7.1.1
The purpose of the Action Area Plans is to show how tourism elements could be realised at specific waterfront locations, within the urban design and landscape framework of the Harbour and Waterfront Plan.

7.1.2
The Plans cover areas where the benefits of a comprehensive approach to design and implementation can be achieved on government's initiative within a short to medium term time horizon. Suitable areas need to contain substantial land parcels in Government ownership (initially at least) to allow sufficient control of design, implementation and timing to achieve the desired outcome.

7.1.3
The proposals are illustrative only, each Plan showing just one way of responding to the opportunities of the site, including:

• the potential development of a cluster of tourism/recreation facilities at a key waterfront location so as to maximise benefits to tourism and the community

• a comprehensive land use, urban and landscape design concept

• the relationship between the action area and neighbouring land uses, particularly in relation to pedestrian movement

7.1.4
Five locations as shown in Figure 7.1 were selected for the preparation of Action Area Plans: Central Reclamation West, Hung Hom Reclamation, Quarry Bay Waterfront, Sheung Wan Park and Causeway Bay. Criteria for selection included the need for action, status of latest plans, availability of opportunity sites, and programming considerations. Areas subject to other major studies were excluded. 

7.1.5
The schemes of the kinds proposed in the Action Area Plans would have interface with the Harbour Area Treatment Scheme (HATS). Should it be decided to go ahead with the schemes, detailed feasibility studies would need to be undertaken and the precise positioning of the facilities should be adjusted so as not to impede any HATS requirement.

Figure 7.1 - Selected action areas
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7.2.1
The Action Area is located on the waterfront of the planned Central Reclamation between the planned civic place to the east and the planned linear "groundscraper" with a landscaped deck to the west, and includes the existing City Hall Site. The reclaimed section is zoned for open space and tourism uses (Figure 7.2).

Figure 7.2 - Central Festival Market Action Area:
Site location and District character
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Development concept

7.2.2
The aim of this Action Area Plan is to create an exciting destination, worthy of this important location on the Central waterfront. The main focus of the development concept (Figures 7.3 and 7.4 and Plan 3) is a Festival Market facing a waterfront piazza and containing a lively mix of shops, restaurants, kiosks and entertainment. The piazza should be an area of intense fun-oriented activity, with frequent live presentations of dance, acrobatics, music, etc and informal street entertainment, overlooked from the balcony restaurants of the Festival Market. The latter should be well linked by pedestrian routes to the hinterland in Central and particularly to the nearby City Hall and Groundscraper (with a landscaped deck and retail uses).

Figure 7.3 - Central Festival Market Action Area: Development concept
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Figure 7.4 - Central Festival Market Action Area: View of development
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Plan 3 - Central Festival Market Action Area Plan
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Built features

• The Festival Market will comprise two buildings linked by a roofed pedestrian passage

• The eastern building comprises two floors, with restaurants overlooking the promenade from verandahs, with shops at the back

• The circular western building will have restaurants on both floors and be connected to the landscape deck across Road D6 by a pedestrian bridge

• The two buildings will be limited to a height of 25mPD.

Pedestrian access

7.2.3
The Action Area will be served directly by rail at a station on the proposed North Hong Kong Island line, between the civic place and the waterfront. The next closest rail stations are Hong Kong Station to the west, and Central Station on the MTR Island Line to the south from which pedestrian access will be across or along the Landscaped Deck, and then by a pedestrian bridge across Road D6. A broad retail bridge across Road P2 is proposed to link the Festival Market with the City Hall site, from which a pedestrian walkway will cross Connaught Road from the redevelopment on the former Furama Hotel site.

Setting

7.3.1
The Action Area is located on the waterfront of Hung Hom Bay (Figure 7.5) between the Whampoa Garden Residential development to the east and the Cross Harbour Tunnel alignment to the west. It comprises mainly formed land with no development except for the KCRC Freightyard and International Mail Centre (IMC) near the western end and the Ferry Piers at the eastern end. The two main waterfront sites on the reclamation are a site zoned Commercial in the west (recently sold) and a site zoned CDA in the east.

7.3.2
The KCRC Freightyard, which is expected to remain in situ for the immediate future, is a major incompatible use. In the long term every effort should be made to terminate its use for container handling. The IMC may also be relocated from its current waterfront site in future. Removal of both these uses will offer the opportunity for continuity of the promenade between Tsim Sha Tsui East and Hung Hom Reclamation and for a major tourism-related development.

