Exploring Public Space Infrastructures in the Pearl River Delta

EXPLORING PUBLIC SPACE INFRASTRUCTURES IN THE PEARL RIVER DELTA

Global Intensive Studio Hong Kong, Macau & Shenzhen January 2019

WORKSHOP PROFESSORS: Miodrag Mitrasinovic, Parsons School of Design, The New School Hendrik Tieben, Chinese University of Hong Kong Darren Snow, Chinese University of Hong Kong Nuno Soares, Chinese University of Hong Kong WORKSHOP STUDENTS THE NEW SCHOOL Danni Peng Francesca Cedro Jason Pagan Jennifer Kwan Khadija Munir Mehul Sharma Vivian Lee Youcong Li CHINESE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG CAI Qi GUO Chao HUANG Dawei LIU Chang PENG Pei SHENG Annie (TA) TSUI Wing Lam Phyllis WANG Shaoyi XIONG Niying YE Xi

EXPLORING PUBLIC SPACE INFRASTRUCTURES IN THE PEARL RIVER DELTA This publication documents the work of an international group of students from The New School and the Chinese University of Hong Kong. The initial work was done collaboratively in January 2019, when a group of New School students visited Hong Kong and Macau, and took part in the design workshop at the School of Architecture, Chinese University of Hong Kong.

The workshop focused on the variations of the concept of public space and multiplicities of public spatial practice that have emerged in the context of the Pearl River Delta’s (PRD) rapid urban development in the last forty years. In our visits Hong Kong and Macau, and our travels across the new mobility infrastructure completed with the 55 km-long Zhuhai-Macau-Hong Kong bridge, we observed how public space has been employed as a catalyst for spatial and urban transformations in this largest conurbation in the world, projected to reach eighty million inhabitants by year 2025. We employed public space to frame issues of social inclusion, citizen participation, learning/education and appropriation in the production of everyday urbanism. In both Hong Kong and Macau, we attempted to understand how the complex processes of planetary urbanization affect everyday urbanism and its multiple and complex manifestations. During the 5-day workshop, students developed strategies and scenarios for critical urban transformations in this rapidly evolving context.

The workshop started in Macau on January 11, and continued in Hong Kong through January 17, 2019. After returning from the Pearl River Delta, student teams continued to develop design scenarios proposed in Hong Kong, and also eventually summarized their reflections into this volume. To say the least, working in the face of such degrees of complexity, and at such an enormous scale, was challenging for students.

Particularly because even local experts we worked with seemed confused by the speed of infrastructure development, and the lack of transparency in relation to government’s overall plans for development. All in all, this has been a challenging journey but also a rewarding learning pursuit.

The methodology employed in this studio is transdisciplinary in approach, specifically designed to bring students with different skills, knowledge and backgrounds together into creative design teams, where they collaborate on equal footing in reframing existing challenges and proposing innovative courses of action and urban transformation.

Miodrag Mitrasinovic New York City 8 May 2019

CONTEXT THE IMPACT OF SOCIO-ECONOMIC CHANGES OF HONG KONG SAR ON ITS URBAN FORM AND PUBLIC REALM

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Khadija Munir, Vivian Lee INVISIBLE CITY Francesca Cedro, Mehul Sharma

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REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN Jason Pagan

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MACAU CULTURAL BRIDGE MARKET DESIGN Danni Peng, Youngcou Li

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APPROPRIATION OF PUBLIC SPACE: DOMESTIC WORKERS & PARALLEL TRADERS Jennifer Kwan

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The Impact of Socio-economic Changes of Hong Kong SAR on its Urban Form and Public Realm

APPROPRIATING PUBLIC SPACE

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Khadija Munir Vivian Lee

Abstract This paper contributes to analyzing the complex urban form and the socio-economic conditions that influenced it. Using time, spatial quality and policy into consideration, the paper encompasses a chronological study and analysis of the various types of urban forms, their transition into one another and and ties them together with notion of the loss of public realm.

Taking both horizontal, vertical and volumetric dimension into consideration, this paper provides a perspective to explore the fascinating process of growth and change enfolding in the urban form in hyper-density localities, while keeping the policy and socio-economic factors at the base.

to 6.5 million in the year of the Handover. It allegedly started as the coastal entrepot occupied by British merchant (and opium traders) including Jardine Matheson & Co., and Dent & Co. during the First Opium War, the Treaty of Nanjing was only signed to officiate the occupation of Hong Kong Island as the trading port in the East[1]. Nonetheless, it started the urbanization from the coast and you can still see the 2 sides of Victoria Harbor as the heart of Hong Kong are denser and busier (figure 2).

To What Extent Does the Socio-Economic Changes of Hong Kong relates to Its Urban Form?

In the not-too-long urbanization history of Hong Kong, there have been multiple significant changes, which shifted its production schedule and the social structure of the city. (Not-so) Coincidentally, the city’s urban form had been through multiple stages, from a fishing village to the international financial center of today. In this paper, we will examine the socio-economic changes in Hong Kong and discover its relationship with the shift in urban form in a chronological order, to understand the evolution of one of the highest densities of the world.

General History of Urbanization Around 150 years ago, Hong Kong was a small fishing village on the Southeastern edge of Qing Dynasty (China). The colonization effort of the British Empire led to the exponential growth of population from British Occupation in 1841 of 7450 (figure 1),

Figure 2: Hong Kong Satellite Image

In 2001, the Government established the Urban Renewal Authority as the effort “to undertake encourage, promote and facilitate the regeneration of the older urban areas of Hong Kong”4.

Since then, redevelopment projects has been blooming in Hong Kong, transforming the “older” part of the city that interlaced with local community with new tenants with a different routine, segregating the city.

The Evolving Urban form

Figure 1: Hong Kong 1841 Census

As a vertical and volumetric city, Hong Kong is a combination of hyper density complexity, multifunctional urban space usage and varying building scale. The vertical city of Hong Kong can be traced back to the early 20th century, owing to many factors such as population explosion, regional migration, economic development, hilly and coastal terran and the endless pursuit of affordable living. This research aims to uncover the varying urban forms that have evolved over the course of last century and

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URBAN FORM AND PUBLIC REALM

In the 1940s to 50s, the influx of refugees from China due to Japanese Invasion and political unrest contributed to the huge population growth, their temporary settlement (squatter huts/ shanty town) posted safety hazard to the community, which proved to be true with the 1953 Christmas Day Shek Kip Mei Fire, that led to the launch of the puzblic housing programme[2].

