Keynote Presentation

2018 Open Space Public Opinion SurveyMs Carine LAISenior Researcher, Civic Exchange

Tablet-assisted street

intercept

200 people

per district

Stratified by age & gender

3,600permanent residents

January-February 2018

Public Opinion

Survey on Open Space

Respondent geo-locations

We asked how often people visited 8 kinds of open space…

Small playgrounds and sitting-out areas

Medium and large parks LCSD sports facilities Shopping mall plazas or podium gardens

Waterfront promenades Unofficial open spaces Public housing estate open spaces

Private housing estate open spaces

38%

18% 17%29%

16%5%

40%

22%

35%

35%23%

31%

24%

10%

18%

14%

17%

35%

28%

26%

33%

26%

21%

26%

10% 13%

31%

13%27%

59%

21%

38%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

% o

f re

sp

on

de

nts

Never in past 12months

1-3 times/year

More than 3 times/yearbut less than once amonth

Once a month or more

The most frequently visited types of open space are small playgrounds, public housing OS & mall podiums

POSPD make up only ~2% of HK’s open

space

Satisfaction with open space (overall)

5.7

6.2

6.2

7.0

6.1

6.1

5.8

0.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0 7.0 8.0 9.0 10.0

Activities and facilities

Beauty

Trees, plants, landscaping

Personal safety

Crowdedness

Maintenance & management

Quantity

Average satisfaction score (0-10)

Error bars: Standard deviation of sample

District-related findings

Satisfaction by district

C&W WC E S YTM SSP KC WTS KT ST TP KwTs TW TM YL N Sk I

Quantity

Management

Crowds

Safety

Landscaping

Beauty

Activities

More satisfied than other districts at a statistically significant level

Less satisfied than other districts at a statistically significant level

Not significantly different from other districts

People living in private individual buildings are less satisfied with every element of open space

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Quantity Maintenanceand

management

Crowdedness Personal safety Trees, plants,landscaping

Beauty Activities andfacilities

Mea

n s

core

Public Housing HOS Housing Individual Buildings Private Developments Village Houses

Recommendation:

Upgrade the quality of small open spaces (e.g. landscaping, seating capacity, design) in old urban districts to encourage usage. Integrate small open spaces with streetscape where possible.

Planning inclusive open spaces

Mean monthly open space visits by type and age (regular users)

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

Smallplaygrounds

Medium orlarge parks

Sportsfacilities

Mall plazas Waterfronts Unofficial Public housingOS

Privatehousing OS

Mea

n m

on

thly

vis

its

16-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60+

What do people want?Please choose up to 3 things you would like to see to improve the open spaces in your community

Lawns to sit on

Mist fountains

Gym Equipment

Cycling/Jogging Paths

Trees & shrubs

Places to sit and chat

Water stations

More shade

Top preferences by age group

16-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60+

1st priority

2nd priority

3rd priority

Recommendations:

• Expand shared jogging/cycling path pilot to more open spaces; allow children to cycle in more parks

• Provide more accessible lawns

• Provide more shade and seating arrangements that facilitate social interaction

Walking on grass

Roller skating Playing music Lying down on benches

Remote-controlled cars

Ball games

Skateboarding CyclingWalking dogs

Potential conflictsWhich of the following 9 activities do you think are feasible for the government to allow in most open spaces in Hong Kong?

None

48% of respondents

thought at least 1 activity could be

allowed

10% 4% 11% 6% 4%

8% 4% 23% 16%

What activities should be allowed? Selected activities, by age group

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

Ball games Cycling Dog walking Playing music Walking on grass

% o

f re

spo

nd

ents

16-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60-70+

How to satisfy conflicting needs in limited space?

Recommendations:

• More diversity in design and regulations – experimental sites

• Activity zoning, time-based rules?

• Target spaces to relevant demographics – e.g. local sitting-out areas and public housing open spaces for the elderly, shopping mall plazas and waterfronts for youth

Overall recommendations

• Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines should recognize diverse typology of open spaces instead of just local, district & regional.

• Create design guidelines for inclusive open space planning, not just at the level of individual spaces but across neighbourhoods & districts.

• Engage communities in the planning and design of open spaces. Let residents have collaborative input into the facilities and management style of their open spaces.

GIS StudyDr Jeffrey

Chow

Survey ReportCarine Lai

Public Opinion Survey

• Visiting habits & activities• Satisfaction• What people want• Rules and regulations

• Proximity and POS density• Visiting habits• Self-reported wellbeing

Lands Department

Map Data