Seeing red

敏

Seeing red  

南華早報
CITY5 |  LIFE  2008-10-09

Activists are resisting the many rules applied over-zealously in local parks. Joyce Siu takes a stroll

No playing ball, no sitting on the grass and no walking the dog, leashed or not. The long list of prohibited activities in the city's public parks astonished David Biddlecombe when he moved to Hong Kong 12 years ago, and little has changed since.

If anything, park controls are becoming more oppressive.

Biddlecombe, who runs an educational curriculum development company, says many people - locals and expatriates - share his feelings.

"They think the parks are not for them. Why go to parks with so many rules?"

Frustrated by the inflexibility in public recreational spaces, he came up with an unusual idea in July to challenge rules that prevent people from enjoying harmless activities.

Dubbing it the Freedom Ball campaign, he placed huge inflatable balls printed with the slogan "Say no to no fun" in parks in Wan Chai and Quarry Bay to encourage public participation.

It was in direct conflict with a ban on ball playing in parks, one of the rules Biddlecombe describes as petty and unnecessary.

"I want to question whether the rules imposed by the government at parks are in the interests of the public," he says.

Many parents embraced his idea, using the balls to keep their children amused and expressing dissatisfaction at not being able to let them play freely in parks, he says.

They included a mother angered that her toddler had been told to stop riding his bicycle.

Since then his drive has won the support of community group Happy Action, which helped at his Freedom Ball events and set up a Facebook account to encourage people to share their experiences in public parks.

Happy Action organiser Cally Yu Yeuk-mui reckons park controls have become tighter over the years.

"In the past there were only signs reminding people not to throw rubbish or spit. But now there are more bans to limit activities such as cycling," she says.

Families may be enthusiastic about the initiative, but administrators can be hostile: at Quarry Bay Park, staff threatened to call the police when Biddlecombe ignored orders to stop his activity.

The Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) manages the city's 1,470 parks, gardens and sitting-out areas under the Pleasure Grounds Regulation. As the LCSD sees it, people are free to do as they like provided they don't cause an obstruction and pose a danger to other users or damage facilities.

That makes sense. However, activists say park staff can take the execution to ridiculous extremes. For instance, guards in Kowloon Park tried to stop people playing with the red inflatable balls arguing that these were "too big and therefore dangerous" and that children might fall and hurt themselves. A nearby grass patch was off limits because it was feared people might damage it.

Park managers' solution for families wishing their children to have fun? Book an activity room.

Community groups say this leaves no room for casual family activities such as a parent with some spare time taking the children for a romp outdoors in the evening. Besides, bookings often mean a long wait.

"You'd probably have to tell your child to come back to you in a month's time if you were lucky enough to get a booking at all," says Biddlecombe.

As for dancing, forget about it. When Yu and her friends tried out a few steps in Blake Garden, a small park in Sheung Wan, security guards immediately stepped in.

"We were told dancing would disturb other users, even though the park was deserted at the time and we hadn't turned on any music," she recalls.

Michael Siu Kin-wai, who heads the Public Design Lab research team at Polytechnic University, says such strict management is partly due to over-designing of parks. Once facilities are assigned functions, people are barred from using them for activities other than those specified by the LCSD.

"The government imposed more rules to limit activities for easy management," Siu says.

In the 1960s and 70s, park layouts were simple. Victoria Park, which opened in 1957, was little more than an open space where people could relax. Siu says there were virtually no facilities apart from a public TV set. Recreational features for children and the elderly, including pebble trails, Chinese pavilions and ponds, were added in the 80s and 90s.

"The intention of providing more facilities is good but sometimes it gets too much," Siu says. "People tend to think more is better, but often all we need is some open space for people to relax and hang out."

Biddlecombe, who has a 15-year-old daughter, agrees. Children need spaces where they can use their imagination to play in the many different ways they can think of, not just how the park designer thinks they should, he says.

Paul Zimmerman of Designing Hong Kong says the excessive curbs stem from the LCSD preferring to err on the side of caution.

"Whenever someone complains, the LCSD just puts up more restrictions as the safe way out. But its controls have gone overboard," Zimmerman says.

The LCSD has not responded to inquiries about whether it would review its policies, but the department line is that many grass patches in parks and gardens are ornamental and not for recreation.

However, a LCSD spokesman says it will provide more stretches of grass for public use when planning new leisure venues.

The LCSD says 37 lawn areas around the city are available for recreation. But most are small.

Calling for greater flexibility, campaigners say the LCSD should distinguish between the facilities and apply different rules depending on the function. "For example,if it's a toddlers' playground, no frisbees is fine. But allow it elsewhere," says Zimmerman.

Biddlecombe suggests single-use spaces such as sports pitches should be opened to the public for a wider range of activities when not booked for its specified purpose. "It's fine to have a facility for the elderly and to give them booking priority, for example. But what's the point of not allowing people to use it when it's not booked?" he says. "More priority should be given to flexible, multi-use space in future park design."

Park operations need not be bureaucratic. Urban planning specialist Ng Mee-kam calls for a community-based approach to running recreational areas, particularly small garden spaces, as a way to foster neighbourhood spirit.

She cites the Luen Fat Street Sitting-Out Area in Wan Chai as an example that incorporates residents' aspirations and participation in the planning and operation of a public space. Residents were consulted in the design, and they now help care for plants and cleanliness in the small park.

However, such schemes need the commitment of residents, says Ng, an associate professor in the department of urban planning and design at the University of Hong Kong.

"People need to understand their rights and responsibilities," she says.

Biddlecombe plans to organise more Freedom Ball events, after his next consignment of plastic balls is ready, to promote discussion on how parks should be managed and designed.

"Space in Hong Kong is so scarce. Most of us don't have big flats or a garden. We live our lives in public spaces," he says. "It's important to have park designs and regulations that meet the needs of the people."