SZ HK
Rotating 180 degrees at the border reveals the stark contrast between Shenzhen's urban edge and Hong Kong's natural landscape.
In 2016, Hong Kong’s Frontier Closed Area (FCA) has almost been erased, and with it over two thousand hectares of land have been opened up for future, alternative, uses. The shrinking of the buffer zone and consequent release of land is not simply a question of planning. Originally intended as a political statement of Hong Kong’s physical separation from Mainland China, its current dissolution is the mirror image: a political move indicative of Hong Kong’s closer integration with the People’s Republic of China (PRC). An investigation into the characteristics of the border zone, including the intensity of transactions and people flow that occur across it, and the processes underlying its natural habitat and its spatial occupation, elucidate an understanding of this border zone as a Border Ecology. This is defined as an interwoven set of relationships that emerge as a result of the differences between Hong Kong and Mainland China. This book explores the unique border ecology of this intermediary zone by describing specific narratives and their spatial effects that have evolved over time. By unpeeling the layers of this uncharted territory, we reveal a complex
set of relationships that operate between macropolicies and micro-conditions on the ground. This introductory article describes the broader political, historical, and environmental context of the FCA, defining how this context can be framed conceptually as a border ecology. It outlines a strategic approach to design, proposing insertions within this ecology offering an alternate form of development that is open-ended to adjust to the uncertainty facing Hong Kong in 2047 and beyond.
POLITICAL AWAKENING Since the 1997 handover, Hong Kong and the Mainland have forged a path of structured connectivity. Economic agreements, infrastructure, and easements of visa restrictions have all worked to strengthen the everyday dependence between the two sides. At the same time, the debate regarding Hong Kong’s future relationship with the Mainland is being contested, driven by what some term Hong Kong citizens’ ‘political awakening’. 1 This awakening reflects a process of defining Hong Kong’s post-handover identity.