Including NGOs of ethnic minorities

• Including NGOs of disabled groups

• Including the Owners’ corporation from the neighbourhood

• Including NGOs concerning the public space management

• Including more vocal NGOs

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4. Amongst the three ‘General Public’ focus groups, invitees for two focus groups come from the database maintained by Policy 21 and in each group, there was a mix of participants of various demographic background and employment status. The third focus group invited the respondents of the online survey, who expressed that they were interested in expressing further views.

5. Other than the seven focus groups conducted, consultant has also received two written response (Please refer to Annex 3 and 4 respectively for the document). One of the written responses was signed by 20 art groups and 280 citizens. The views from the written responses are also summarized in the section below.

Collected Views

Positioning and Aspiration of the WKCD Park

1. During the discussion participants raised concerns about the positioning of the WKCD Park and expressed that the positioning of the Park is critical in informing the management model or style. Positioning in this report means the positioning concept in marketing, which implies brand positioning and functional positioning.

2. Some participants from both ‘Sectors’ and ‘General Public’ believed that the WKCD Park should be a park for arts and culture. They believed that WKCD is the first-ever large-scale arts and cultural project in Hong Kong. WKCD will be a signature project and will have great importance in future arts and cultural development. Some participants believed that if it is a park for arts and culture, it has to consider giving priority to arts and cultural activities, and adopt a management model that favours arts and cultural development.

3. Some participants from the public suggested that since the park is not very conveniently located, it should position itself with a particular theme, instead of being a general leisure park like other LCSD managed parks in order to attract visitors.

4. In response to the general feelings that, when compared to the citizens of other countries or cities, residents in Hong Kong have less civic-virtue and less respect to other users in the public space, participants suggested that the WKCD park should be positioned as a place or ‘practice ground’ where civic-virtue and ‘park culture’ can be nurtured, where users will learn how to share or co-own the space peacefully with each other.

5. Some suggested that the park should serve the purpose of audience development, to nurture arts appreciation amongst the general

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public with an ultimate goal to make them frequent patrons of other cultural facilities in the WKCD.

6. Some participants suggested that WKCDA might consider positioning the park as ‘a park that is different from all other parks in Hong Kong’ and hence could consider trying out all experimental activities and alternative management styles.

7. Some participants expected that WKCD Park should be at least a leisure park and should allow all activities that are currently allowed in other parks in Hong Kong.

8. Some academic debated whether the WKCD Park should be called ‘Park’ and whether the term ‘management’ should be used. WKCDA could be more innovative by adopting other names that might be helpful in expanding public imagination and hence the visitors’ behaviours in such public space.

The Drafting of Park Bylaws

9. Some participants expressed that the Park bylaws should be as minimal as possible and only restrict illegal behaviours that would have been illegal in other public space in Hong Kong. Participants believed that creativity and arts and culture development will be constrained under rules and regulations. In one of the written responses, it was expressed that it is undesirable for a bylaw to be drafted before more information could be gathered about the users’ habit. The example used to illustrate this point in the written response was that the Ocean Park was opened in 1977 but its first bylaw was not enacted until 2003. However, it is noted that the time lapse in the Ocean Park bylaw enactment was due to the unconfirmed legal status of the 1988 Bylaws.1

10. In the same written response, it is proposed that a Park User Charter could be adopted in lieu of the ‘top-down’ bylaws so to build a trustful relationship between the park management and users, and to engage users in park management.

11. On the other hand, participants expressed that law is law and it is essential to have a set of bylaws, clearly written, to help the court make judgement when dealing with offences. However, WKCDA could consider inserting the Vision and Mission before the bylaws, it would help the court to interpret the bylaws in lieu of the vision and mission.

12. The bylaws could also use wordings such as ‘Park visitors should not arbitrarily deface any of the park areas except in designated areas or with the permission of WKCDA’. The insertion of exception

1 More details could be found in ‘Paper for the House Committee Report of the Subcommittee on Ocean Park Bylaw’ (Legco paper no. CB(2)1306/02-03. (http://www.legco.gov.hk/yr02-03/english/hc/papers/hccb2-1306.pdf)

http://www.legco.gov.hk/yr02-03/english/hc/papers/hccb2-1306.pdf�

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clause allows the flexibility for the WKCDA to make discretion and gives room for a more humanistic approach to execute the laws.

13. Although wordings of the bylaws may be harsh and strict, the language of the signages in the park should be as positive as possible. For example, instead of ‘do not smoke’, use ‘stay healthy by smoking less’.

