Creative/insurgent participaton?: A case study of harbourfront planning in Hong Kong

Abstract

In the past reclamation was accepted as a standard strategy and technology to accommodate urban growth. However, since the 1990s, harbourfront developments have become a bone of contention between the state and civil society in Hong Kong. This paper attempts to document how various civil society groups have tried to challenge the executive-led government to change its current ineffective and compartmentalized approach to harbourfront planning. Through the protests towards harbour reclamation to the saga of the emotional protests against the demolition of the world famous Start Ferry pier in the Central Business District of the city to the completion of a much celebrated NGO-driven international design competition of the new central harbourfront, this paper outlines how the civil society tries to promote social inclusion and infuse creativity in harbourfront planning in a non-democratic setting. This paper argues that while urban planning is constrained by the mode of governance, open and inclusive planning process, when employed by an enlightened citizenry, will make a difference and contribute, albeit in a small way, to a 'transition' from a government-centred polity to a multi-stakeholder-centred mode of governance.