Most car journeys in Hong Kong carry only the driver, effectively moving one person inside nearly one ton of metal.

By contrast, a high-rise residential tower with hundreds of families linked via elevators, shops and transport cuts horizontal travel and reclaims pedestrian space.

This vertical logic has helped the city preserve unusually large tracts of parkland and a world-class public-transport system.

Today, with transport accounting for about one-fifth of the city’s total carbon emissions and private cars representing the largest single vehicle-type contributor, the argument for reducing vehicle numbers is pressing.

Although about 16 percent of private cars are now electric, this shift alone falls short.

Electrification improves tail-pipe emissions but does not solve inherent issues of space, congestion, tyre-dust and resource-intensive batteries.

A deeper shift toward walking and public transport awaits.

Hong Kong is already well-positioned.

Infrastructure such as the Central–Mid-Levels escalator and the elevated network of walkways allow for all-weather pedestrian movement across business districts, underscoring what the city could become.

The transport department’s “Walk in HK” strategy outlines a framework to “make it connected, make it safe, make it enjoyable and make it smart” — through measures like way-finding signage, footpath decluttering, raised crossings, level run-outs and pictographic pedestrian networks.

Despite the tools, the realignment of neighbourhood design remains the key.

A tall, mixed-use tower places housing, amenities and transport in close proximity and limits the need for cars.

Pedestrianisation must therefore build on thoughtful urban form: wide shaded sidewalks, accessible crossings for the elderly and mobility-limited, and well-designed public spaces for walking to be preferred.

Car-park dominance, narrow footpaths and street clutter erode the experience.

Past efforts do offer lessons.

The pedestrian zone on Sai Yeung Choi Street in Mongkok initially drew visitors and retail activity, but noise complaints from unregulated busking and foot-path crowding eventually led to de-pedestrianisation.

That episode illustrates that if pedestrian-only zones lack intelligent design and management, they can falter — but the solution is improvement not abandonment.

Policy makers should now look beyond replacing engines and switching to electric vehicles.

A more effective route lies in creating walkable shopping streets, expanding car-free zones, restraining private vehicle access in inner districts and aligning transport planning with urban form.

Businesses benefit too: shoppers arrive, browse and linger more when they walk rather than speed past in cars.

Hong Kong already has the high-density towers, world-class mass transit and a legacy of thriving promenades.

Now is the moment to elevate pedestrianisation from boutique project to urban mainstream and reap economic, environmental and social benefits in equal measure.