It marked the start of multi-storey building for pure residential use in Hong Kong. The continuing fleeing refugees from China and later Vietnam with the maturing of the result of post-war baby boom in the 1960s led to the second wave of population growth. The land in the “urban area” of Hong Kong, the northern coastal area of Hong Kong Island and the central and western part of Kowloon Peninsula became insufficient to house the ever-growing population despite the continuous effort of raising public housings. Satellite towns closer to the existing “urban area” were developed as the industrial expansion of urban Hong Kong, and New Towns are developed in order to urbanize the rural area in the New Territories of Hong Kong and initiated an effort into creating a self-sustaining community with well-balanced land use.3

Figure 3: Genesis and Evolution of a Vertical City in Hong Kong.

the socio-economic factors influencing them. A chronological study can these categorize it into the regional pre-war building type, Tong Lau, morphing into the cantilevered living quarters in the 1950s, the sloped-setback typology in the 1960s, the block typology in the 1970s, the podium tower typology in the 1980s, the hyper-podium tower in the 1990s, the super high-rise podium tower typology in the 2000s, and the super mega blocks following them, still prevalent today.

Case Studies

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A Chronological analysis is conducted to assess and detail out the evolution of the urban form and the socio-economic factors influencing them.

APPROPRIATING PUBLIC SPACE

1. HISTORICAL REVIEW 1. Regional Pre-war building type (Tong Lau) Essentially a Balcony-type tenement building, Tong lau is a popular representation of Chinese Heritage. It is a mixed-use housing typology, with upper floors of residential use and the street-level portion for commercial use, mostly under use by small-scale businesses such as pawnshops, food vendors and local grocery stores. The hybrid formation, offered great exposure to trade for the passing traffic and pedestrians. Most times, encompassing trade that has been handed down generations after generations.

They would typically vary from 4-6 storeys but in some areas, it would go as high as 12 storeys as well. With narrow frontage, and a deep plan configuration, business would often spill out on the sidewalk, restricting public access. These shop-houses came to be extended horizontally and vertically, and occupied by multiple families when the government imposed strict regulations in 1824, restricting extension at the ground level to the edge of the street, establishing a definitive urban form, that is very typical of Hong Kong today, especially in older districts such as Tsim Sha shui. This developed a notion of public space that, when regulated to ensure its use only for public access,

confronted the regional notions of the ambiguity of urban space for concurrent private and public use.5 Tong lau is often regarded as a living testimony to Hong Kong’s triumphal rise from a backwater colonial entrepôt to a modern international city.6 The hybrid shop-house form, constructed in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, providing cost-effective housing and trading space, it emerged out of Chinese building tradition and colonial building policies. The tong lau constituted contested ideological terrain, embodying multiple meanings and values that continually reshaped investment practices and ongoing urban transformation.7As old buildings “failed” to progress, the old corner Tong lau is now fading away.

Ones still standing are used for residential purpose, serving as an epitome of the unaffordability, wealth gap and housing scarcity of Hong Kong. It is considered an intimate link between architectural representation, politics and socio-economic processes that unfold it. Of the fading Tong Lau, some are slated by the government for redevelopment, but not designated of their grade as a historic site and occupied by residents for lower rents. It is significant of the social reality of a post-colonial city marked with exclusionary spatial practices.

Figure 4. Hong Kong Street in the 1950s with the colonnaded footway visible along the street

Soon, came the notion of a “covered five-metret” public access of way, which tangled with the ambiguity of the urban space for simultaneous public and private use that existed in Hong Kong.

today in Hong Kong which will be discussed later in the paper.

The pressures of a rapidly increasing population and the topologically prescribed shortage of land on which to build, soon meant that the orderly form of the two- or three-storey shophouse was modified to accommodate the extended families as well as. With a 5 metre clearance for public access, a mezzanine floor soon evolved which was used for storage and sleeping.9 As the demand for accommodation continued, long airless corridors were lined with rented beds: this is probably the origin of the cage dwellings that are still to be found in Hong Kong.10 In the later areas, Verandas, colonnades and overhead balconies were extensively built over public sidewalks, until it was later regularized and prohibited, except for the cantilevered balconies, which exist to date. Along this typology, was also the the factor of wet, humid climate of Hong Kong that seeped the risk factor into the daily revenus of these smalls scale businesses.

2. Walled Settlements - Kowloon Walled city

An excellent example of 3-D volumetric circulation, these minimal spaces continued to be transformed in use, from a dormitory to a private residence to tea parlour to a bordello. These ultra-transformations were perhaps possible because of the ever-present urban services, water, school, power, schools, etc.

Electricity was initially taken illegally from the main city supply but after a fire in the 1970s this was regulated and metered, a tacit acknowledgement by both the government of Hong Kong and the inhabitants of the Walled City that not all aspects of urban development could remain unsupervised.13 This distinct spatial development enfolded for a period of twenty years, sometimes, structurally inadequate, held together by support from adjacent buildings. After a tense eviction process, at the time of demolition in March 1993, it was estimated to have 8800 apartments and 1045 commercial use spaces.

This self-sustaining organic mega-structure turned out to encapsulate many characteristics of the modern megastructures

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Figure 5: Adolfo Arranz. City of Anarchy

II. Vertical and Volumetric Moving onto the transition into the vertical and volumetric building typological forms, we will investigate how the ideology of complexes like the Chungking Mansions were deliberately scaled on a neighbourhood level with interiorized streets.

3. The Chungking mansions - Coexistence of Residential and Commercial Built in 1962, the ChungKing mansions are spatially analogous to the kowloon walled city. Known as encompassing a complete city within a building, Existing to this date, it serves multiples use today, ranging from low-budget hostels, residences and commercial spaces, with as many as 4000 people, of different nationalities living there today. In a similar way to Kowloon Walled City, Chungking Mansions have been a centre for drugs and a refuge for petty criminals and illegal immigrants.14 However there is still a significant difference, ChungKing was purpose-built as a city-block size monolith serving as a tasteful residential building and over the course of the forty years, it’s

URBAN FORM AND PUBLIC REALM

Walled villages were common in Hong Kong; it is estimated that twenty-three walled villages existed within the territories’ boundaries prior to the Second World War.11 Also known as Old forms existing in new spaces, Kowloon walled city was a unique example. It was at such a strategic location that it was both inside and outside of Hong Kong at the same time. Underpinned by resilience and growth, it’s a great example of multi-dimensional movement, flexibility and mixed-use. Kowloon Walled City housed 35,000 people on just 2.6 hectares. The intensity of built form, hyper-density and the pressure on the ground space for living and working opportunities was not enough, and with ever appearing extruded structures above, circulation and public space materialized on the higher levels. Resulting in additional movement systems on the higher levels three-dimensional branching streets was gradually created, allowing for multiple accesses at different levels; the boundaries between inside and outside, between one building and another, between private and public became gradually more and more blurred.12 Many times people would just jump from building to another.

