UP AG AINST IT

Both Shaw and Southern District Councillor Paul Zimmerman, an enthusiastic campaigner for better urban planning, cite a stubborn and backward Transport Department as the main roadblock in the drive for better urban planning. “The Transport and Highways departments are working with planning and design manuals that are incredibly outdated compared to where we are in Europe or New York,” says Zimmerman. Furthermore, the requirements of these departments often seem to trump those of all others, says Shaw. “Our Transport Department is a law unto itself. Until you get a mayor or a chief executive who will say to his transport department, ‘Sod off, we’re going to do it this way,’ change won’t happen—because they are so powerful, especially in Hong Kong.”