Urban internetworking in two wheels : athletic infrastructure : the bicycle compatibility in the dense urban environment

Abstract

In recent years, cycling has became one of the most popular activity of Hong Kong citizen. It’s famous and used to be a leisure sport or family events in the New Territories which it included 97% of daily cycle trips take place, especially in Sha Tin district. Nowadays it is spreading to other districts such as New Territories East and West. While there is less than 1% of cycling path in the Hong Kong Island. Hong Kong Cyclothon event has been held for two years and the participants number is getting higher by each year. For Hong Kong citizen, cycling was mainly treated as recreational use, over 70% of cycling path were established in new town such as Tseung Kwan O, Sha Tin, Tai Po, Yuen Long and Tuen Mun districts. While recreational is not the only purpose for cycling, there are also school trips, work or work related trips, shopping and fitness purpose. Different district has it’s own specific needs and demand. How different and how much does it count of each potion in highly urbanized district such as Hong Kong Island? What are the potential group of users could be benefited from establishing alternative cycling network? Hong Kong Island has the least cycling trip counted among the districts. What are the reasons for such phenomenon to be happened? What are the urban condition differences between Hong Kong Island and new town in New Territories where has cycling network well developed? What are the needs that Hong Kong Island citizen looking for regarding cycling activities and experience? Cycling has became one of the most influencing sport media to people’s life. However, some of the public sports facilities are not fully utilized or not well developed that to facilitate certain district’s inhabitants in Hong Kong Island. Moreover, there are lack of infrastructural system or coherence in between districts, resulting in disconnection of districts in the sense and scale of public sports. This thesis is to experiment the compatibility and potential that introducing sport infrastructure in coherence with public sport facilities and neighborhood community within certain district. In order to provide an alternative system of sustainable life style to the citizen.