During the Stage 1 of public engagement exercise, two public forums have been organised on 25th October and 8th November respectively at the Hong Kong Science Museum and the Shouson Theatre at Hong Kong Arts Centre. About 400 members of the public and stakeholders groups participated. After the angelic voices of Hong Kong Treble Choir in the first forum and comedic performance by Hong Kong Repertory theatre in the second forum, participants took the floor and expressed their views and opinions on the development of WKCD. They also hoped that WKCD will be able to capture the true essence of Hong Kong's distinct local culture, to become an arts and cultural district for all and a hub where East meets West.
In the opening remarks at the 8th November forum, Professor Stephen Cheung Yan-leung, Chairman of the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority's Consultation Panel, said over 20 focus group discussion meetings have been organized to collect views from different stakeholders. Participants' diversified and innovative ideas reflected the "stretch your imagination, share your dream" spirit of the engagement.
Representatives from three conceptual plan consultants also spoke in the forum. Colin Ward from Foster & Partners said WKCD is a unique and challenging project and they will strive to make WKCD the centre point of Hong Kong. Rem Koolhaas, one of the partners of Office for Metropolitan Architecture, believed that the WKCD will help connect Hong Kong and its neighbouring Pearl River Delta region. Rocco Yim of Rocco Design Architects Ltd. said it is impossible for WKCD to serve only a handful of people and not integrated with the surrounding areas. They will listen with their ears and heart because it required both their heart and mind to design for the district.
Participants in both public forums were excited about having this mega size cultural district and were eager to provide lots of useful suggestions. Some of the suggestions include preserving local heritage like Dai Pai Dong, traditional Chinese arts and craftsmanship, Chinese martial arts and riddle. Some said WKCDA also needs to consider incorporating the elements of literature, and the development of street performance, Cantonese opera and training of vocal talents.
Others raised the importance of the availability of information for people with disabilities, management of public space and utilization of venues in the district. They also voiced out their concerns on the coordination and development of software and hardware, as well as the district's integration with surrounding communities.
The recordings of the public forums have been uploaded to the WKCDA website at www.wkcda.hk.
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