Management structure

14. Participants in various focus groups suggested that there should be a management sub-committee to make decisions on management-related issues. It was suggested that the sub-committee should include various stakeholders, e.g. arts and cultural organizations, young people and the minorities (less outspoken arts groups and performers, people with disabilities and of different ethnicities).

15. The stakeholders’ participation would help build a trustful relationship between the users and the management which is an essential criterion for successful park management. The management sub-committee should also review the rules, regulations and approaches in park management from time to time.

16. Some expressed opinions suggest that there should be an independent management agency not only to co-manage the park with the Authority, but to provide platform for education, donation, maintenance, etc. One could refer to the Central Park Conservancy in New York, which was set up in 1980s by a group of citizens who have concerns for the Central Park and are co-managing the Park with the city government.

17. Some participants suggested that since the WKCD Park is the first-ever cultural park in Hong Kong, it is worthwhile to invite overseas management companies to run the park at least for the first few years. The merit of having an external consultant is that when their mode of management does not work, WKCDA can appoint another management company. Gradually the best practices can be learnt and can take root in Hong Kong.

18. Although most of the focus group participants agreed that the rules and regulations or the management approach should be reviewed from time to time, there were diverse views as to whether the WKCDA should first apply stringent rules and gradually relax them, or adopt a more relaxed approach at first and tighten the rules when there are serious disputes.

19. Some suggested there should be a pilot stage to test out different management approaches together with the public, which would be an invaluable opportunity to educate the public, but such pilot or experimental stage has to be carefully designed by the WKCDA.

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Arts and Cultural Programmes in the Park

20. Much discussion was centred on how programmes should be introduced in the WKCD Park. Whether there should be a curator to plan and impose an artistic direction on the programmes, or whether it should be as ‘free-style’, as open and fair as possible to honour the rights for every citizen to perform or organize cultural activities in the park. Both sides have supporters from the ‘sectors’ and the ‘general public’ groups. Such arguments were falling on the philosophical debates as to whether art stands for excellence and is to be democratised or whether art as a civil rights manifested for democracy.

21. Supporters for the curatorial approach believed that the curator, someone with an expertise in arts and culture, is at a better position to make judgement and to select high quality work or performance for the park. And by appointing different curators and hence with different curatorial approach, new ideas can be brought to the park from time to time.

22. Supporters for the ‘free-style’ approach suggested that performing or organizing cultural activities, or selling arts and craft in the flea market in the park are rights of the citizens and hence, everyone should have equal opportunities to do arts and cultural activities in the park. Even there is a ‘curator’ or organizer in place, their job should only be mediators to ensure that the activities will be conducted safely and orderly. Selection should be avoided as far as possible and the application or booking system should not be more complicated than the booking of the LCSD sports facilities (i.e. application will be successful as long as there is vacant slot). Supporters also believed that such arrangement can guarantee the cultural diversity and freedom that is needed for arts and culture to flourish. Some participants from the ‘general public’ felt that they have less opportunity before in organizing arts and cultural activities because they do not know the assessment criterion and how to make a successful application. They believed that the ‘free-style’ mechanism is good that they do not need to know the ‘curator’ in order to participate in arts and cultural activities.

23. However, these two approaches are not mutually exclusive. Some participants suggested that to strike a balance between the two different approaches, a certain proportion of time and space for the activities under different approaches should be determined by WKCDA. Some suggested that only large-scale activities will require application to the WKCDA. There were also views that a certain area should be dedicated for ‘free use’ where visitors can perform, sell their crafts and do the cultural activities as they wish?.

24. No matter which approach is adopted, most participants agreed that it would essential to have a transparent system in handling applications. The application and assessment criterion should be

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clearly stated. Some participants from ‘Sectors’ and from ‘General Public’ expressed worry that the selection process would imply political censorship.

25. Participants expressed that they do not want too many large-scale events in the WKCD Park. Some indicated that one large-scale event or festival over 1 weekend in each season is enough. Some residents expressed concerns that every time after large-scale event in WKCD Park, the lawn and the wood planks were seriously damaged and therefore, they perceived that large scale events should be minimized so that less public money is used on the maintenance of the park.

26. The programme of the park or arrangement of park activities should take into consideration of the rehabilitation of the lawn, and therefore, a mixed-use principle should be applied.

27. Participants expressed that even during large-scale paid events, certain areas should remain open for general public use for free. Some participants had negative experience when they visited the WKCD site when it was closed for paid events. Some participants perceived that the proportion of free access area should be carefully considered and maintained by the WKCDA to balance different uses.

