Survey FindingsBack

	Since the questionnaire comprised three major topics, namely, "General Environment in Hong Kong", "Victoria Harbour Development", and "West Kowloon Cultural District", and ended by mapping some standard demographics of the respondents, the findings of the survey are hereby summarized under these three main topics. All tables referred to in this section can be found in Appendix 2.

	(i) General Environment in Hong Kong

	As a warm up, all respondents were first asked to assess the healthiness of Hong Kong's living environment in general. Results revealed that 35% of the respondents said it was a healthy place to live in, 36% chose the middle ground answer "half-half", whilst 29% said not (Table 3). Nonetheless, 62% thought Hong Kong did not have sufficient open space and green parks in the urban area for its citizens to pursue a healthy living (Table 4).

Table 3 How healthy or unhealthy would you say Hong Kong's living environment is?

	Frequency		Percent
Very healthy	21	)	4.2	)
Quite healthy	155	) 176	30.3	) 34.5
Half/half	185		36.3
Quite unhealthy	115	)	22.5	)
Very unhealthy	30	) 145	6.0	) 28.5
Don't know/hard to say	3		0.7
Total	510		100.0

Table 4 Do you think Hong Kong has sufficient open space and green parks in the urban area for healthy living?

	Frequency		Percent
Very sufficient	15	)	3.0	)
Quite sufficient	98	) 114	19.3	) 22.3
Half/half	78		15.2
Quite insufficient	214	)	42.0	)
Very insufficient	104	) 318	20.4	) 62.4
Don't know/hard to say	1		0.2
Total	510		100.0


	When it came to the comparison with other major international cities like New York, London, Vancouver and Sydney, nearly two-thirds (64%) of them said in terms of open space and green parks in the urban area, Hong Kong was lagging behind these international cities (Table 5). When it was benchmarked against major Chinese cities like Guangzhou, Shanghai and Beijing, the respondents' views were equally divided, 42% thought Hong Kong was better, while 43% thought the opposite (Table 6).

Table 5 In terms of open space and green parks in the urban area, do you think Hong Kong is better or poorer than other major international cities like New York, London, Vancouver, Sydney, and so on?

	Frequency		Percent
Far better	21	)	4.0	)
Somewhat better	41	) 61	8.0	) 12.0
Not much difference/they are similar	49		9.7
Somewhat poorer	148	)	28.9	)
Far poorer	179	) 327	35.2	) 64.1
Don't know/hard to say	72		14.2
Total	510		100.0

Table 6 In terms of open space and green parks in the urban area, do you think Hong Kong is better or poorer than major Chinese cities like Guangzhou, Shanghai, Beijing, and so on?

	Frequency		Percent
Far better	64	)	12.6	)
Somewhat better	151	) 215	29.7	) 42.3
Not much difference/they are similar	58		11.4
Somewhat poorer	130	)	25.4	)
Far poorer	88	) 218	17.3	) 42.7
Don't know/hard to say	19		3.7
Total	510		100.0

	The last question in this section asked whether people liked the idea of developing Hong Kong into an environmental friendly green city. An overwhelming majority (90%) of respondents supported this idea (Table 7).

Table 7 How much do you like or dislike Hong Kong to develop into an environmentally friendly green city?

	Frequency		Percent
Like it very much	269	)	52.8	)
Quite like it	192	) 461	37.6	) 90.4
Half/half	32		6.2
Don't like it	10	)	2.0	)
Don't like it at all	5	) 15	1.0	) 3.0
Don't know/hard to say	2		0.4
Total	510		100.0

	(ii) Victoria Harbour Development

	The second part of the survey began with a straightforward question of how people thought about the existing Victoria Harbour reclamation - was it too much, too little or appropriate? Findings revealed that a much larger proportion of respondents (65%) claimed the existing reclamation was too much than saying it was appropriate (26%) or too little (4%, Table 8).

Table 8 Do you think existing Victoria Harbour reclamation is too much, too little or appropriate?

	Frequency	Percent
Too much	329	64.5
Appropriate	135	26.4
Too little	22	4.4
Don't know/hard to say	24	4.7
Total	510	100.0

Five proposals on how the Government should use the lands reclaimed recently or in future from the Victoria Harbour were then put to test. For the sake of direct comparison, a mean score analysis was conducted by assigning a score of "5" to "support very much" down to "1" for "object very much", even though respondents' answers were recorded in categorical terms. That means in our final analysis, the higher the score, the higher the level of support from the public. Results showed that amongst all the available options, "providing more open space and green parks, including promenades, walking and cycling trails" obtained the highest mean score (4.0), whereas "commercial and residential development" was the least preferred option (2.0). The scores for "cultural, sports and leisure facilities", "roads and flyovers", and "government offices and institutional facilities" were 3.7, 2.6 and 2.1 respectively (Tables 9a-e). In categorical terms, 76% of the respondents supported "providing more open space and green parks, including promenades, walking and cycling trails", while 72% objected to "commercial and residential development".

