Picture this Hong Kong scene: the sun is shining in the clear blue sky, a cool breeze is blowing, and groups of jovial diners are sitting at outdoor tables enjoying glasses of vino with their entrées. Ask the question ‘what’s wrong with this picture?’ and most Hongkongers will reply ‘there’s never a clear blue sky in Hong Kong’. Ask the government, however, and you’ll get a very different answer.

In January, the Central and Western district council moved to ban licenses for al fresco dining spaces occupying public land. Much of this was sparked by public outrage following the accusation last year that Times Square’s landlords had been illegally renting out the malls’ outdoor podium even though the area was deemed public space. This was followed by closer regulation of other public spaces used for private gain, such as the area adjacent to dragon-i (which the Central club had previously been charging admission to on weekends), The Pawn’s rooftop in Wan Chai, and – most recently – the outdoor dining space used by Gaia in Sheung Wan’s Grand Millennium Plaza, a case that is yet to be resolved. District Council members have voiced concerns about public access, noise, and outdoor smoking, although there were no documented claims to support this at a recent hearing to discuss Gaia’s appeal.

So, does this mean al fresco dining could become a thing of the past in our city? And what can be done to preserve the scant al fresco dining options we have currently?

First, we should clarify that this does not apply to all al fresco diners. Those affected are those who have tables occupying public areas, such as Isola at IFC Mall, Classified on Hollywood Road, Gough 40 in Noho, and most of the spots on Lan Kwai Fong’s Wing Wah Lane, better known as Rat Alley. We’ve lauded Classified on these pages in the past for trying to bring street café culture to Hong Kong, and on any given Sunday you’ll see people lazing about with newspapers and lattes at their pavement tables. However, they may soon have to remove these tables if the government gets its way, according to a Classified spokesperson.

Part of the problem is that public spaces are something of a legal grey area, says Nelson Wong, an Elected Member of the District Council for Central and Western District. “There are no clear guidelines [for outdoor dining regulations],” he says. Wong points out that, while it is important that such spaces should still belong to the public, the government should look into ways to bring them to life. Some of the options, according to Wong, would be putting the spaces up for open tender and encouraging the creation of other public space areas to compensate for those used for outdoor dining.
Currently, the best bet for restaurant owners looking to establish an outdoor seating area is to study the government document titled “A Guide To Application For Outside Seating Accommodation”, a 39-page document that can be downloaded at www.fehd.gov.hk, but Wong hopes the government will establish still clearer guidelines on their policy for leasing public land to private entities in the near future. However, with the smoking ban set to come into effect on July 1, Wong says he would be against public outdoor dining if smoking was permitted in said areas. “People will have secondhand smoke, and open spaces will promote that.”

One needn’t look too far, of course, to see other cities that have embraced outdoor dining better than our own. Singapore has its hawker stalls, which are regulated by the government; Beijing has several designated outdoor dining areas including the stylish 1949; even Shenzhen has the likes of CocoPark, a lively outdoor beer garden. These areas are considered the beating hearts of the city where diners and drinkers socialise. In Europe, the US, and Australia, the difference is even more pronounced. "In Italy, I ate al fresco every day,” says Chris Mak, executive chef of BLT Steak, one of the al fresco dining options on the TST side of the harbour. “Urban people seldom get to enjoy the outdoors, and it is a chance to really enjoy the city you live in.”
But this is not just a quality of life issue; al fresco dining is a proven boon for tourism and domestic spending revenues. In the US city of Arlington, Virginia, for example, officials reported receiving US$22 million in tax revenue for the fiscal year of 2006 from outdoor dining alone. The City of Glendale in California, meanwhile, approved a three-month emergency ordinance to allow sidewalk dining amid economic downturn. “We’re looking at going what we can to make the business community more attractive and more viable,” the Glendale Redevelopment Agency told the Los Angeles Times. “This kind of thing [is] a way to enhance the street scene in the city.”

And it’s not just the US. In Brisbane, Australia, former Lord Mayor Jim Soorley strongly encouraged the proliferation of outdoor dining, citing the tourism benefits as well as its function in making the city more energetic and more livable.

Back in Hong Kong, chairman of the Urban Renewal Authority, Barry Cheung, has been among the dissenting voices urging the Central and Western District council to reconsider its ban. “Hong Kong people should not be deprived of the right to eat and drink in outdoor areas… With proper management, al fresco dining would not cause street obstructions,” he said in an interview with RTHK.

Another opponent of the ban lending his weight to the fight is Simon Squibb, managing director of local design and marketing consultancy Fluid, and the man behind www.ilovehongkong.hk. Squibb has started an online petition, which at the time of writing had accumulated around 2,300 names. “I’ve done petitions before, and usually you’ll get half yeses and half nos for a cause; in the case of al fresco dining, we’ve received zero responses protesting against our cause,” says Squibb. “Hong Kong is built on commerce. Why not take pieces of land that have little intrinsic value to the public and let entrepreneurs do something useful with them? Then use the money generated from leasing to build real public spaces.”

This idea was echoed by many of the restaurateurs we spoke to, most of whom did not want to be named in case it put them in the government’s sights. The vast majority of restaurants, it seems, would be happy to pay for the use of adjacent public outdoor spaces, with many suggesting specific ways the revenue generated could be used for the greater public good. Indeed, it is difficult to see the downside of such a plan – assuming, of course, that the greater public good is the government’s goal.

To contribute your own views on this subject, email Nelson Wong at kswongnelson@gmail.com or sign the online petition at www.ilovehongkong.hk/petition.htm.