No space in the walled city would serve single-use only. It was more than just residences. The idea being that the inhabitants would not have to venture beyond the walled city for fulfillment of any needs.

usage transformed as the real estate value and demand in a different direction grew. It was also equipped with necessary services in compliance with regulations, unlike the walled city.

At the same time, it is a great example of being a place where different cultures co-existed without any tensions.

few connections were among them and each scattered as isolated islands. As to the urban form, most streets still remained its narrow scale, while much higher buildings on both sides of it make people seem as if walking in the shadow of great valley.16 5. New Town Hubs As stated in the first section, in order to cater the need of housing of the growing population, the Government decided to establish New Towns as an effort to urbanize the rural New Territories at the time. They adopted the idea of Ville Contemporaine and Ville Radieuse developed by Le Corbusier, creating vertical architecture to accommodate the population while leaving ample shared open space for a public life, and using different elevations to accommodate different users of the streets as routes to get around (see figure 8).17

Figure 6: Ralf Roletschek. Aerial View of Chungking Mansions

4. H Blocks and Culture of Congestion Post World War II, with the wave of refugees coming into the region, HongKong saw a population growth of as much as 500,000 people annually. As the boundary extents of the city expanded, there was a great demand for housing, public transportation and basic urban services. While urban mobility was improved greatly through extensive infrastructure development, there was less conducive housing development.

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Some of the major urban development challenges during this era included maximizing and adding to the already built up spaces as well as rapid re-development. Most of these additions were illegal, unregularized and posed danger to the inhabitants.

The city spread horizontally as well as vertically. There was a rapid increase in the increase of squatter settlements as well both on vacant land in the city as well as hill slopes. In response to this, the government introduced public housing programmes for the poor, new building codes for additions, redevelopment, which lead to even higher densities and a large-scale resettlement of the squatters.

Figure 8: Le Corbusier, Ville Radieuse

The center of these New Towns usually composited with a complex that combined transportation needs, car parks for commuting, and daily necessities of residents as a hub. Residential buildings are often found above and around the hubs to provide convenience for residents to access to transport to the CBD for work.

Figure 7: Re-Settlement H blocks, with perimeter circulation including ground and ‘sky schools

Analyzing the sectional quality of the hub (Figure 9), we can compare it with the section of the typical Tong Laus. Though the scale of them are drastically different, we have identified that they have a similar section composed of commercial bottom and residential top. However, the access to the residential portion of the mega-block compared with the original volumetric leap from traditional shop houses to “Shopping Mall” typology while tenants can still access their units from street level, this typology separated residents’ access from street level, connecting the lobby of the residential portion with the interior of the commercial base, which is also a representation of internalized streetscape of Hong Kong.

Squatter resettlement introduced new urban and building typologies, in structures that had the same densities as the squatters, but in the outskirts of the city. With as little as 2 metres of land per person, hereon started the era of hyper densities.

During this period, half of the multistory buildings were pulled down with public apartment houses in the shape of H and plates taking its place. This type of buildings varied from 6~20 floors with both great height and mass. Though arrayed in sequence,

The users of the hub are different from shop-houses too. Most people who reside in New Towns are newly-formed families who wanted their own place, in which New Towns provided them affordable choices. They commute to work everyday, which contrasted from the shop-houses model and the initial idea of having self-sustaining New Towns. They have less connection with either community, the working one and living one, while in the shop-houses tenants’ lives are interwoven with since their

Figure 9: Cross Comparison of Building Typologies in Section (Scale 1:2000) in 17” wide paper.

daily lives are within the same community. This uproot of social and cultural attachment demonstrated the first sign of society segregation of the city.

Hubs as “Fulfillment Center” However, due to the change of composition in visitors of Hong Kong, percentage of tourists from Mainland China increased from the 41.2% to 77.7% in 201418 with the establishment of Individual Visit Scheme (IVS) by the China Government towards travelling to Hong Kong and Macau, these hubs, due to their convenience and the trustworthiness of the “Hong Kong” products with a developed system of consumer protection; in which the products were not necessarily manufactured in Hong Kong; became the fulfillment center for Mainland tourists to purchase varieties of products for consumption (figure 10).

Chung East and Tung Chung West with 245 hectares, the estimated population upon the completion of the expansion will hit 268,000 by the end of 202319. It has a hub at the center of Tung Chung that composed with a subway terminal, a shopping mall, hotel and offices above which replaced the residential portion of typical hub typology. It helped to reduce building footprints by stacking vertical towers above horizontal malls. The newly-built Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge that is close to Tung Chung increased and complicated the users of this hub, created some controversies since its opening in October 201820. Given that the expected tourists through the bridge is still below the estimated number, it is safe to expect more conflict once the network becomes more developed in the future.

With this significant shift in the composition of tourists, building form transforms once again, the commercial base grows horizontally, disrupting more of the existing city fabric, and this particular typology is being named as Megablock.

6. Tung Chung New Town 31

Figure 11: A Schematic form of Tung Chung Mall.

Figure 10: A Summary of key findings on Chinese Travellers’ spending habits, from m1nd-set’s Business Intelligence Service.

URBAN FORM AND PUBLIC REALM

Tung Chung was originally developed as a supporting town for the Hong Kong International Airport in Chak Lap Kok as a part of Airport Core Program. Located in North Lantau, its isolation from the urban center of Hong Kong made it only favorable for employees of the Airport and related industries. It was originally planned for a 124,000 population. With the Tung Chung New Town Extension Study that proposed its extension to Tung

7.Megablocks in Newer Developments and Redevelopment Projects

Element - Kowloon Station

The implementation of these New Town hubs completely broke free from the urban streets fabric, with a large base of the hub and residential building above reduced building footprints. And as these new towns grow and merge with the existing urban fabrics, they disrupted the urban fabric and created the edge condition for communities to expand, merge and diversify. In some cases, they also overtake the “older” neighborhood and been replaced by new megablock developments to “maximize land efficiency”.

The original ideology of the shopping mall typology is that it will be a neighborhood scaled, interiorized streets that separate the factor of the wet dumpy tropical climate of Hong Kong that added a factor to the fluctuating daily revenue of business.

However, the reality of is as the typology evolved into hubs, due to its prime location and proximity to neighborhoods, developers imposed higher rent to their rental shop units, that smaller businesses were not able to afford the rent of those. This led to the composition of these hubs and later the Mega blocks, instead of serving only the neighborhood with smaller businesses, it served a larger public with more generalized large-scale enterprises and international branded stores, including H&M, Zara, and Coach, which served less of the specific needs of the neighborhood, no longer caters the ideology of the original intention of the typology. And since more developers tend to adopt the Mega-block typology, identity of different malls became more blended and singular, no longer distinguishable.