Figure 7.5 - Hung Hom Waterfront Action Area:
Site location and District character
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Development concept

7.3.3
The aim of the development concept (Figures 7.6 and 7.7 and Plan 4) is to ensure attractive continuity of the waterfront promenade from Tsim Sha Tsui eastwards, and to take advantage of the key location of the Hung Hom waterfront as the northern portal of the eastern gateway to the Inner Harbour. With the ultimate relocation of the KCRC Freightyard, the marine basins next to the jetty will present an interesting waterfront feature. A cluster of tourism attractions and facilities including coach parking is proposed, to draw visitors from the Tsim Sha Tsui promenade and hinterland areas. To avoid reclamation, additional space is proposed by using stilted buildings and platforms to accommodate the main attractions: an Aquarium and Exhibit Gallery (e.g. on a Pearl River Trade theme), leaving the existing jetty for public use as open space and restaurant terraces with superb views of the Harbour. The feasibility and arrangement of column structures may need to be further studied together with its implication to water quality.

Figure 7.6 - Hung Hom Waterfront Action Area: Development concept
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Figure 7.7 - Hung Hom Waterfront Area: View of overall development
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Plan 4 - Hung Hom Waterfront Action Area Plan
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Built features

Northern CDA site

• This site is proposed for two hotels set back to accommodate a widening of the waterfront promenade for restaurants and cafe terraces.

• A stepped height concept will apply, with a maximum height of 40mPD at the waterfront facade and 75mPD at the rear, a PTI has to be provided within the site.

Freightyard Jetty site

• In the long term, restaurants and cafes are proposed along the jetty, with up to two floors and maximum height of 15mPD. Apart from a lighthouse feature, the end of the jetty should form an open viewing platform

• The water basin to the east of the jetty could accommodate indoor attractions, such as an aquarium and exhibit gallery, in buildings on stilts with maximum height of 25mPD.

• The marine basin created by the angle of the jetty could contain a water feature and a moored boat attraction

International Mail Centre Site

• In the long term this site could accommodate a hotel and a stepped piazza descending from the Coliseum terrace to the waterfront.

• The hotel should be no higher than the neighbouring hotel in the Metropolis development, with a maximum height of 50mPD,

• The Coliseum terrace should be made livelier by landscaping and provision of cafes and restaurants.

Pedestrian access

7.3.4
Pedestrian access from the existing Hung Hom Station is via the open space along the eastern side of the Hong Kong Coliseum, linking to the waterfront beneath the elevated highway. The present limited connection of Hung Hom station with the full Metro rail network will improve with the construction of the East Rail Tsim Sha Tsui Extension and the proposed Sha Tin to Central Link, from which an exit should be provided close to the waterfront.

7.3.5
A continuous waterfront promenade will eventually be developed along the whole waterfront but at the western end the KCRC Freightyard and IMC currently constitute a major physical and visual obstacle. The uphill footway alongside the Hung Hom Bypass overpass could be made more attractive by the provision of shelter and seating.

7.3.6
Access from the centre of Hung Hom to the eastern end of the Action Area will be via an overhead pedestrian link from near Gillies Avenue South through open spaces alongside Hung Hom South Road.

Setting

7.4.1
The Action Area is located on the Quarry Bay waterfront (Figure 7.8) between the existing Quarry Bay Park waterfront section to the east and Hoi Chak Street to the west. It stretches inland as far as the access road into the Eastern Harbour Crossing entrance and Hoi Tai Street.

Figure 7.8 - Quarry Bay Park Extension Action Area: Site location and district character
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7.4.2
The waterfront section is separated from its inland hinterland by the Island Eastern Corridor (IEC). The predominant waterfront uses are utility installations: the Eastern Harbour Crossing (EHC) ventilation building, an MTR infeed substation, a salt-water pumping station and a Towngas Pigging Station. A small waterfront area in private ownership is zoned for Industrial use near the western extremity of the Action Area. The inland area to the west of the EHC entrance is mainly zoned Open Space for an extension to Quarry Bay Park. It includes the site bounded by the loop road linking the IEC and the EHC.

Development concept

7.4.3
The overall development concept (see Figures 7.9 and 7.10 and Plan 5) is to extend the Quarry Bay Waterfront Park to the west and to provide linkages to it from Tai Koo Shing and the Quarry Bay office area both in the centre near the entrance to the EHC and further east to the upgraded promenade at Lei King Wan. The central link to the waterfront is via the extension to Quarry Bay Park on the south side of the IEC, which will be bridged by a wide pedestrian deck. The link from Tai Koo Shing to this crossing is via a pedestrian bridge to the circular site at the EHC Entrance.

