In Wan Chai District, each person only enjoys 0.7m2 of open space, which is the lowest among all districts in Hong Kong. A comprehensive research on the usage and conditions of open spaces in Wan Chai and how to improve and better utilise them becomes a striking question to address in the community. Neighbourhood Innovation Lab was commissioned by Wan Chai District Council to conduct open space research in the district on the quality and its correlation to building an inclusive neighbourhood among diverse residents and stakeholders in the community.

From October 2020 to February 2021, we conducted a series of quantitative and qualitative research, macro analysis and micro data collection to develop evidence-based insights and long and short term recommendations to improve open spaces in Wan Chai District to address and enhance inclusivity in the community.

On the largest scale, GIS analysis was conducted to provide an overview of open space distribution in Wan Chai based on existing spatial data and spatial analysis. This is complemented by a survey with 1000 Wan Chai open space users to understand their usage habits and opinions towards open spaces. The survey covers topics including opinions towards existing open spaces, interest in different kinds of future activities and concept testing based on different kinds of inclusivity. These large scale analysis, based on existing spatial data and newly collected survey data, provides a general overview and feeling of open spaces in Wan Chai in the scale of the district.

In addition, 408 1-1 interviews with open space users, and 4 focus groups with elderly, wheelchair users and visually impaired persons in the community were held to obtain qualitative insights into people’s views. With a focus on inclusivity in the research, 28 open space sites were selected based on its location, scale, urban type and user demographics to conduct specific site observation, user counting and activities data collection. Based on the observation data, 14 out of 28 sites were selected to conduct on-site polling with open space users on topics of inclusivity

Our vision with our community engagement is to use open spaces as a means to engage local community and stakeholders. The project presents a perfect opportunity towards private – public cooperation with the community as the focus of the user research. It fills a gap between city-wide topical research, and design studies around specific public space(s). Parks, privately owned public spaces, streets, and public facilities are all elements of public life that are connected to local culture and businesses serving residents. It allows us to draw comparisons between spaces of similar typologies, and understand how spaces can be studied in clusters against different kinds of data.