APPROPRIATING PUBLIC SPACE

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The users of this typology are mainly tourists, depending on the location of these Mega-blocks. Mega-blocks closer to the border largely caters smugglers that transport formula milk and iPhones across the border couple times per day which would make a better money than getting paid for a day job21.

Mega-blocks closer to the old city and with a developed transportation network caters Mainland tourists that are highly distinguishable with the suitcases that come with them22, which made Mega-blocks sometimes become a controversial typology as it sparked a lot of social issues with the mix of selective local communities with tourists.

Another issue of Megablocks is the inclusivity factor. On one hand, Megablocks are inclusive for everyone to enter, with elevator and disabilities assistive design; on the other hand, the elegantly furnished space might provide a unwelcomed atmosphere for communities that are less privileged, and with the large crowd of Mainland tourists with suitcases, elevators might not always be available for people in need.

Figure 12: Connected super blocks

Figure 13: Element’s location in Kowloon, Highlighted with the massive size as compared with the neighboring urban fabric.

Element above Kowloon Station is one of the greatest example for Megablocks (Figure 13).

It has a total retail floor area of 1,000,000 square feet composed of 3 floors and 1 basement, with the proximity to Kowloon Station which directly linked with the Hong Kong International Airport by subway and the newly built West Kowloon Terminus high-speed rail station that connects Hong Kong with the China high-speed rail network, together with the newly opened Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge, created some controversies with the local community23. And since the West Kowloon Terminus, like the HZM Bridge, has not met its estimated number of users per day yet, it is also safe to expect more conflicts might arise as the Golden Week hits in October.

Internalization of Public Space in Hong Kong Using the extensive analysis on urban form, we now see how the public realm changed over the course of years and the role that the above mentioned urban forms and socio-economic factors had on it. This is imperative because as one of the hyper-dense localities Hong Kong, World’s 4rth highest population density of 16,444 people per square mile, it has been criticized heavily for lack of provision of adequate public and break-out spaces for its residents and tourists alike. In a city with hyper-dense areas, booming population and a high demand of housing, with most private entities controlling public spaces, a critical assessment of the adequacy and spatial quality of these public spaces is very much needed.

Historical overview Until 1842, public gatherings were prohibited to decrease the cantonese cultural influence. After the Treaty of Nanking was signed, and Hong Kong was made a british colony, it was no longer illegal and the residents interacted through religious spaces, cultural celebrations and open street markets. In 1980’s the government had started selling land to private developers, most of which circled any “public spaces” , most of the times the space underneath was sold to large financial institutions while keeping the stipulation that the plaza underneath would still be a public space, but owned privately. With the hyper-density mega blocks, high volumes, the podium and tower typology evolving in the 21st century, now horizontal connections were prioritized. Using pedestrian footbridges, arcades, escalators, elevators, tunnels and podium spaces, users are made to walk through massive vertical spaces with connection above ground.

Many urbanists have been critical of the pedestrian footbridges and passageways, citing that they are not socially neutral, accessible at all times and have a sense of privilege attached to them, depending on the building they exist in.

Figure 14: How the Public space(left) internalized from what it was in the past(right)

The Loss of Public Realm One car-ride through the city can tell you that the street has been handed over to automobile, transportation infrastructures, while pedestrians are made to circulate in higher levels. There exists differential access and closure of public spaces based on their owner. To this day, the older parts of the city have a lively street space, and commercial life spilling onto the sidewalk. A newer scaled-up version of the shop-house, it manages to provide space and respite to the inhabitants living in “cage-dwellings”. On the contrary, the newer types of residential development, the podium + tower typology, mega blocks and newer towns, public spaces are advertised as ‘theme-gardens’, tennis courts and swimming pools, and even ‘country clubs’ with sauna rooms, all built on the expanses of concrete podium between tower buildings.24(See Figure 15 )

Figure 16: Podium and Tower Typology

These facilities are more available to the private housing residents then public-housing tenants. The consumer driven retail design has inverted the streetscape to become internalized and redundant. The public spaces lack character and the urban form is largely driven by a persistent attempt to make the us-

Hong Kong faced extensive development by private entities, was obviously based on their interest and scenario, and hence different in nature from the extensive urban fabric in the city.

The value of the conventional urban fabric lay in the aggregation of various urban elements. It brought about in the city diversity, complexity, inconsistency, and so on. Contrarily, the manufactured built environment by private developers did not allow the organic built environment to come about. It basically replaced those characteristics with more organized clarity, amenity, convenience, and so on.26 When some problems were identified in the manufactured built environment, they were basically resolved by the modification of scenarios. If it was necessary to have ‘shock’ or ‘entertainment’ in order to avoid the boredom in the manufactured built environment, such images were provided by the means of visual stimulations, just like a theme park.27 (POPS)Privately-owned public spaces Shaped by the underlying policy, POPS was introduced so developers would seek the bonus incentive in high dense areas and would in turn address the shortage of the public space in Hong Kong and stimulate the notion of social responsibility in private development. The policy was insufficient in the manner that it defined only the major purpose, “Provide and maintain public space in return of certain benefits”, instead of defining the spatial quality and use-purposes. This resulted in spaces reaching only the minimum requirements, According to the current statistics (HKSARG, 2008), around 70% of the POPS have a size less than 50 square metres.28 Lack of enforcement, specification, regulation and evaluation resulted in most of the private developers providing POPS only as public corridors or left-over space, fulfilling the minimum spatial requirements but gaining the same benefits in return. The circulation spaces may serve for the busy pedestrian traffic in high dense areas, but they are unable to relieve the demands of public spaces in the city.29 It soon became evident that POPS were mostly just connecting different properties at higher levels, especially prevalent in Central and Sheung Wan. In rare cases, large spaces can be found serving as some leisure green spaces. One such example is the Time Square owned by the Wharf Property Ltd. Redeveloped from a former tramway depot, it was built as a major shopping mall. The public space provided in the Time Square is located at the corner of Russell Street and Matheson Road and acts as a node of the pedestrian network connecting different directions with the covered corridor and the linkage with the Causeway Bay MTR station.30 Open, easily accessible and of a generous square footage, the plaza becomes a meeting point, where people can pass, through,

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Figure 15: Podium and towers show a Quantam change in size

ers walk through entire malls to reach something as necessary as an MTR station. the number of footbridges in the city, show how the urban form design is more car-centric then pedestrian friendly, coming as a surprise in a place where automobile ownership is not very high. It is quite obvious that the public realm, and the right of a citizen to a free, accessible and usable public space was not taken into consideration. The current urban form evolution is a result of private real-estate development, encompassing the benefits that a private entity would seek to maximize and hence resulting in less walkable built environment and a reduced public realm and the privatization of public spaces to produce POPS(Privately-owned public spaces).

gather and sit in the dense urban condition in the area. Considering the rarity of such space, it is an important space for Cultural activities, exhibitions, events and celebrations. However, it lacks enough soft landscape and seating for the vast amount of public that visits the space daily. There are recent debates on the inappropriate management of this POPS. The corporations prevented people from sitting or performing in the space, which weakens its publicness of the space31. Nonetheless, compared to the examples discussed earlier, it demonstrates a better spatial design and responds to the urban context.

