“Re-defining West Kowloon”

Gist of Proposals

Suspend the “choose one from three” process, re-plan WKCD swiftly through broad-based public consultation

1. The People's Panel on West Kowloon (PPWK) has a clear stance on the development of West Kowloon Cultural District (WKCD), namely: Suspend the “choose one from three” process, re-plan WKCD swiftly through broad-based public consultation

What should West Kowloon be?

2. PPWK recognizes that the development of WKCD is a milestone in Hong Kong 's culture development. However, there must be “cultural depth” in WKCD development, if it were not to become a mere white elephant. For this reason, PPWK establishes six elements of a “cultural vision” in our “redefining West Kowloon ” proposal, as follows:

•  WKCD should be a cultural landmark and civil society has involved in the creation process

•  WKCD should be a base for developing policies on cultural development and urban planning

•  WKCD's governance model should be based on that of tri-partite (civil society, government and business) cooperation

•  WKCD should be a public space that allows flexible and sustainable multi-stage development

•  WKCD should be independently developed, both in construction, management, and resources for development

•  West Kowloon planning should complement that of harbour development and must interface with nearby districts

To develop a culture and urban space with “cultural vision” and “urban planning vision”

3. To fulfil the West Kowloon vision, PPWK believes that a democratic, easy to participate, inclusive, organic and transparent re-planning process is essential, one which enables WKCD to become a project which civil society can “own”. The “redefining WKCD” process must thus be sustainable and living, so as to enable an “organic blueprint for WKCD” to be formulated. Thus the re-planning process must go beyond the confines of West Kowloon itself; but should be guided by an overall “urban planning vision” for the whole of Hong Kong . In other words, WKCD planning is more than the planning of West Kowloon, but the planning of Hong Kong as a world-class cultural metropolis.

To establish Metropolitan Cultural Think Tank: A democratic, inclusive and transparence redefining WKCD processes

4. There is little consideration of cultural content in current urban planning and development. To help Hong Kong progress into a genuine cultural metropolis, PPWK believes that the establishment of a Metropolitan Cultural Think Tank (MCTT) is essential. This think tank should be firmly based in civil society, while at the same time have a global cultural horizon and a thorough understanding of urban planning and cultural development. It should be responsible for researching and developing Hong Kong's cultural vision and urban planning vision, based on which the West Kowloon vision and the town planning parameters for WKCD should be drawn up.

A town-planning process concentrates on investigation, R&D, civil society participation, consultation and implementation of both hardware and software

5. We expect MCTT will provide the elements of cultural vision in the urban planning process and hence fill the structural void arising from the current system. With full tripartite participation and an emphasis on R&D and investigation, MCTT will involve the community in every stage of WKCD's development, including hardware design.

A democratic Redefining WK procedure

6. The formulation of the cultural vision being a cross-sectoral public policy-making process, it may be led by a senior government official to enable smooth coordination among various departments as well as deployment of resources and support, but the secretariat must be independent. Members should come from civil society including the legislature, district councils, cultural and creative industries and other professionals, through a representative and possibly electoral process to be developed by civil society itself.

7. Redefining West Kowloon Trilogy:

•  MCTT to evaluate the cultural policy and design the cultural vision

•  To build up a “town planning” with the participation from the public

•  To develop West Kowloon vision and to develop the land in stages in accordance to the proposal.

8. PPWK proposes that a Provisional West Kowloon Authority (PWKA) to undertake the planning and construction of WKCD . PWKA's governance should be tri-partite-based (civil society, government and business sector), with multi-stakeholder representation and participation. After the first-phase development of WKCD, the PWKA should be gradually transformed into a full statutory West Kowloon Authority.

9. In accordance with our consistent stance of “ Suspend the choose-one-from-three process, re-plan WKCD swiftly through broad-based public consultation”, PPWK considers that the distribution of land use and time-table for tenders should first be studied, with a view to implementing a limited first-phase development. This first-phase should enable the most urgently-needed cultural facilities to be constructed and the necessary funding procured through appropriate financing. The rest of the land should be developed into a large central park for public enjoyment, with its long-term use subject to the development of the “organic blueprint for WKCD”, taking account of the overall harbour planning and development for the future.

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