Table 9 How much do you support or object the Government using lands reclaimed recently or in future from the Victoria Harbour for XXX?

a. Commercial and residential developments

	Frequency		Percent
Support very much	14	)	2.8	)
Support somewhat	47	) 62	9.2	) 12.1
Half-half / Neutral	69		13.5
Object somewhat	147		28.9
Object very much	222	) 369	43.5	) 72.4
Don't know/hard to say	10		2.0
Total	510		100.0

b. Building more roads and flyovers

	Frequency		Percent
Support very much	51	)	10.0	)
Support somewhat	106	) 157	20.7	) 30.7
Half-half / Neutral	82		16.0
Object somewhat	130	)	25.5	)
Object very much	131	) 261	25.7	) 51.2
Don't know/hard to say	10		2.0
Total	510		100.0

c. Building more government offices and institutional facilities

	Frequency		Percent
Support very much	20	)	3.9	)
Support somewhat	66	) 86	13.0	) 17.0
Half-half / Neutral	62		12.2
Object somewhat	143	)	28.1	)
Object very much	205	) 348	40.2	) 68.3
Don't know/hard to say	13		2.5
Total	509		100.0
Missing	1

d. Providing the community with cultural, sports and leisure facilities

	Frequency		Percent
Support very much	135	)	26.5	)
Support somewhat	198	) 333	38.7	) 65.2
Half-half / Neutral	74		14.5
Object somewhat	55	)	10.9	)
Object very much	37	) 93	7.3	) 18.2
Don't know/hard to say	10		2.1
Total	510		100.0

e. Providing more open space and green parks, including promenades, walking and cycling trails

	Frequency		Percent
Support very much	200	)	39.3	)
Support somewhat	187	) 387	36.8	) 76.1
Half-half / Neutral	43		8.4
Object somewhat	41	)	8.1	)
Object very much	33	) 74	6.4	) 14.5
Don't know/hard to say	5		0.9
Total	509		100.0
Missing	1

	(iii) West Kowloon Cultural District

	Part 3 of the survey focused on the development of the West Kowloon Cultural District (WKCD). Before evaluating people's attitudes towards the development plans of the WKCD, this survey attempted to gauge how many respondents were aware that this site was originally zoned for a green park with cultural facilities as part of the Chek Lap Kok Airport development project. Figures showed 59% of the respondents did not know about it (Table 10). However, after all respondents were informed of this, 81% of them supported to revert the original plan of developing WKCD into a green park with cultural facilities (Table 11).

Table 10 Are you aware that the WKCD site was originally zoned for a green park with cultural facilities as part of the Chek Lap Kok Airport development project?

	Frequency	Percent
I am aware	210	41.2
I am not aware	300	58.8
Total	510	100.0

Table 11 Do you support or object to the Government's reverting its original plan of developing WKCD into a green park with cultural facilities? (Interviewers to probe degree)

	Frequency		Percent
Support very much	171	)	33.6	)
Support somewhat	240	) 411	47.1	) 80.7
Half-half / Neutral	41		8.1
Object somewhat	25	)	5.0	)
Object very much	7	) 33	1.4	) 6.4
Don't know/hard to say	24		4.7
Total	509		100.0
Missing	1

Notwithstanding this general preference, when prompted with two development options for the WKCD, a vast amount of respondents (81%) preferred "cultural plus leisure facilities, including a large green park" to having a hybrid of "cultural facilities plus residential and commercial development" in the district (11%), while 6% had no preference and 2% were not in favor of either one option (Table 12).

Table 12 Which of the following two options would you consider more suitable for the West Kowloon Cultural District?

	Frequency	Percent
Cultural facilities + leisure facilities, including a large green park.	411	80.8
Cultural facilities + residential and commercial development.	56	11.1
Does not matter at all	28	5.5
None of the above two options	10	1.9
Don't know/hard to say	4	0.7
Total	509	100.0
Missing	1

A series of questions about building a grand canopy at WKCD followed. As a general principle, 42% of the respondents supported the idea while 35% objected (Table 13). When more information about the height and coverage of the canopy was given in the next question, opinions shifted to a more unfavourable stance with only 24% supporting but 56% opposing to the idea (Table 14). An even stronger opposition (77%) versus a lower supportive voice (12%) was obtained when they were told that building a canopy at the WKCD was estimated to cost more than HK$40 billion and ten-million dollars of annual maintenance (Table 15). Would they support to the Government's selling the WKCD site to property developers for commercial and residential developments in order to fund the cultural facilities and the canopy in WKCD? This survey showed that 59% were on the objectionable side (Table 16).

