Picture this: Tourists visiting one of your city's most prominent attractions are unable to see it because of smog, haze and a bevy of other airborne pollutants. What's the solution?
Kendra King's insight:
In the short term this might be a workable solution, but definitely not a long term one. To be clear, I think posing in front of a large representation of what the city should look like is ridiculous. There are still harmful pollutants surrounding the area and all the other pictures will show the reality of the situation. Honestly, one doesn’t need to stand in front of a poster showing what the city looked like, one could just superimpose the image of themselves from the comfort of their own home. Yet, tourists seem to be taking their pictures in front of the poster anyways without any regard for the environmental harm occurring the area. So on the other hand, I give points to the country for being creative enough to try and appease the tourist. I am not quite sure how much of their economy depends on tourism, but the fact that the country is dealing with a long term issue and still thought about how to make the most of it economically was a smart move on their part. Now, I will only continue to respect what Hong Kong does if their government actually steps up to the plate and starts regulating the boats that are causing “more pollution than… anticipated.” Also, I will actually say the solution is horrible if the use of this backdrop acts as an enabler (i.e. without pressure from a decrease in tourist, the country then decides not to regulate for the long term benefit of the country until later). It will be something interesting to watch over the next couple years.