Hong Kong is best known for its bustling urban centre with soaring skyscrapers, crowded streets and busy roads. But not all residents relish the frenetic pace of life in the heart of the city, longing for an escape from the noise, pollution and lack of space.

Discovery Bay, known as DB, a leafy suburb-by-the-sea, with low-rise housing and a low population density, has long been a favourite location for those seeking a different environment, especially arrivals from overseas. It is a unique part of Hong Kong.

The most striking feature of the upmarket enclave on Lantau Island, since the early 1980s when the first residents moved in, is the ban on private cars and taxis.

This is integral to DB’s identity. Residents get around on shuttle buses or just walk. The wealthier ones, famously, drive golf carts. Licences for them are limited in number and can cost as much as HK$2 million.

To some, it is a weird arrangement. But the ban on private cars and taxis is key to the generally safe, peaceful, family-friendly environment residents have long enjoyed. Now, it might all be about to change. The area’s developer has put forward a plan to lift the restrictions on access by taxis.

Cabs have been allowed entry to the north end of DB since 2014, after driving through a tunnel providing the only road link to the rest of Hong Kong. But they are forbidden from going further. This means the rest of Discovery Bay – almost all of it – remains out of bounds.