Pressure has mounted on the sit-in organisers since courts cleared the way for bailiffs and police to dismantle some of the protest areas in Admiralty and Mong Kok, and the Bar Association warning that Occupy protesters' defiance of injunctions to clear the streets posed a threat to the rule of law.

The number of occupiers - and their morale - has been falling as Beijing remains unwilling to bend to their core demand - that the public be given a voice in deciding who will be the candidates in the 2017 chief executive election.

Sies Chan Kwan-yin, an occupier in Admiralty, said he would answer the calls of the movement's founders to retreat after they have turned themselves in to the police.

"I am a supporter of Tai's campaign; that is the reason why I came forward in the first place," said Chan, who has been camping at the site for almost two months. "I agree with him that the movement has to end one day, and this is the right time."

But another occupier, Yves Leung, said she would stay put. "The government has not answered our demands and shows no intention of negotiating with the student activists at all. We have to stay to put pressure on the authorities. If we leave now, the whole purpose of the movement would be gone," she said.

Her attitude is matched by that of the student leaders, who say it is "unjustifiable" to retreat as the protests have yet to achieve anything concrete.

The two-month-long occupation may have attracted the world's attention but it has yielded only minor concessions: a government report to Beijing that will reflect the public's sentiments and a platform that would be set up to gauge views on further constitutional changes beyond 2017.

Despite the lack of measurable gains, Chan Kin-man, a sociologist at Chinese University, already has ideas on how to keep the movement alive in the post-occupation era.

Hongkongers have used the occupied sites in Admiralty, Mong Kok and Causeway Bay to project how their ideal society should be - a place where everyone has an equal say, Chan says, adding that the spirit should remain and play a role in district council elections, which have long been dominated by pro-Beijing figures.

"District councils should no longer be only about repairing pipes," he said. "It's time to rejuvenate the councils and let people participate in building our community."

Chan envisions a social charter where different sectors of society voice the values that they think should be upheld from a bottom-up approach. Different groups - designers, environmentalists, students, blue-collar workers and many others - had come together during the protests to voice support for the pro-democracy cause, said Chan, adding that he hoped such alliances would not dissipate with the crowds.

"We should not talk about vague plans anymore. [The different sectors] should also come together and put forward an action plan for their own areas under the charter - and implement it without relying on the government but with the help of civil society," said the sociologist, who predicted that Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying's administration would be a lame-duck government in the coming years.

"That is why [Occupy Central] wants to go beyond the occupied sites. There are so many things we can do that should not be put on hold," he said, adding that all these plans would be announced soon after the trio hand themselves in to police.

Fellow Occupy leader Chu said: "People have started to create fake enemies and have failed to direct their rage towards the real one - Leung - as the campaign has lost its direction. This is the saddest thing to see ... a great movement - which has attracted hundreds of thousands people - wilt in this way."

He saw the upcoming district council elections as one of the ways to fulfil the protesters' slogan - "reseize our future".

Pro-establishment lawmaker Felix Chung Kwok-pan, of the Liberal Party, who once called on the government to make concessions to resolve the impasse, said the city's political landscape had definitely changed over the past 60 days, although the protesters have seemingly won no real concessions from the government.

"From the pro-democracy supporters to those who oppose Occupy … everyone is more aware of politics and has become actively involved in it. They have realised politics is not something distant," said Chung, who represents the textile and garment sector in the legislature.

He said the protest had inevitably posed threats to the city's economy and perhaps shaken the foundation of the rule of law, but he believed the effects "might not be too bad".

While the student leaders have accused the Hong Kong and central governments of "losing a whole generation" in this battle, the prolonged protest has also left society severely divided.

Chan, who specialises in social movements, said the sit-ins had unintentionally strengthened the pro-Beijing factions in Hong Kong, driven people to the radical fringe and marginalised middle-ground pan-democrats such as the Democratic Party.

But he believed the moderate Hongkongers who are now against Occupy would eventually swing back to becoming involved in a push for more progressive politics.

Chan also brushed off the idea that the protests had failed to bear any fruit.

"What the 'umbrella movement' has achieved has already gone beyond anyone's imagination," he said, pointing out that the city's desire for democracy and the principle of non-violent struggle was unprecedented, strong and deep-rooted.

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A cultural studies scholar at Lingnan University, Chen Yun-chung - a key supporter of the protests and the proposed social charter - however, warned that the Occupy trio's retreat at this moment might have an adverse impact on the city's future protest culture.

"Basically we have achieved nothing substantial so far," he said. "Pan-democrats have staged numerous protests before which have proved useless. If we still fail to achieve anything this time with a rally of this scale … protests in the future would no longer be that peaceful."

Lawmaker Chung, however, said he saw signs of a better future for the city because of the protests, a view that puts him at odds with his pro-establishment colleagues.

"To be fair, the quality of this group of youngsters [who are leading the protests] is actually pretty high," he said.

"Hong Kong's future might not be that bad with them around, as long as these students get back on the right path."