To attract visitors to the park

28. As mentioned above, some participants believed that given the park is not conveniently accessible by public transport, WKCDA should be proactively encouraging people to use the park, especially non-art patrons. The design of the park should be considered as an integral part of the whole WKCD and the design should lead the general park users to the cultural venues.

29. Along this line of thoughts, the allowable activities should be as diverse as possible and should not be limited to arts and cultural activities only, as it would deter non-art patrons to use the park. Although some participants disagree, and thought that as it is a cultural park, allowable activities should only focus on arts and culture, and other leisure activities should be considered irrelevant and should not be allowed.

30. Participants suggested that facilities and transportation to the park should enable elderly and physically challenged people to access the park easily. Other means of transport such as water transport, shuttle buses and trams should be considered to provide easy access to different parts in the park as well as different cultural venues.

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The role of the frontline staff

31. Participants from both ‘Sectors’ and ‘General Public’ expressed that the frontline staff should not be merely a security guard; they should act as ‘facilitators’ to assist people in enjoying the park safely. Reference was made to the operation of frontline staff in Disneyland.

32. Participants believed that either there must be adequate training for the frontline staff, especially to help them make judgement on the situations where conflict arises, and the WKCDA should recruit volunteers from the community or arts students to actively participate in the ‘management’ of the park. Volunteers can also serve as ambassadors to help the park users appreciate the arts, use facilities responsibly, respect other park users, and take pre-emptive measures before conflict arises.

33. It was mentioned in the written response that volunteer programmes can be diverse and vital serving as core, ongoing community activities in the park. Examples of the Volunteer programmes from Central Park, New York and Vancouver Parks were drawn in the written response. Volunteer programmes in Central Park include horticulture programmes, family volunteering, youth volunteering and programmes for dog-loving community; while Vancouver Parks have volunteer programmes for event support, park maintenance, trail user count, and plant removal and caring, etc.

Education and promotion

34. Some participants expressed that instead of relying on rules and regulations, it would be important for WKCDA to promote and educate the public to respect others when using the park. It would be more beneficial in the long run.

35. Some reference projects were suggested in one of the written responses that an engaging process in park design and management can serve as powerful education and promotion tool. References cited were ‘Dream Your City’ project in Norway, ‘Park Fiction’ project in Germany, ‘Sung-Seo Pocket Park’ project in South Korea and Union Point Park in US.

To avoid conflicting uses

36. Participants expressed that there should not be too many designated areas which will render the park fragmented and lack of coherence.

37. Some expressed that conflicting uses are unavoidable and imposing rules and regulations or assigning designated areas would not be

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helpful in cultivating a sense of respect in the park usage. It was mentioned that public space users are accustomed to solving conflicts amongst themselves, for example, there are many conflicting uses on the streets but people know how to resolve them most of the time.

38. Participants from both the ‘Sectors’ and ‘General Public’ suggested that good spatial design would be more helpful in avoiding conflicting uses. For example, people would not do skateboarding in the park if the ground is covered by wood planks or lawn; a sloping lawn will not encourage camping or bivouacking; the cycling path can be placed further away from the performing arts area to avoid distraction, etc.

Allowable activities in the Park

Picnic

39. Majority of the participants thought that it would be good to allow picnicking on the lawn and it relies on the visitors’ self-discipline to clean up the area after picnic.

Pets

40. There were different views as to whether pets should be allowed in the park. Some participants believed that there will be designated area for pets in the neighbourhood and hence it would not be necessary to allow pets in the WKCD Park. Some participants were also concerned about safety issues of bringing pets to the park.

41. However, there were also many participants who thought that pets should be allowed. They noticed that since pets are allowed in other public spaces in Hong Kong and hence, there should be no safety issues in allowing pets in the park which is also a public space. The only concern is hygiene and if the owners do not clean up after the dog, the laws in Hong Kong should apply and they will be penalized anyway.

Cycling

42. Most participants welcomed the idea of cycling in the park, but there should be a carefully designed cycling path to ensure public safety. There were also participants who think that cycling is not relevant to the arts and should not be considered. Some commented that the park is not big enough for cycling.

Street performance and street art

43. Majority of the participants agreed that street performances or street art should be allowed in the WKCD Park. Some suggested that the park should allow every individual to come in the park to perform without any prior application. They believed that bureaucracy should be avoided as far as possible to encourage a

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spontaneous and lively arts and cultural development, and some art forms will lapse in time if application to the authority is required in advance, e.g. political parody.