Table 13 As a general principle, do you support or object to building a grand canopy at the WKCD?

	Frequency		Percent
Support very much	59	)	11.5	)
Support somewhat	156	) 215	30.7	) 42.2
Half-half / Neutral	92		18.1
Object somewhat	102	)	20.0	)
Object very much	76	) 178	14.9	) 34.9
Don't know/hard to say	24		4.7
Total	509		100.0
Missing	1

Table 14 Do you support or object to building a 30-storey high canopy at the WKCD that covers half of the site and amounting to 20 hectares?

	Frequency		Percent
Support very much	27	)	5.3	)
Support somewhat	95	) 123	18.8	) 24.1
Half-half / Neutral	75		14.7
Object somewhat	159	)	31.3	)
Object very much	126	) 285	24.7	) 56.0
Don't know/hard to say	27		5.2
Total	509		100.0
Missing	1

Table 15 Do you support or object to building a canopy at the WKCD in excess of HK$ 40 billion and costing many ten-million dollars of annual maintenance?

	Frequency		Percent
Support very much	13	)	2.6	)
Support somewhat	47	) 60	9.3	) 11.9
Half-half / Neutral	42		8.2
Object somewhat	163	)	32.2	)
Object very much	227	) 391	44.8	) 77.0
Don't know/hard to say	15		2.9
Total	507		100.0
Missing	3

Table 16 Do you support or object to the Government's selling the WKCD site to property developers for commercial and residential developments, in order to fund the cultural facilities and the canopy in WKCD?

	Frequency		Percent
Support very much	34	)	6.8	)
Support somewhat	88	) 123	17.4	) 24.2
Half-half / Neutral	66		12.9
Object somewhat	140	)	27.6	)
Object very much	159	) 299	31.3	) 58.9
Don't know/hard to say	20		4.0
Total	508		100.0
Missing	2

Results also showed that when given three options, half of the respondents (50%) believed the WKCD planning and development should be best handled by "an independent cultural authority (quasi-government with good representations from public)" while another 40% opted for the "government agencies such as the sports, cultural and leisure departments". Only 6% opted for the "private property developers" (Table 17).

Table 17 Do you think the WKCD planning and development should be best handled by: [Read out the three answers, order to be randomized by computer, single response only.]

	Frequency	Percent
An independent cultural authority (quasi-government with good representations from public)	252	49.6
Government agencies such as the sports, cultural and leisure departments	201	39.6
Private property developers	31	6.1
Others	5	1.1
Don't know/hard to say	18	3.6
Total	507	100.0
Missing	3

	Finally, when asked to evaluate whether the government had respected public views during the WKCD consultation, 42% of the respondents chose a middle-of-the-road stance ("half-half / neutral"), 32% thought people's opinions were not respected, only 22% thought they were (Table 18).

Table 18 Overall, to what extent do you consider the Hong Kong SAR Government has respected public views regarding the development of WKCD?

	Frequency		Percent
Respected very much	22	)	4.3	)
Respected somewhat	89	) 111	17.4	) 21.7
Half-half/Neutral	212		41.6
Not quite respected	110	)	21.6	)
Not respected at all	50	) 161	9.9	) 31.5
Don't know/hard to say	26		5.2
Total	510		100.0

	Concluding Remarks

	There is little doubt from this opinion survey that people wished Hong Kong to be developed into an environmental friendly green city. As far as public opinion goes, Hong Kong is still far behind international standard in this aspect, and is comparable to Chinese cities like Guangzhou, Shanghai and Beijing, at best. Along this line of thought, there is little surprise that with regard to waterfront development, people wants promenades, walking and cycling trails, and doesn't like commercial and residential development. Moreover, if WKCD could revert to its original development plan of a green park with cultural facilities, most people would support it.

	It is not for the researcher of this survey to determine whether such development is plausible or practicable, or whether the planning and development of WKCD has reached a point of no return. As far as is waterfront and WKCD development are concerned, there is a clear discrepancy in what the people wants and what the government is providing or planning to provide. This explains why only one-fifth of the respondents in this survey considered the government to have respected public opinion in its planning for the WKCD.