Flexibility for diversity: Flexidesign of public urban facilities for various preferences and needs

The urban environment no longer serves fixed and limited particular functions but needs to satisfy the more diverse and dynamic preferences and needs of city users. However, many urban researchers and the public still complain that current public urban facilities are not sufficiently flexible to deal with such varied and continuously changing requirements. Taking Hong Kong as a case study, this paper reviews the current designs of public urban facilities, and identifies the inflexibility of the designs for urban planning, implementation and management. Using the output and experience from an applied research project 'FlexiBOL®' that was implemented in the city, the paper advocates the concept of FlexiDesign and discusses how it meets the many desires and needs of city users.