With just a few days to go before the Chinese New Year holiday, besides spending time with your family and friends, you may also take a walk at the new Central Harbourfront. Apart from huge patches of lawn and the captivating view of Victoria Harbour, there are also the Hong Kong Observation Wheel and the exciting Great European Carnival filling the area with vibrancy and laughter. By the end of January, the Carnival had already received more than 500,000 visits in less than two months, reflecting the public’s fondness for spending time at the Central Harbourfront and the popularity of such short-term projects.

With the gradual completion of the works of the Central-Wan Chai Bypass, we will also gradually implement various long-term developments at the new Central Harbourfront. In 2007, the Planning Department (PlanD) conducted the Urban Design Study for the New Central Harbourfront and proposed enhancing the urban design master plan of the new Central Harbourfront, as well as drafted the planning and design outline to guide the future development of eight main sites. After extensive public consultation, PlanD issued the final report in March 2011 and introduced the master layout plan for the area between the Central Piers and the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC) New Wing, while making urban design recommendations for the eight main sites as well.

Nowadays when you pass by International Financial Centre (IFC), you can see the works of the Central-Wan Chai Bypass tunnel being carried out between the Central Piers and IFC. Once the works are completed in a few years’ time, the area will be developed into a distinctive civic node. The adjacent site will be developed into a landmark building with a height of 60 metres above Principal Datum (mPD). Together with the two low-rise structures which are in harmony with the nearby piers in terms of height, the development will be used for exhibition, retail, entertainment, civic and community uses.

Heading to the east, you will arrive at the Observation Wheel next to Central Piers No. 9 and No. 10. The facility opened last December and did not take long to become a new attraction to the Hong Kong public and visitors. As for the 3.6-hectare site next to the Hong Kong City Hall and the Observation Wheel, it has already been used to host several large-scale events and attracted hundreds of thousands of participating citizens and visitors. These events include the Hong Kong Wine & Dine Festival held by the Hong Kong Tourism Board, “Symphony Under the Stars” staged by the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, a series of special activities organised by Very Hong Kong, the “HK Fan Zone” organised by the Hong Kong Rugby Football Union, the Green Summer Festival, evening runs, antique car exhibitions and more. In the long run, the area between the Observation Wheel and the General Post Office will be developed into several buildings with heights between 30 to 50 mPD for office and retail uses, connected by a large landscaped podium. These buildings will descend in height towards the harbourfront in a gradual fashion to complement the environment of the harbourfront.

The site currently used for organising events will be developed into a 1.3-kilometre promenade as part of an urban oasis with a total area of 9.9 hectares, in which there will be an alfresco dining area.

Moving east from Tamar Park, you will reach another site currently used for infrastructure works. Based on the design concept of “waterfront plaza”, the east end of the promenade will be developed with low-rise buildings for harbourfront-related commercial and leisure facilities to inject vibrancy into the section. It is obvious that the new Central harbourfront will soon undergo a tremendous transformation and provide diversified and distinctive choices for the community. The entire promenade will also connect different sites together to enhance the east-west connectivity of the new Central Harbourfront as a whole.

Further to the east, the works of the Wan Chai-North Point harbourfront section of the Central-Wan Chai Bypass are proceeding in full swing and the land acquired by reclamation for this purpose is also taking shape. Together with other infrastructure works, the works are expected to be completed by 2020. In 2004 and 2005, the former Harbour-front Enhancement Committee (HEC) conducted the “Harbourfront Enhancement Review – Wan Chai, Causeway Bay and Adjoining Areas” to devise the reclamation plan for the Central-Wan Chai Bypass and the planning of the use of the relevant harbourfront sites. To further enhance the urban design master plan of the harbourfront area between the HKCEC New Wing and City Garden in North Point, PlanD commenced the Urban Design Study for the Wan Chai North and North Point Harbourfront Areas last month. Riding on the study results of the former HEC, the new study will devise the planning and design outline for the harbourfront sites to provide further guidelines for future development. PlanD briefed the Task Force on Harbourfront Developments on Hong Kong Island of the Harbourfront Commission on February 10, and the first stage of the public engagement activity is planned to be launched shortly. Please do take the opportunity to express your views in the public engagement activity and contribute to the future development of the harbourfront from Wan Chai to North Point.