Transportation Infrastructures As the MTR network matured and became the most used form of transportation in the city. Coupled with the prevalent mega-block and podium and tower typology, the pedestrian network was elevated in most places and separated from the vehicular traffic on ground. This ensured safe commuting environment for people to travel between their home, public facilities, and the MTR station. While it benefited the residents with the good connection between their home and the other facilities, it also benefited the property developers because it brought the flow of people to their podium shopping malls, and distanced them even more from the ground and the outsides.

The integration of the pedestrian network with commercial, communal, and transport facilities at the core area of the local block created an internalized neighbourhood center, which revolved around propagating commercial interests.

Conclusion: Impact of Changing Urban forms and loss of public space A deeper analysis of the urban form analysis reveals that the the communal public spaces designed by district planners in disap-

peared in the models of the latter stages. Second, a new means of independent and inclusive large housing estate was adopted by district planners for developing new areas and towns. This transformation was supported by several factors including the emergence of a new lifestyle with individual’s car ownership, the emergence of a middle-class population who demanded the better quality of living environment with various recreational facilities, and the invention of efficient and rational means of housing production32.

Critics blame this transformation for the disconnection of communal public spaces to the surrounding individual buildings, as independent housing estates begin to appear. These large complexes contained quasi-public communal spaces in them and hence restricted access to the general public, also releasing the building from the surrounding forces of the community that could have influenced them. Hence, the form came to be shaped by demands instead of context. With the changing socio-economic context, the residents expected certain facilities to be provided in the housing complexes. In the scale of a building block, vertical separation of a building into the podium structure of non-domestic use and the towers of domestic use became the principle of built form33.

The new form of public realm is tied together with the popular culture, capitalist endeavors and entertainment. It seeks to provide a controlled, clean, secure and a planned city experience.

The private large-scale and master-planned estates played an important role in the history of Hong Kong’s urban development and benefited the city in many ways. But, there are also criticisms for this urban model because it did not generate urban authenticity and the true public realm due to its narrowly defined development objectives.

References

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[6] “The Tong Lau and the Discourse of the “Chinese House”.” Accessed April 16, 2019. https://hub.hku.hk/bitstream/10722/182156/1/Content.pdf.

[7] “The Tong Lau and the Discourse of the “Chinese House”.” Accessed April 16, 2019. https://hub.hku.hk/bitstream/10722/182156/1/Content.pdf.

[8] Justyna Karakiewicz et al., The Making of Hong Kong: From Vertical to Volumet ric (Routledge, 2013).

[9] Justyna Karakiewicz et al., The Making of Hong Kong: From Vertical to Volumetric (Routledge, 2013).

[10] Justyna Karakiewicz et al., The Making of Hong Kong: From Vertical to Volumetric (Routledge, 2013).

[11] James Hayes. South China village culture. Oxford University Press, 2001.

[12] Justyna Karakiewicz et al., The Making of Hong Kong: From Vertical to Volumetric (Routledge, 2013).

[13] Justyna Karakiewicz et al., The Making of Hong Kong: From Vertical to Volumetric (Routledge, 2013).

[14] Sau-Him Paul Lau, and Chor-Yiu Sin. “Public infrastructure and economic growth: time‐series properties and evidence.” Economic Record 73, no. 221 (1997): 125-135.

[15] Justyna Karakiewicz et al., The Making of Hong Kong: From Vertical to Volumetric (Routledge, 2013).

[16] Zhang, Yuan. “Analysis on Urban Form and Evolution Mechanism of High-Density City: Case Study of Hong Kong.” World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology, International Journal of Civil, Environmental, Structural, Construction and Architectural Engineering 11, no. 6 (2017): 783-789.

[17] Phoebe Crisman, “Transcultural Hybrid: Emergence of a Hong Kong Housing Typology”. Semantic Scholar. Accessed April 18, 2019. https://pdfs.semanticscholar. org/6788/feae949fc89405d3c4dede3e8b6f29df19a1.pdf.

[18] Bruce Prideaux, Tony Tse. “Growth of Chinese Tourists to Hong Kong, China, 2002 to 2014”. Knowledge Network Issues Paper Series, Vol. 1, Issue 1 (2015): 17. Accessed April 20 2019. https://www.e-unwto.org/doi/pdf/10.18111/knips.2015.1.1.1.

[19] Civil Engineering and Development Department. “New Towns, New Development Areas and Urban Developments”. Hong Kong: The Facts. May 2016. Accessed

April 20 2019. https://www.gov.hk/en/about/abouthk/factsheets/docs/towns&urban_developments.pdf.

[20] Phila Siu, “Mainland Chinese visitors drive Hong Kong’s tourist numbers to record high of 65.1 million”. South China Morning Post. January 31 2019. Accessed April 20 2019. https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/2184378/tourist-figures-hong-kong-reached-new-high-2018-651.

[21] Chauncey Jung. “Once Border, Two Prices: How Hong Kong Nurtures an Underground Smuggling Economy”. Pandaily. March 22, 2019. Accessed April 22, 2019. https://pandaily.com/one-border-two-prices-how-hong-kong-nurtures-an-underground-smuggling-economy/.

[22] Lana Lam. “Love them or loathe them, Hong Kong still a haven for the wheeled suitcase”. South China Morning Post. November 30, 2014. Accessed April 22, 2019. https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1652006/hong-kong-still-havenwheeled-suitcases-despite-rumoured-venice-ban.

[23] Phila Siu, “Hong Kong residents fed up with influx of mainland Chinese tourists call on government to stop them visiting more than once a month”. South China Morning Post. January 13 2019. Accessed April 20 2019. https://www.scmp.com/ news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/2181895/hong-kong-residents-fedinflux-chinese-tourists.

[24] Mar, Phillip. “Accommodating Places: a migrant ethnography of two cities (Hong Kong and Sydney).” (2002).

[25] Justyna Karakiewicz et al., The Making of Hong Kong: From Vertical to Volumetric (Routledge, 2013).

[26] Fujimori, Ryo. “Evolution of urban form in Hong Kong: a study of development controls and high-density housing models.” HKU Theses Online (HKUTO) (2015).

[27] Fujimori, Ryo. “Evolution of urban form in Hong Kong: a study of development controls and high-density housing models.” HKU Theses Online (HKUTO) (2015).