44. Some participants suggested that an online, open and transparent booking system could be in place to manage the booking of time slots or performing space in the park.

45. Participants agreed that the noise level of all performances should be monitored so as minimize disturbance to the neighbouring residents. Some suggested that the performances should be grouped along the promenade where it would be further away from the residence.

46. However, participants were ambivalent to whether graffiti art should be allowed. Some expressed that the spray of graffiti is harmful and might cause allergy to other park users and hence should not be allowed. Some thought that graffiti is difficult to control, some are simply defacement of the properties and one has to make judgement as to how long it should last before the Authority wipe it out. Feasibility of allowing graffiti using spray paint is questionable while chalk street painting has no issue for concern.

47. Spatial design will also inform where the street paintings will happen, e.g. concrete walls or floors.

48. There were different views as to whether the street performers can do busking in the Park. Some participants expressed concerns for street performers to busk by singing copyrighted songs, and expressed it would be an infringement of copyrights. It was suggested that WKCD should by large encourage original works as far as possible.

Flea market

49. Majority of the participants welcomed the idea of having a flea market in the park and thought that the application for space or booths in the flea market should be open to public.

50. Some raised concerns as to whether commercial parties such as luxurious brands will have equal opportunities in applying for the booths. Participants generally agreed that there should be certain control on the proportion between commercial and non-commercial elements, experienced sellers and new sellers, and a diverse range of arts and cultural products should be sold.

Camping

51. Some participants suggested that camping should be allowed if there is a free area that allows all kinds of activities, and provided that it would not affect other park users. Some raised concerns that it might attract the homeless and would deter other park users.

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Political speech 52. Some participants and expressed opinions mentioned that political

speech should be allowed, with reference to the ‘Speakers’ Corner’ in Hyde Park in London. There were concerns as to whether audience gathering in the park, be they audience for street performances or political speeches, would constitute any unlawful assembly if it involves over 30 people. It was suggested that WKCDA should prepare for such scenarios in future and have clear guidelines for management.

Opening hours

53. There were different views on the opening hours of the Park. Some suggested that it should open 24 hours or as late as possible to allow people who work late to enjoy the park since some LCSD parks also open 24 hours. However, other participants thought that it would be good to have closing hours to avoid crimes happening in the park at night.

Other Comments

Performances related to the Waters

54. There were expressed opinions that WKCDA should leverage on the proximity to the harbour and explore performing opportunities and methodologies on waters. It would be beneficial to the performing arts development in Hong Kong.

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V. Recommendations

Positioning of the Park

12. Clear positioning of the Park is essential for determining the best management practice. The WKCD Park should allow a diverse range of leisure activities while demonstrate strong arts and cultural elements and should be a ground to breed arts and culture and ‘Park culture’, and to develop audience for the arts.

Activities

13. A diverse range of leisure activities should be allowed while designated areas or strategic spatial design might be considered for active uses and pets.

Bylaws

14. The Park Bylaws should be minimal to allow more freedom for diverse park activities, and discretion for the WKCDA to execute with flexibility.

15. A vision and mission statement should be inserted before the bylaws to help the court interpret the bylaws under the vision of WKCDA.

Mode of Governance

16. A management sub-committee should be set up to include the stakeholders, such as young people, representatives from large and small arts and cultural organizations, residents, general public, minorities (including physically challenged and ethnic minorities) as members to co-manage the park with the WKCDA. Community engagement is important for building a trustful relationship between park management and users.

Transparency

17. Transparency is crucial for management and programming-related decisions. A balance should be maintained between curated programmes and self-designed programmes from the public.

Flexibility

18. The mode of management should be reviewed with stakeholders from time to time and make due adjustments if necessary.

The Frontline staff

19. The frontline staff should be given adequate training to resolve issues in a way that would benefit arts and cultural development in Hong Kong.

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20. Volunteers may be recruited from the arts and cultural sectors, from arts students or from the neighbourhood to work as facilitators to assist park users to enjoy the park and take pre-emptive measures before conflict arises. A wide range of volunteer programmes should be adopted.

Park design

21. Park design plays an important role in influencing park users’ behaviour. Spatial design should be applied strategically to direct uses and to avoid conflicting uses.

Education and Promotion

22. Education and promotion to cultivate self-disciplined and responsible uses alongside rules and regulations are important investment to nurture ‘park culture’.

Documents

A PARK WE SHARE – PUBLIC SURVEY ON THE …d3fveiluhe0xc2.cloudfront.net/media/...final-report-eng-main-body.pdf · Executive Summary 1. Culture and ... Public Survey on the Operation