Aberdeen to be Disneyfied – HK concrete tourist attractions

[DocMartin]

Here’s an email circulated to members of group promoting sustainable tourism in Hong Kong (yeah, hilarious that anyone should even try such a thing, but there you are):

This just in – Aberdeen to be Disneyfied! We already have sampans from Ap Lei Chau to Aberdeen. Do we have the infrastructure to support this? (MTR south… still waiting for the train to come…) Rather in the same way they go to Tai O, visitors are hoping to find something NOT developed…
temple walks in Ap Lei Chau north..? How many temples are there?
and of course… restaurants and retail shops, yippee… (what other kind of shops are there??)
…

BC-HK-Tourism
^HK’s Aberdeen tourism project displays historic charm

[SImon D]

I’m in complete agreement with the way you think. I think exactly the same way.
But it is worth remembering that for those areas already blighted, and with no future prospects of returning to a wild state. Would a town planner that made us happy, be applauded by the wider community.
Is it our job to push for green sustainability, and clean-up within a concrete framework. Or do we insist on an asthetic as well as a practical approach?

OK when a change has an effect on the environment, no contest.

When we tell people to grass the roof, plant trees and reduce waste. Should we be telling them about a green asthetic? A certain look and use a building must have?

These questions are not rhetorical. I would like to hear some opinions on the matter.

[DocMartin]

Quick answer:

Well, improving blighted areas seems good idea.
But when money’s limited, best to focus on certain ones – and I’m afraid Aberdeen wouldn’t be my top choice: just too many problems, and no longer a great place for a fisherman’s wharf type attraction.

Can think of city buildings and streets that surely deserve attention, and which could become genuine attractions: market streets, streets and buildings with real Hong Kong character (Wanchai, north Kowloon etc).
Not sure always have to dictate re being “green” or whatever: but something akin to keep it real: take living area, do some improvements, and have it still pulsing with life. Not, say, create some phony marketplace as at Ngong Ping!

Rather similar in rural areas: can help with villages etc, as well as help our natural environment.

But purse strings not held by people with many such sensibilities.
Instead, get schemes like Wetland Park, Aberdeen plans, Ngong Ping ersatz village-thing, harbour reclamation (bringing the harbour to the people by, err, filling in even more harbour!).
Might be a little hope after furore over Star Ferry and Queen’s piers; and that garden that was saved from concreting a few months ago (in western NT?)

[Author]

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