Figure 7.9 - Quarry Bay Park Extension Action Area: Development concept
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Figure 7.10 - Quarry Bay Park Extension Action Area: View of overall development
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Plan 5 - Quarry Bay Park Extension Action Area Plan
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7.4.4
The Action Area Plan proposals are conceptual only. Should it be decided to go ahead with the area proposed, detailed feasibility studies would need to be undertaken.

Built features

EHC Entrance site

• A range of development options exist for this site, including hotel, performance venue or park/open space. Acceptability of the development options within the circular EHC site is subject to detailed assessment as there may be air quality concerns or construction difficulties.

• The site should also provide a gateway for a pedestrian and visual axis from Quarry Bay Park in front of Tai Koo Shing into the Park extension.

Waterfront restaurants

• Restaurants and cafes are proposed facing the promenade at the waterfront end of the pedestrian deck across the IEC

• With a maximum of three floors (the upper at the level of the pedestrian deck), the restaurants will screen the promenade from traffic noise from the IEC.

Pedestrian access

7.4.5
The waterfront area is not served directly by rail, the nearest stations being Quarry Bay and Tai Koo on the Hong Kong Island line, both of which are over 500m from the waterfront. Two existing links cross the IEC to the waterfront: a footpath under the elevated section alongside Hoi Yu Street, and a pedestrian bridge in front of City Plaza. Three additional pedestrian links to the waterfront are proposed in the Action Area Plan: a footpath from the Quarry Bay office centre under the elevated IEC; a footbridge and elevated walkway from Taikoo Shing to the western waterfront park.

Setting

7.5.1
The Action Area covers the waterfront between the Hong Kong Macau Ferry Terminal/Shun Tak Centre and the entrance to the Western Harbour Crossing (WHC) (Figure 7.11) and extends inland as far as Connaught Road West. Most of the area is in Government ownership, the predominant uses being Government facilities (indoor games hall, Sheung Wan fire station, police station and sewage screening plant) and planned open space. The latter comprise a planned park around the portal of the WHC, and a planned smaller area adjacent to the Shun Tak Centre (this is the current Sheung Wan Night Market site). The WHC ventilation tower is an environmental and visual intrusive structure.

Figure 7.11 - Sheung Wan Park Action Area: Site location and district character
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7.5.2
The elevated Connaught Road Western Bypass not only impedes access from the hinterland areas, but also limits possible uses because of noise and air pollution impacts. The Government facilities separating the proposed park from the Macau Ferry Terminal make the resulting narrow waterfront walkway an uninviting route for arriving visitors.

Development concept

7.5.3
Under the development concept (see Figures 7.12 and 7.13 and Plan 6) the central feature of the planned Sheung Wan Park is proposed to be a reconstruction of a typical piece of old Praya architecture, housing restaurants and shops and a Museum of Western District. The north-south axis through this development continues into the Harbour as a pier designed with a period flavour, for use as a Water Bus Jetty. Linked to this area by a waterfront promenade, the eastern waterfront open space near the Shun Tak Centre is proposed as a Night Market. This would be temporary until construction of an underground stormwater pumping station on the site, after which a permanent night market could be established. It would be desirable to include coach parking provision in this area.

Figure 7.12 - Sheung Wan Park Action Area: Development concept
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Figure 7.13 - Sheung Wan Park Action Area: View of tourism development
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Plan 6 - Sheung Wan Park Action Area Plan
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7.5.4
In order to create a space between the ventilation tower and the government uses large enough to accommodate a key tourism feature, substantial restructuring of the roads and uses adjacent to the park will be required. The Sheung Wan fire station should be relocated to a new site in the Western District Strategy area. The whole of the western, northern and part of the eastern arms of Western Fire Services Street will need to be abandoned, salt water pumping station reprovided further inland, if possible and the sewage screening plant relocated. It is noted that schemes of the kinds proposed in the Action Area Plans would have interface with the Harbour Area Treatment Scheme (HATS). Should it be decided to go ahead with the schemes, detailed feasibility studies would need to be undertaken and the precise positioning of the facilities should be adjusted so as not to impede any HATS requirements.

7.5.5
To help link the Park to its hinterland, a special tourist transport link such as a tramway is proposed for the waterfront. One possible alignment would be a branch off the existing tramway on Des Voeux Road, crossing Connaught Road to pass along the waterfront adjacent to the promenade in front of the Park and rejoining the existing tram line to the west of WHC entrance.

Built features

"Old Western District"

• This comprises a set of buildings with the characteristic facades, arcades and verandahs of the pre-war waterfront buildings of Western District, arranged around a central rectangular courtyard

• The north side of the courtyard will be two storey and the south side up to five storeys, to screen the courtyard from the elevated road

• The buildings will accommodate shops, restaurants and galleries with the central courtyard available for outdoor concerts and events. The waterfront facade could provide a background for son et lumiere events

Western District Heritage Museum

• This site comprises a second old-style building of three to four storeys, fully enclosing a central rectangular courtyard for open air displays.