[28] Luk, W. L. “Privately owned public space in Hong Kong and New York: The urban and spatial influence of the policy.” In The 4th International Conference of the International Forum on Urbanism (IFoU), pp. 26-28. 2009.

[29] Luk, W. L. “Privately owned public space in Hong Kong and New York: The urban and spatial influence of the policy.” In The 4th International Conference of the International Forum on Urbanism (IFoU), pp. 26-28. 2009.

[30] Luk, W. L. “Privately owned public space in Hong Kong and New York: The urban and spatial influence of the policy.” In The 4th International Conference of the International Forum on Urbanism (IFoU), pp. 26-28. 2009.

[31] Luk, W. L. “Privately owned public space in Hong Kong and New York: The urban and spatial influence of the policy.” In The 4th International Conference of the International Forum on Urbanism (IFoU), pp. 26-28. 2009.

[32] Fujimori, Ryo. “Evolution of urban form in Hong Kong: a study of development controls and high-density housing models.” HKU Theses Online (HKUTO) (2015).

[33] Fujimori, Ryo. “Evolution of urban form in Hong Kong: a study of development controls and high-density housing models.” HKU Theses Online (HKUTO) (2015).

invisible city

35

INVISIBLE CITY

Mehul Sharma Francesca Cedro

Introduction Traveling West across the Pearl River Delta from Hong Kong, off the southern coast of China lies the island of Macau. Originally settled by the Han Dynasty, the territory was leased by the Ming Dynasty to colonial Portuguese rule in 1557. Established as a trading post between East and West governed by the Chinese, Macau became an official Portuguese colony after Portugal was given perpetual occupation rights in 1887. During the time between 1887 and 1999—when the territory would return under Chinese control as a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), Portuguese presence was articulated physically through architectural and urban form. This formal language combined with existing Chinese culture, produced a complex culture of duality that was simultaneously united and divided. The complexity of Macau’s cultural landscape is reflected in the names of its urban elements. The names of streets chart the city’s urban and economic development over time.

As Macau grew formally it also great geographically through land reclamations. These reclamations are markers by streets named for beaches from the original Portuguese settlement; there are names “…of fortresses no longer in existence (Travessa do Bom Jesus, Estrada de Sao Francisco)…of businesses no longer in operation (Patio dos Cules, ‘Coolie Place,’ marking the center of the human trafficking industry in the nineteenth century; Rua de Felicidade, ‘Happiness Street’, the red light district; Rua dos Arma-

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zens, ‘Warehouse Street’; ‘Beco do Sapato, ‘Shoe Lane’) and of communities that no longer inhabit them (Ramal dos Mouros, ‘Moors’ Extension’; Estrada dos Parses, ‘Parsee Road’).”1 Filled with an overwhelming number of small winding streets, named for Portuguese figures with at least four or five names— each used for at least two other lanes, alleyways or squares in a different part of town, navigation in Macau is confusing for non-Portuguese speakers. Translated to Chinese, these names are even more confusing and become long meaningless syllables or entirely different names. For the latter there is nothing Portuguese about them, encouraging—intentionally or not, the inhabitation of two different cities with further sub stories within one urban fabric. To make meaning out of the nonsense natives of Macau move throughout the city with little relation to street names. Instead they orient themselves with landmarks and individual markers. These markers are exemplified in empirical research of Cathryn Clayton: “at the bus stop in front of the Times Building,” “by the fountain,” across the street from the phone company,” “next to the McDonald’s,” “up from the Dom Bosco School,” “down from the Tap Seat field,” “under the cow,” “Three Lamps” (a neighborhood named for the presence of a lamppost positioned at its center). 2 Asking someone for directions transcends cartography and is solely dependent on the way a person inhabits their social space; the act itself is a process of socialization.

Proposal At present there is ambiguity in belonging among the Macanese locals who feel they are neither Portuguese nor Chinese.

This situation is further complicated by the large influx of mainland Chinese, who know little about Macau’s rich history, and tourists who are attracted to the privileges of the SAR and its liberalized casino industry. Macau’s more recent urban transformations have catered exclusively to the needs of tourists, framing the city in the context of a touristic enterprise.

Giving primacy to the perceptions of tourists has excluded local populations from reaping the benefits of current city development, jeopardizing their sense of ownership over their city.

As Keith Basso writes, “whenever members of a community speak about their landscape—whenever they name it, or classify it, or tell stories about it—they unthinkingly represent it in ways that are compatible with shared understandings of how, in the fullest sense, they know themselves to occupy it.” 3 This proposal aims to capture this occupation through the charting of local landmarks combined with stories, to produce a collective mental map of an otherwise invisible dimension of Macau.

By creating interactive panels spread out across the city, this proposal empowers the residents of Macau to share their understanding of their environment with other locals and foreigners alike. Residents are encouraged to leverage their perspectives through one digital system as a map of their own.

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INVISIBLE CITY

References [1] Cathryn Clayton, Sovereignty at the Edge, (Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 2010) 188.

[2] Clayton, Sovereignty, 193-194.

[3] Keith Basso, Speaking with Names, (Cultural Anthropology), 101

Map of Macau The panels also display a smaller map of the autonomous region.

Header Each panel consists of a header that reflects the location. The headers consists of 3 parts: - The location name (often an object of significance in the Macanese Culture) - The area - A pictoral representation of the object.

Points of interest The default screen of the map highlights buildings or areas that are often pinned by users.

Nearby areas

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Filters

The panel also directs users to important locations in the vicinity.

中文

Interactive Map The interactive map allows the users to navigate and orient themselves.

The map also allows users to create “paths” by connecting various locations.

Português

English

The map also allows the users to filter their journey.

The initial intention for creating the filters was purely utilitarian, however, after some brainstorming, we wanted the filters to allow the users to be immersed in the stories that are woven into the culture of Macau.

Analyzing the social fabric of Macau, we felt the need to have a language filter in the design proposal.

Currently the panel will have three languages: Cantonese, Portuguese and English.

THE PRECEDENTS

Margaret Calvert and Jock Kinnier

New York Subway Signages

British Typographers and Designers, together they designed most of the roadsigns that are used in the United Kingdom today.

The standards manual, designed by Bob Noorda and Massimo Vignelli in the late 1960s highlighted the legibility of different fonts, colors, placements and the heirarchy of information.

These pictograms, created more than 5 decades ago, are known for their ease of understanding.

Their system has become a model for modern road signages.

The signages are essential tools that simplify navigation for millions of New Yorkers to this date

39

LinkNYC

The Hong Kong MTR has a fascinating design language and navigation system and is often considered to be the gold standard for transit management worldwide.

