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Hong Kong, China

A turn-around begins in a city once-notoriously bad for pedestrians

North American cities looking for ways to deal with congestion and its negative impact on the economy should look across the Pacific to Hong Kong. This is a place that still has a long way to go in becoming a great city. Like many North American cities, it faces many serious challenges such as land use issues, public spaces, an underperforming waterfront, overall sustainability, and the dominance that business interests have over planning decisions. The city’s street markets, including the famous Graham Street Market, are under threat from government officials. But in some Hong King neighborhoods, there are impressive initiatives to make its congested streets more pedestrian-friendly.

As recently as seven years ago, Hong Kong had virtually no streets that were comfortable for people to walk despite its international reputation as a bustling shopping city. In the intervening years the city is seeing the start of a transformation led by none other than the city's Transport Department.

In each of ten central districts, the Transport Department chose to do a combination of traffic calming and closing streets to vehicles—some permanently and some during certain hours. In the Causeway Bay area, for instance, the city has transformed an area of isolated, inward-focused shopping centers into a lively shopping district with a genuinely interesting streetlife.

One of the area’s commercial shopping centers is actually named Times Square in an attempt to emulate New York City’s legendary public space, which only strengthens the message that similar improvements could easily be made in New York City itself,, where Times Square and other public spaces struggle with traffic and overcrowding.

Hong Kong, a city that once ranked among the world’s worst for walking and where tourists and residents alike dreaded boarding its public transportation system, now offers speedy and efficient mass transit and is beginning to realize the benefits of walkable public spaces. This brave about-face offers inspiration that any city can be turned around with careful attention to pedestrians, transit, and public spaces.