Sketching to illustrate ideas
Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour waterfront is perhaps one of the world’s most unfriendly waterfronts. Major roadways and elevated traffic corridors capture the waterfront leaving pedestrians with very limited (if any in most areas) access both on the Hong Kong Island and Kowloon shore lines. And where the authority’s reclamation projects propose pedestrian access, they are by no means friendly or inviting.
Here are two examples showing a photograph of the existing waterfront together with sketches illustrating more friendly treatments to the water’s edge. The sketches tell the story quickly: the shore lines are graced with waterfront pedestrian activities; there are stairways to lower water level decks; and there are public jetties for access to boats.
Sketchingjourney's Blog 
The sketches are not renderings, but they convey the ideas and message quickly and easily. These sketches were produced in a few minutes and with many others the impact was impressive and effective.
For a world-class city, Hong Kong lags behind in many other areas other than access to its water edges. There are no major urban open space in the city where pedestrians have easy access. Hong Kong Park is a miniature open space on a hill and difficult to reach. The reclaimed harbout front in Central would be an ideal urban open space, but it is being used for commercial, government and highways developments.
At some stage Hong Kong will have to stop reclaiming parts of Victoria Harbour. There need to be a comprehensive waterfront plan for the harbour. These ad hock shoreline developments are short sighted.
There are proposals being considered now to develop the Kai Tack Runway Island into a “Mall”, within a commercial and houseng complex! Why can it not be a dense landscaped public open space free of encumbrances?
Here’s a great example of a beautiful Waterfront Promenade:
http://www.architecturelinked.com/profiles/blogs/benidorm-promenade?xg_source=facebook