An infrastructure project in New York City that aims to provide public internet utility to a network covering several cities with advertising services.

The navigation system includes a lot of different colors and gradients to assist travellers in identifying different stations and overcome langauge barriers.

Often used to display advertisements, the screens also display real time bus and subway arrival information by using data provided by MTA.

INVISIBLE CITY

Hong Kong MTR

Legible London Before this project, London had more than 32 navigational systems. This led to confusion, mistrust, visual noise and a negative impact on overall walkability.

By creating a unified navigational system, Legible London proves to be a reliable source of coordinated information that has significantly inreased pedestrian walkability in the city.

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Sample Maps - Legible London The navigational system is a series of static maps that display locations of interest that are walkable from the location. The design language uses muted colors to depict the map with a vibrant yellow to highlight building of interest.

Adaptation of Legible London in Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong While the navigational system proved to be viable in London, we were curious about how it might manifest in a major city in China. Surprisingly, the project has been adopted in Tsim Sha Tsui, a popular shopping and nightlife district in Kowloon, Hong Kong.

Regional Development Plan

41

REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN

Jason Pagan

On January 26, 2015, the World Bank’s report announced that China’s Pearl River Delta region has surpassed Tokyo as the world largest urban area in both size and population. The region saw 200 million people move into the urban areas of East Asia, a calculation that the World Bank stated would make it the sixth most populous urban region in the world, larger than Argentina, Australia, Canada, and Malaysia1. Chinese government sees the region as an essential piece of the “Belt and Road Initiative” and has taken several developmental measures in the area to ensure its economic prosperity. In 2016, as part of their 13th Five-Year Plan, the government renamed the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Bay Area into the Greater Bay Area2.

This paper will discuss multiple regional development plans for the Greater Bay Area as well as the suitability of the proposed measures.

The Greater Bay Area is composed of nine cities as well as Special Administrative Regions (SAR) of Hong Kong and Macao.

The river delta itself is formed by three rivers: Xi Jiang, Bei Jiang, and Dong Jiang. The Xi Jiang and Bei Jiang rivers flow into the South China Sea. In the 1980s’ the Chinese government made the region into the Pearl River Delta Special Economic Zone (SEZ) as a means to attract foreign investments, and subsequently gave more powers to Guangdong province over its taxes, wages, finance, and resource allocation. These additional powers, together with its geographic location and access to South China Sea, helped turn the region into a successful man-

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ufacturing and trading hub3. Currently, the region is undergoing another massive change as it moves away from labor-intensive manufacturing to high-tech innovation, as each city develops a different type of specialization. Hong Kong is the financial hub, Macao has become an entertainment center, Shenzhen focuses on new technologies and innovation, and the cities of Foshan and Dongguan are home for the regions’ manufacturing industry. Development of specializations has increased both competition and cooperation within the region.

It makes sense for the Chinese government to pour resources into the development of the Greater Bay Area as the 2016 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the region was RMB 9.35 trillion (US$1.38 trillion), with the expected increase to US$4.62 trillion by 20304. The graph below shows the individual GDP and population sizes in the select cities: with these numbers we can see why each city is essential for the success of the overall region.

The overall goal of the Chinese government is to turn the area into the “Factory of the World”, and make it a hub of innovation and services that rivals Silicon Valley. It goes without saying that above development-related decisions are made top-down in Beijing, and involve neither local political constituencies nor individual citizens.

Five-Year Plan (FYP) is a method of development first made famous by Joseph Stalin in the Soviet Union5. With such plans, socialist states create development goals that fully govern politi-

cal, economic and social life. Centrally planned economies, like those found in China, operate with the principle that all means of production belong to the people, and some to the State, and as such have embedded the best interest of the people. There is no reason for any other mechanism, including the market, to additionally regulate public goods. China’s first FYP took place between 1953-57, the current and 13th five-year plan designed for 2016-20. Since the 1990s though, FYP have evolved to become roadmaps to central government priorities for government officials allowing them to maintain some flexibility in their decision6. The 13th plan has five key themes: innovation, coordinated development, green growth, openness, and inclusive growth. The key difference in this plan is China’s willingness to let the markets play a role in progress, as well of the idea of “openness.” China’s willingness to open up its economy is due to the need for foreign investment, the Belt and Road Initiative, and the role of the Greater Bay Area in the initiative.

The Belt and Road Initiative is an effort led by the Chinese government in order to improve international cooperation and connectivity. The initiative looks to strengthen links between China and 65 other countries through infrastructure, trade, and investment7. The Greater Bay is an essential piece of New Maritime Silk Road as it connects China to the nations of Southeast Asia, the Gulf Countries, North Africa, and Europe. In order for any of this to be successful, the region must first be ready to meet the challenge. China’s 13th FYP, Macau’ 2016-20 Development Plan, and Greater Bay Development Plan have been developed without any input from the general public. In what follows, I will examine three development project of the Greater Bay Plan: Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge, the Guangzhou Hong Kong High-Speed Railway, and the Shenzhen-Zhongshan corridor.

The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge was completed in February of 2018, with public crossing beginning in October of the same year. The 36 km bridge is the world’s longest sea-crossing connection, joining the cities of Hong Kong with Zhuhai and Macau. Initially, the project had a budget estimate of US$9.7 billion, but the final cost of the bridge was US$20 billion.8 The funding of the project was divided between the governments of mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau. As we crossed the bridge in January 2019, while it impressed us as a outstanding work of engineering, we only saw a few passengers crossing it.

It is important to point out that both Hong Kong and Macau are SARs thus making crossing complex because of their immigration and customs are separate from the mainland China. The bridge has two ports of immigration entries, and both require passports to cross. Residents using private cars for crossing are required a special government permit to cross, as well as high annual fees in order to use the bridge. This led us to ask: who was this bridge constructed for? The immigration zone in Hong Kong at Tung Chang is massive and complex, also due to its links to the Hong Kong international airport. The national and regional governments are evidently expecting massive flows of people, and obviously foreigners and wealthy local residents than regular locals residents. Some authors point out that the bridge is just another tool for the mainland government to force its political agenda onto the region, and hence they call it a “visible umbilical cord”9 connecting the special administrative regions to the mainland. For other like Wong Kwok-kin, an executive councillor from Hong Kong called the bridge “a bond between Hong Kong, Macau and other Guangdong cities. It is a symbol of the Greater Bay Area”10, a symbol that can unite China.

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REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN

The next project that is vital for both the Greater Bay and Belt Road Initiative is the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong expresses rail link which opened to public in September 2018. The project connects Hong Kong with the mainland’s high-speed rail system allowing riders to arrive to Guangzhou in an hour.