Pedestrian access

7.5.6
The Action Area is served by rail at Sheung Wan Station on the Hong Kong Island line, but pedestrian access from the station to the waterfront promenade needs improvement. Under current proposals for the westward extension of the Hong Kong Island Line a new station is proposed on Des Voeux Road West, close to the Action Area.

7.5.7
The pedestrian bridge across Connaught Road West adjacent to the Western Market, should eventually be extended through the planned commercial building on the PTI site to the existing Sheung Wan Night Market site. To serve the main tourism focus, an additional bridge is proposed linking directly into the "Old Western District" building. In the longer term, the new MTR station at Sai Ying Pun will allow pedestrian subway connections to the waterfront.

Setting

7.6.1
This Action Area covers the waterfront between the Causeway Bay Typhoon Shelter in the west and just beyond Oil Street in the east (Figure 7.14) and extends inland to Electric Road. It comprises a series of waterfront sites extending beneath the elevated Island Eastern Corridor (IEC). The latter forms a significant constraint on layout potential, due to traffic noise and air pollution and the intrusion of its structures, problems which will be exacerbated by the proposed Island Eastern Corridor Link (IECL) in Causeway Bay and new drainage box culvert underneath the proposed restaurants along the waterfront. Sites used for vehicle storage and car parking beneath the IEC north of Victoria Park Road are an important under-used waterfront resource. The sites inland of the IEC further east are either in residential use or planned for change of use to residential or hotel.

Figure 7.14 - Causeway Bay Waterfront Action Area: Site location and district character
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Development concept

7.6.2
The area is proposed to be transformed into a public waterfront by the provision of a continuous paved and landscaped promenade extending from the proposed promenade alongside the Causeway Bay Typhoon Shelter onto the existing jetty and continuing to the eastern end of the marine lots (Figures 7.15 and 7.16 and Plan 7). A floating pontoon boardwalk is proposed alongside the promenade and extending further east to form a fishing pier and ending with a Fishermen's point.

Figure 7.15 - Causeway Bay Waterfront Action Area: Development concept
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Figure 7.16 - Causeway Bay Waterfront Action Area: Overall view of development
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Plan 7 - Causeway Bay Waterfront Action Area Plan
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7.6.3
A series of platforms on stilts at varying levels alongside the jetty will accommodate characteristic seafood restaurants. This point offers some of the most stunning views of both sides of Victoria Harbour. A museum/gallery on the theme of "Life Afloat", interpreting the life-style of the boat people, is proposed in a low building beneath the IEC and facing a moored junk as a key exhibit across the promenade. Further west an old steam vessel could be moored and fitted out as a Typhoon Museum for interpreting the characteristics and effects of typhoons in Hong Kong. The feasibility and arrangement of column structures will need to be further studied together with the culvert maintenance implications.

7.6.4
The Commercial site at the junction of King Ming Road and the IEC ramp should be developed for a hotel, enjoying superb views down the Inner Harbour and linked to the promenade at-grade using attractive tented structures beneath the IEC. Similar at-grade links using tented structures can connect residential developments to the waterfront beneath the IEC and provide covered areas for outdoor exhibits.

Built features

Restaurants on Jetty

• Platforms at varying levels between 6 and 7 mPD will house one/two storey buildings, with a maximum height of 15mPD.

Life Afloat Museum/Gallery

• This comprises two or three storey buildings in old vernacular style, with maximum height 16mPD to help screen the IEC from the waterfront.

Restaurants/shops facing Typhoon Museum

• Two or three storey buildings in similar style to the museum, also with maximum height 16mPD to screen the IEC.

Hotel at King Ming Road

• The hotel should have a maximum height of 80mPD, allowing around 20 floors above a car park podium including coach parking.

Pedestrian access

7.6.5
The closest rail stations to the waterfront area are Fortress Hill and Tin Hau Stations on the MTR Island Line, between 300 and 400m away. The proposed Central-Wan Chai Bypass will form a substantial psychological barrier to pedestrian movement to the waterfront from the main shopping and hotel centre of Causeway Bay and from Victoria Park. This road, Tsing Fung Street and Victoria Park Road, will therefore be crossed by a wide pedestrian deck from the north east corner of Victoria Park to the new promenade near the jetty.

7.6.6
Pedestrian access from the hinterland areas around Fortress Hill will be via Oil Street, which is proposed to be closed to traffic beneath the IEC, to be continued as a pedestrian piazza linking directly to the waterfront promenade.