Following is a question by the Hon Lau Ping-cheung and a reply by the Secretary for Planning and Lands, Mr John C Tsang, in the Legislative Council today (April 24):
Question:
Regarding the results of the Concept Plan Competition for the Development of an Integrated Arts, Cultural and Entertainment District at the West Kowloon Reclamation, Hong Kong, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the details of how each winning proposal was evaluated by the jury; and
(b) as participants of the competition have been required to prepare their proposals by making reference to the relevant vision put forward by the Culture and Heritage Commission, i.e. "what West Kowloon Reclamation ought to reclaim is not only land but our history, identity and creative spirit......evokes memories: a new exciting place that people can still relate to and find comforting familiarity with", whether this vision has been taken by the jury as one of the assessment criteria; if so, of its weighting in the overall rating scheme, and the ratings given to each winning proposal on the basis of this assessment criterion; if not, how the jury came to the view that the winning proposals can reflect Hong Kong's history, identity and creative spirit?
Reply:
Madam President,
The Competition Document for the West Kowloon Reclamation Concept Plan Competition invited participants, in preparing their proposals, to make reference to the Culture and Heritage Commission's vision on the development of an arts and cultural district at the reclamation. This was stated as a point of reference for participants, not as a judging criterion for the Jury.
The judging criteria, which were also stated in the Competition Document, required consideration of the planning and design merits of the proposals and the overall benefits to Hong Kong. The overall objective is to enhance our position as a centre of arts and culture and generate civic pride. The criteria were couched in broad terms, as is appropriate for a competition inviting conceptual plan proposals. The jury was not required to assess the entries to the competition specifically in relation to historical, cultural and visionary perceptions.
As regards specific details on scoring, the Competition Document provides for the adjudication process to be confidential and binds the Organizer not to disclose the details of the jury's assessments in any way.
End/Wednesday, April 24, 2002
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Annex: Commentary by the Jury on the Winning Entries