Many developing cities struggle with ambient air pollution, waste management, loss of biodiversity, community connectivity, and other challenges alongside population growth and urban development. Research and development opportunities for urban sustainability abound as we tackle these concerns. Uniquely situated by the congested portal of the Cross Harbour Tunnel, PolyU has long borne witness to issues in the neighborhood; hence a Green Deck to be built over the Tunnel toll plaza was proposed in 2013, as an innovative sustainability solution hinging on the living experiment of Hong Kong’s urban environment against PolyU’s multidisciplinary expertise.
Green Deck concerns the whole community by developing an around 43,000 m2 pedestrian hub across west of Hung Hom MTR station podium and east of PolyU Campus. It aims to provide a new connection point between surrounding districts and additional public space for community activities, improve the environmental performance of the nearby area, and foster the growing of the neighborhood as an attracting landmark. The proposal received encouraging feedback through a series of on-going public consultation activities, with most of the activities conducted during 2014/15.
We are well aware of the protracted sustainability issues around our campus, such as insufficient public space, heavy traffic and poor air quality, congested and polluted bus waiting area, poor connection within the districts, and crowded footbridges. More than 100 PolyU academics have been undertaking a number of research projects to demonstrate the sustainability benefits of this proposal, including an air filtration and purification system with electrostatic precipitators to filter and purify the polluted air. The heat island effect will be ameliorated by adding biomass and vegetation. Other green installations such as photovoltaic cells, wind catchers, solar lighting, grey water recycling, recycled glass and DeNOx agents are being explored. Meanwhile, due to its proximity to iconic Victoria Harbour, Green Deck is also planned and designed to invigorate the area as a local attraction hotspot and promote synergy with partners across the tourism and event sectors.
