Smart City? How about Kai Tak?
智慧城市由啟德做起
The Government is committed to developing Hong Kong into a smart city. It says so in the 2017 Policy Address. I suggest we start in Kai Tak, where we are building a brand new district.
Here are three suggestions. And no, I’m not talking about wifi hotspots.
First, we should make sure all private and public housing use the district cooling system we have built. Yes, there is a large cooling factory and a huge titanium pipe with cooling water under Kai Tak. Let’s not limit the use to commercial buildings. If we make sure residential units can connect, people don’t have to buy individual air-conditioners. That will save a lot of energy. And reduce air pollution from our power stations.
Secondly, we should build tunnels under the roads which can be shared by different utilities to put their pipes and cables. Instead of digging up the road again and again for repairs, the engineers can simply access the tunnel via manhole covers.
Thirdly, we should promote the use of bicycles for travel between the MTR station and destinations on Kai Tak: Sports stadium, parks, waterfront, hospitals, cruise terminal and housing. Not everyone will use the bike, certainly not when it rains, so we keep public transport as well. But since Kai Tak is flat with many bicycle lanes for safe cycling, we can expect some 30% of the short trips to be made using bicycles.
To make all three possible, the Government will have to learn a few things. The Housing Authority needs to figure out how to charge tenants for central air conditioning. The Lands Department has to make minor changes in the lease conditions for land on Kai Tak. The civil engineers will need to clarify liability and charge utilities rent for use of ‘common enclosures’ - the utility tunnels. And the MTR, hospitals, stadium, housing authority and others need to add bicycle parking spaces close to the entrances for their staff, visitors, commuters and residents.
Nothing too difficult if we are smart enough to learn.
New public housing in Kai Tak is built on top of a titanium pipe running cooling water 24 hours a day from a district cooling system. In the absence of a charging mechanism, the Housing Authority decided against installing central air-conditioning. A lost opportunity in reducing energy consumption and air pollution.
A short version was first published in AM730.
https://www.am730.com.hk/column/%E6%96%B0%E8%81%9E/smart-city-how-about-kai-tak-%E6%99%BA%E6%85%A7%E5%9F%8E%E5%B8%82%E7%94%B1%E5%95%9F%E5%BE%B7%E5%81%9A%E8%B5%B7-82646
Paul Zimmerman
CEO, Designing Hong Kong
在2017年的施政報告中，政府已經確定將香港發展為一個智慧城市。我建議我們應該在啟德作為一個試點，在此地建立一個全新的區域。
以下有三個建議，而我並非只說建立無線網絡熱點。
首先，我們應該確保所有私營及公營房屋均使用區域供冷系統。的確，在啓德底下有一個大型的冷卻設備以及有冷卻水的巨大鈦金屬喉管。請不要只局限運用於商業大廈中，假若我們能夠連接往住宅大廈，市民便可以減少依賴個人的空調，這樣會節省很多的能源，並且可以減少因發電而引起的空氣污染問題。
其次，我們應該建立地下隧道存放所有電纜及喉管。工程師可以利用人工孔蓋接駁地下隧道，避免因維修而重複挖掘道路。
最後，我們應該鼓勵大眾使用單車代步，尤其在地鐵站與啟德地區內的設施，例如：體育館、公園、海濱、醫院、郵輪碼頭和屋苑等。當下雨時，並非每個人都會使用單車，所以我們也要確保公共交通工具的運作。但是啟德是一個平坦並且興建了不少單車徑的地方，因此大眾使用單車是安全的。我們可期望約百分之三十的短程路線可被單車取代。
政府需要知悉幾樣事情才可令以上三項建議可行。房屋委員會需要決定如何向租戶就中央空調收費，而地政署需要就著啟德用地的租用條件進行微調。土木工程師需要釐清責任和公用設施收費 - 公用隧道。此外，地鐵站，醫院，體育館，房屋委員會和其他相關地方都需要增建停泊單車的空間以便利他們的員工，訪客，乘客和居民。
只要我們願意去學習，沒有事情會是困難的。
啓德的新型公共房屋位於區域供冷系統範圍內。可惜缺乏妥善收費機制，房屋委員會拒絕為公營房屋安裝中央式的空調，這樣失去了減低能源消耗和改善空氣污染問題的機會。
撮要版本刊登於AM730
https://www.am730.com.hk/column/%E6%96%B0%E8%81%9E/smart-city-how-about-kai-tak-%E6%99%BA%E6%85%A7%E5%9F%8E%E5%B8%82%E7%94%B1%E5%95%9F%E5%BE%B7%E5%81%9A%E8%B5%B7-82646
司馬文
創建香港行政總裁
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