News & Events

This event is organised by the Hong Kong Green Building Council Limited (HKGBC).

Public space is not just a physical space that exists between buildings, it is full of life and activities. It is a place people pass through every day, meet friends, do exercise, exchange information, take rest, meditate… It engages intimately with our daily life and becomes an inseparable part of our lives. How does the community respond if their familiar public spaces change? Through an urban experiment, we can see the dynamics between public space and the community which provide us clues on how we can shape a better public space, and more importantly, why a good public space matters to a community.

In late 2016, Hong Kong Green Building Council collaborated with Hong Kong Public Space Initiative (HKPSI) to carry out a series of urban experiments in Kwun Tong with an aim to provide feedback for the development of the new rating tool, BEAM Plus Neighbourhood, with a particular emphasis on the quality of open space design and placemaking. The presentation will elaborate on the relevant credits of BEAM Plus ND on public space and to brief the approach and findings of the urban experiment, and finally, the presentation will highlight more innovative approaches to create a vibrant public realm.

Speaker: Caroline CHAN

Caroline is the Director (Think Tank 1) of Hong Kong Public Space Initiative. She has been conducting place-making urban experiments to study how we can shape a better public space with collective effort from general public, professionals, NGOs, district councilors, private sectors through an innovative bottom-up approach. She is also the editor of the book called “Have a Seat. Own the Park. –A Community Project in Yau Ma Tei”. She is the full member of Hong Kong Institute of Planners and graduated from the University of Hong Kong with a Master of Science in Urban Planning. She wrote a thesis about how creative ecology is related to the cultural development and sustainable urban regeneration in Hong Kong.
 

About Hong Kong Public Space Initiative (HKPSI)

HKPSI is a non-profit charitable organisation found in 2011 by multi-disciplinary young professionals. It aims to bring the different sectors of the society knowledge about public space and empower the community to shape better public spaces through initiating changes in the city.