How to build in Coloane
THE past weeks have been ones of fierce debate over a private
residential project planned for Seac Pai Van, which could lead to the
demolition of an 80-year-old Portuguese bunker.
The public was angered by the statements made by the developer Mr Sio Tak Hong when announcing his intention to stick to the project on the grounds that the land is private property and thus is protected by law. “There are high-rise buildings everywhere; I am not the only one destroying the environment. I believe the government will act in accordance with the law and will not be afraid of public pressure,” he said.
The controversy also involved demagogical patriotic arguments, when an advertisement the Association of Political Science and Law of Macau posted in Macao Daily News (Ou Mun Yat Po), called for demolition of a military pillbox that they said is a symbol of colonialism. The local press inquired repeatedly about who was responsible for the ad (since the association’s president said that he had nothing to do with it) and no one stood to defend it. Were the mentors of this ad worried about Macau’s historical background, or should we just follow the money trail?
Anyway, I’m not worried about the 80-year-old Portuguese bunker. It could be kept if accompanied with an explanatory board showing why the military installed it there and how the territory evolved. Apparently there’s no intention to do that. There are several bunkers of the same kind in Guia hill that are completely abandoned and covered by bushes. No one seems to give a damn about them.
The high-rise residential tower that Sio Tak Hong wants to build in Seac Pai Van is placed in an area already devoured by high-rise buildings. The government’s decision to build ten blocks of affordable housing units in a former quarry located there already made clear what will be the future usage of that area. In case of doubt, please have a look at this picture I recently took from inside the Seac Pai Van garden (where the Panda Pavilion stands), formerly very quiet and pleasant and now surrounded by a wall of buildings:
What worries me is the fact that this building frenzy that is happening on Coloane’s entrance could contaminate the heart of the island. It’s clearly Macau’s last green belt and obviously should be protected. Although, as the sage architect Carlos Marreiros put it when interviewed by the Times, protecting doesn’t necessarily mean not urbanizing. It could also mean to urbanize following high ‘green’ standards and with social purposes: “We could build in Coloane two-or three-story buildings integrated on the mountains and topped by gardens. Build low-density buildings integrated on the slopes. Houses for the elderly, schools, health centers and leisure facilities, excluding hotels and high-rise buildings… We could also introduce solar panels instead of electrical public lighting, or use the filtered river water. The island is virgin, we have a lot of money but initiative is lacking. We could do something that would be the envy of the region and the world, embracing Nature,” he argued.
Another thing that worries me much more than the bunker is the apparent lack of coordination between the development of Hengqin and Macau. Looking at the following picture, we observe that what was once a very relaxing mountain view as seen from Colane village is rapidly being transformed into a wall of buildings. Has anyone thought about the visual and environmental impacts this will bring to Coloane?
The public was angered by the statements made by the developer Mr Sio Tak Hong when announcing his intention to stick to the project on the grounds that the land is private property and thus is protected by law. “There are high-rise buildings everywhere; I am not the only one destroying the environment. I believe the government will act in accordance with the law and will not be afraid of public pressure,” he said.
The controversy also involved demagogical patriotic arguments, when an advertisement the Association of Political Science and Law of Macau posted in Macao Daily News (Ou Mun Yat Po), called for demolition of a military pillbox that they said is a symbol of colonialism. The local press inquired repeatedly about who was responsible for the ad (since the association’s president said that he had nothing to do with it) and no one stood to defend it. Were the mentors of this ad worried about Macau’s historical background, or should we just follow the money trail?
Anyway, I’m not worried about the 80-year-old Portuguese bunker. It could be kept if accompanied with an explanatory board showing why the military installed it there and how the territory evolved. Apparently there’s no intention to do that. There are several bunkers of the same kind in Guia hill that are completely abandoned and covered by bushes. No one seems to give a damn about them.
The high-rise residential tower that Sio Tak Hong wants to build in Seac Pai Van is placed in an area already devoured by high-rise buildings. The government’s decision to build ten blocks of affordable housing units in a former quarry located there already made clear what will be the future usage of that area. In case of doubt, please have a look at this picture I recently took from inside the Seac Pai Van garden (where the Panda Pavilion stands), formerly very quiet and pleasant and now surrounded by a wall of buildings:
What worries me is the fact that this building frenzy that is happening on Coloane’s entrance could contaminate the heart of the island. It’s clearly Macau’s last green belt and obviously should be protected. Although, as the sage architect Carlos Marreiros put it when interviewed by the Times, protecting doesn’t necessarily mean not urbanizing. It could also mean to urbanize following high ‘green’ standards and with social purposes: “We could build in Coloane two-or three-story buildings integrated on the mountains and topped by gardens. Build low-density buildings integrated on the slopes. Houses for the elderly, schools, health centers and leisure facilities, excluding hotels and high-rise buildings… We could also introduce solar panels instead of electrical public lighting, or use the filtered river water. The island is virgin, we have a lot of money but initiative is lacking. We could do something that would be the envy of the region and the world, embracing Nature,” he argued.
Another thing that worries me much more than the bunker is the apparent lack of coordination between the development of Hengqin and Macau. Looking at the following picture, we observe that what was once a very relaxing mountain view as seen from Colane village is rapidly being transformed into a wall of buildings. Has anyone thought about the visual and environmental impacts this will bring to Coloane?
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