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we negotiate for land and construction of facilities with other departments such as the Lands Department, Planning Department and Architectural Services Department, we often have to make tremendous efforts but the little we get cannot meet the urgent and practical demand of the fast growing number of users. The Council spends a lot of money every year on different types of promotional activities, resulting in active public participation. However, when facilities turn out to be inadequate, complaints which could have been avoided are received from the participants, thus bringing adverse effects to something which should otherwise be good. In my opinion, if we want to rectify the situation, we should put the essence of our slogan 'Enriching City Life' into practice. Not only should we ‘enrich’, but also construct more facilities.
First of all, we need to improve the ratio between recreation area and the population in the urban area. If we take more up to standard ratio of 2 square metres to one person as our yardstick, I can tell you that the existing urban recreation area is 54 hectares short. Now, exactly how big is an area of 54 hectares? If we take the Kowloon Park which measures 12 hectares as an illustration, it could be said that we are 4 and a half Kowloon Parks short. Now let us think, is an area of 2 square metres to one person a very unreasonable demand? I can tell you that, compared to the standard of our neighbouring countries, we are 10, 20 or even 30 Kowloon Parks short. What about other venues if we use the existing ratio in Hong Kong to assess them? Let me cite some simple examples. If we use the ratio of one tennis court to every 15,000 people as the standard, Hong Kong is now 31 tennis courts short. Is the ratio of one tennis court among 15,000 people a reasonable one? If we use the ratio of one stadium with spectator stands per 50,000 people as the standard, we are 5 such stadia short. If we use the ratio of one sports ground per 20,000 to 25,000 people as the standard, we are 4 sports grounds short, and if we use the ratio of one indoor games hall to every 50,000 people as the standard, we are 12 indoor games halls short. We can see from these figures that the work done by this Council in planning and constructing these facilities is very insufficient.
I can go on quoting such figures till morning comes, but I do not want to spend too much time on that. However, I must talk about our major venues. Take as an example, the Hong Kong Coliseum which has all along been the concern of the public and the users. Do you know its present utilization rate? Let me tell you, its utilization rate is 98%, with the remaining 2% used for maintenance. We can all see that the Coliseum is overburdened, and that we have urgent need for more large-scale facilities to meet the demand of the users.
With the removal of the Kai Tak Airport in Kowloon and the reclamation of the Yau Ma Tei Typhoon Shelter, I hope the Council will, in the next two years, plan to construct some major UC venues there with the Lands Department and the Planning Department as soon as possible. After the removal of Kai Tak Airport, I hope we can build on the vacated site a sports complex larger and more up to date than the Hong Kong Coliseum, with a capacity of 20,000 to 30,000 spectators. At present, not every kind of sports activity can be held in the Coliseum. I hope that
Page 306 of 485
Page 306 of 485
Page 306 of 485
Page 306 of 485
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
19
we negotiate for land and construction of facilities with other departments such as the Lands Department. Planning Department and Architectural Services Department, we often have to make tremendous efforts but the little we get cannot meet the urgent and practical demand of the fast growing number of users. The Council spends a lot of money every year on different types of promotional activities, resulting in active public participation. However, when facilities turn out to be inadequate, complaints which could have been avoided are received from the participants, thus bringing adverse effects to something which should otherwise be good. In my opinion, if we want to rectify the situation, we should put the essence of our slogan 'Enriching City Life' into practice. Not only should we ‘enrich`, but also construct more facilities.
First of all, we need to improve the ratio between recreation area and the population in the urban area. If we take more up to standard ratio of 2 square metres to one person as our yardstick, I can tell you that the existing urban recreation area is 54 hectares short. Now, exactly how big is an area of 54 hectares? If we take the Kowloon Park which measures 12 hectares as an illustration, it could be said that we are 4 and a half Kowloon Parks short. Now let us think, is an area of 2 square metres to one person a very unreasonable demand? I can tell you that, compared to the standard of our neighbouring countries, we are 10, 20 or even 30 Kowloon Parks short. What about other venues if we use the existing ratio in Hong Kong to assess them? Let me cite some simple examples. If we use the ratio of one tennis court to every 15 000 people as the standard, Hong Kong is now 31 tennis courts short. Is the ratio of one tennis court among 15 000 people a reasonable one? If we use the ratio of one stadium with spectator stands per 50 000 people as the standard, we are 5 such stadia short. If we use the ratio of one sports ground per 20 000 to 25 000 people as the standard, we are 4 sports grounds short, and if we use the ratio of one indoor games hall to every 50 000 people as the standard, we are 12 indoor games halls short. We can see from these figures that the work done by this Council in planning and constructing these facilities is very insufficient.
I can go on quoting such figures till morning comes, but I do not want to spend too much time on that. However. I must talk about our major venues. Take as an example, the Hong Kong Coliseum which has all along been the concern of the public and the users. Do you know its present utilization rate? Let me tell you, its utilization rate is 98%, with the remaining 2% used for maintenance. We can all see that the Coliseum is over burdened, and that we have urgent need for more large scale facilities to meet the demand of the users.
With the removal of the Kai Tak Airport in Kowloon and the reclamation of the Yau Ma Tei Typhoon Shelter, I hope the Council will, in the next two years, plan to construct some major UC venues there with the Lands Department and the Planning Department as soon as possible. After the removal of Kai Tak Airport, I hope we can build on the vacated site a sports complex larger and more up to date than the Hong Kong Coliseum, with a capacity of 20 000 to 30 000 spectators. At present, not every kind of sports activity can be held in the Coliseum. I hope that
Page 306 of 485
Page 306 of 485
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