It is time for Hong Kong to embrace the water. This new world-class urban waterfront will connect the city back to the water by creating distinctive public spaces organized by grand promenade arcs. A new landform open space becomes the city’s new front lawn, opening the city to the world and embracing Hong Kong’s most valuable asset ... the harbour. Our design principles can be described by three words: “Edge, Connection and Cycle”. The scheme achieves these principles by creating multiple layers of interface between harbour and the city, visual, pedestrian and infrastructure corridors connecting water and land, dynamic public spaces for live, work and play. Design constraints were fully integrated into physicial design considerations and expressed as "connections", "layers" and "rooms" as we believe they are part of the inspirations. Hong Kong is a city of perpetual motion that always embraces and welcomes the new. Hong Kong is also a city of authentic Chinese culture. Hong Kong is a wonderful showcase of “east” meeting “west”. The grand arcs, sloped landform lawn provide a welcoming gesture and a classical civic space, while the canal and art villages create a finer-textured urban space with a scale and character of traditional Chinese water town. The scheme has four districts with clear identities: “The Outdoor Living Room” between HSBC building and the star ferry piers This urban scaled multi-functional open space consists of a lush green for active recreation, defined by a gestural arc promenade and framed by mixed use developments, integrated with a cooling urban trellis system and podium level gardens. “The Front Lawn to the World” in the north of the new civic center The gently sloped Civic Lawn acts as Hong Kong’s showpiece open space, backdropped by the open modern design of the new City Hall, facing forward at the beautiful harbor, nestled between the arc of an elevated pedestrian path. These spatial moves create a gesture that symbolizes Hong Kong enbracing the water and welcoming the world as an international destination. “Destination Retail on the Water” The Canal District provides distinctive destination retail and entertainment by anchoring these functions in a calming, quaint environment of protected canals, enjoyable by people through recreational small boats. Also by bringing the water inland, more desireable waterfront addresses are created, giving the district a unique, characteristic ambience. “The Art Park, A World Renown Outdoor Art Gallery” in the north of the Citic Tower and APA building In connecting the neighboring cultural facilities of the performance hall and convention center through a series of organic, more intimately scaled garden spaces, the Art Park creates needed contrast to the larger open areas of the waterfront. Visitors can peacefully experience a collection of outdoor sculpture and find respite in various pavilions nestled into the rolling landscape. Nearer the waterfront, a “Restaurant Row” offers the best seafood dining in Hong Kong, enjoyed with a commanding view of Kowloon.