Paradise found: On the drawing board are a 24-hectare metropolitan park, a 5-km long waterfront promenade, and a tourism node-cum-cruise pier are the key features of the city's new oasis: Kai Tak.

Kai Tak Airport, the world's busiest in terms of passengers and cargo throughput, retired from the hustle and bustle of the city after 73 years of service at midnight on July 6, 1998, when the last passenger flight, bound for Heathrow in London, took off.

Five years later, as the Hong Kong International Airport on Chek Lap Kok celebrates its fifth birthday, Kai Tak and the vicinity is preparing for a facelift.