february-2012

in the world (and for under €2). Congee is another
quintessential Hong Kong dish, and the crab congee and brothy
rice at Shunde Chuen is rightly renowned.
Hong Kong is justly famous for being a vertical city. It is
a jumble of steep inclines, giant skyscrapers and enormous
vertiginous housing blocks living cheek by jowl with jungle-clad
mountains. Space has always been a precious commodity here,
and you will fi nd some of the most expensive real estate in the
world. So, room to live and breathe is of prime importance for its
city dwellers.
But all this is about to change with the creation of the West
Kowloon Cultural District (known locally as the WKCD). Th e
government has secured a huge swathe of property along the
West Kowloon waterfront for redevelopment, in order to bring
more arts, entertainment, culture, residential property and open
green spaces.
Some HK$21.6 billion (€2 billion) has been invested into the
project, and renowned UK architect Lord Norman Foster is
overseeing the 40-hectare site.
“It will not be a cultural ghetto cut off from urban life,” he
explains. “My master plan instead off ers something that is
pedestrian friendly, focusing on 17 cultural buildings and a
great park.”
Indeed, unlike other world cities such as New York and
London, Hong Kong does not have a real park. Th e WKCD will
change that, with a 24-hectare space wrapping the fringes of the
waterfront. Cultural buildings include the M+ Museum for the
contemporary arts, a huge performance venue, a Cantonese
opera house, a music centre and a concert hall. Th ere will also be
skyrails and overhanging walkways. Th e fi rst phase of the
WKCD should be fi nished in 2015.
“I want to see the park most of all,” says Kowloon resident
Pauline-Anne Leung. “We are crying out for green land in Hong
Kong and I have heard it will stretch across the harbour front.”
In fact, the park has been championed by almost the entire
population of the city. “You will be able to sit on the grass, walk
your dog, play ball games, all of the things you are not supposed
to do in the parks of today” says Lord Foster with a smile. “And
you will certainly not have to follow a tarmac path.”
One of the most famous names to be linked with the WKCD
project is the British master-designer Th omas Heatherwick.
Th e man who is designing the 2012 London Olympics
cauldron explains that he hopes the WKCD will avoid the
clichés of cultural districts in other world cities.
“I’ve been to Hong Kong more than 80 times now, and it fi res
me up in a way unlike anywhere I’ve ever been,” says
Heatherwick. “But it’s important that what happens in West
32 Holland Herald
“ A jumble of steep inclines
and giant skyscrapers sit
by jungle-clad mountains ”