The cost of the 26km rail project rests around US$10.8 billion which the Hong Kong Free Press labels as “the most expensive rail line on a per-kilometre basis in the world”11. Chinese government’s hope is that shorter travel time will further increase Hong Kong’s influence as an international logistics hub, an objective vital for the success of both the Greater Bay and the Belt Road Initiative. In terms of development, the rail project was an unpopular in Hong Kong as local residents complained about the forced displacement of people, and also due to the growing fear of the increasing influence of the mainland government over Hong Kong. One obvious change was when Hong Kong gave up its jurisdiction over immigration at the port entry to the mainland officials. Has this project been sustainable in the long run? We go back to the question from before, who was this railway constructed for? It certainly appears that the project was implemented for the economic benefit of mainland China.

The third project in the Greater Bay plan is the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Corridor which is currently under construction with an expected finish date of 2024. The corridor design includes eightlane highway (meant cut down travel time between regions by 30 minutes), sea crossing bridge, underwater tunnel and artificial islands. The project has faced opposition mostly from Hong Kong as the placement of the new corridor isn’t that from the now existing Hong Kong-Macau-Zhuhai bridge. Besides, officials from Hong Kong fear it will cause the Hong Kong-Macau bridge bridge to lose traffic12. The idea that new connectivities would re-start rapid economic development in the region has so

far not materialized. Overall, this bridge is part of the government’s vision to create a strong symbolic sense of integration between the cities in the Greater Bay Area.

Will these projects bring real economic prosperity to the region? That depends on upon success of Belt and Road initiative and the continued cooperation between the different actors in the area. On April 26, 2019, Chinese President Xi Jinping, amidst criticism, during the second Belt and Road Forum spoke to reporters about the benefits of the initiative and tried to ease fears that the massive infrastructure projects are saddling poorer countries with an increasing amount of unpayable debt for political leverage. In 2018, we saw the government of Sri Lanka handed over of the strategically Hambantota to the Chinese state-owned company for debt relief, a port that was paid for in part by Chinese loans13. For many countries, these loans are worth it as the Chinese are the only game in town as the United States under president Trump have favor more isolationist policies. For Hong Kong citizens living in the Greater Bay, the Belt and Road initiative for them another is just another attempt by Beijing to control their freedom14.

The question I was trying to answer in this paper and the goal of any economic development is will the lives of people living here improve? I do not believe top-down planning is the way that development should handle and not sustainable in the long run.

Sustainable development should include communication with everyone parties, and that involves the locals. The government and local plans usually do not align, the Chinese government, Xi Jinping plan is global economic dominance. Will the Greater Bay Area become the next Silicon Valley, only time will tell as the region continue to grow.

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References [1] “East Asia’s Changing Urban Landscape: Measuring a Decade of Spatial Growth.”

World Bank. January 26, 2015. Accessed April 14, 2019. http://www.worldbank. org/en/topic/urbandevelopment/publication/east-asias-changing-urban-land scape-measuring-a-decade-of-spatial-growth.

[2] “Beijing to Make Plans for Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Bay Area This Year.” Beijing to Make Plans for Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Bay Area This Year. April 13, 2017. Accessed April 14, 2019. http://english.gov.cn/news/top_ news/2017/04/13/content_281475625476729.htm.

[3] Fuller, Ed. “China’s Crown Jewel: The Pearl River Delta.” Forbes. October 03, 2017.

Accessed April 14, 2019. https://www.forbes.com/sites/edfuller/2017/10/02/ chinas-crown-jewel-the-pearl-river-delta/#3dd145d50479.

[4] Preen, Mark. “The Greater Bay Area Plan - Integrating Hong Kong, Macau, Guangdong.” China Briefing News. March 19, 2019. Accessed April 15, 2019. https://www.china-briefing.com/news/the-greater-bay-area-plan-china/.

[5] Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Five-Year Plans.” Encyclopædia Britan nica. April 26, 2018. Accessed April 26, 2019. https://www.britannica.com/topic/ Five-Year-Plans.

[6]Koleski, Katherine. The 13th Five-Year Plan. Report. U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission. February 14, 2017. Accessed April 14, 2019. https:// www.uscc.gov/sites/default/files/Research/The 13th Five-Year Plan_Final_2.14.17 _Updated (002).pdf.

[7] Freund, Caroline, and Michele Ruta. “Belt and Road Initiative.” World Bank. March 29, 2018. Accessed April 14, 2019. https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/region al-integration/brief/belt-and-road-initiative.

[8] Shush, He. “The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge: 8 Key Facts.” The Telegraph.

November 05, 2018. Accessed April 15, 2019. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/ news/world/china-watch/technology/hong-kong-zhuhai-macao-bridge-keyfacts/.

[9] Cyrill, Melissa. “Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge: Key to Greater Bay Area Integration.” China Briefing News. October 31, 2018. Accessed April 15, 2019. https://www.china-briefing.com/news/hong-kong-zhuhai-macau-bridge-main land-connectivity-greater-bay-area-integration/ [10] Chung, Kimmy. “Ahead of Grand Opening, Trade and Tourism Sectors Eye Bumper Bridge Boost.” South China Morning Post. October 22, 2018. Accessed April 26, 2019. https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/transport/article/2169710/ hong-kong-zhuhai-macau-bridge-offers-opportunities-trade.

[11] Cheng, Kris. “Cost Overruns and Constitutional Debate: Hong Kong’s Controversial

Express Rail Link, Explained.” Hong Kong Free Press. September 23, 2018. Accessed

April 15, 2019. https://www.hongkongfp.com/2018/09/23/cost-overruns-constitu tional-debate-hong-kongs-controversial-express-rail-link-explained/.

[12] Mo, Zhou. “Tunnel Construction Signals New Phase in Bridge Project.” China

Daily. September 04, 2018. Accessed April 15, 2019. http://www.chinadaily.com. cn/a/201809/04/WS5b8ddeaaa310add14f3896aa.html.

[13] Westcott, Ben, and Nanlin Fang. “China’s Billion-dollar Belt and Road Party: Who’s

in and Who’s out.” CNN. April 26, 2019. Accessed April 26, 2019. https://www.cnn. com/2019/04/26/asia/belt-and-road-summit-beijing-intl/index.html.

[14] Huang, Claire. “Xi Jinping Declares Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge Open.” The

Straits Times. October 25, 2018. Accessed April 26, 2019. https://www.straitstimes.

com/asia/east-asia/xi-jinping-declares-hong-kong-zhuhai-macau-bridge-open .

Macau Cultural Bridge Market Design

45

MACAU CULTURAL BRIDGE MARKET DESIGN

Danni Peng Youngcou Li

BACKGROUND Macau is one of the special administrative regions located on the western side of the Republic of China. Along with Hong Kong, they each operate based on separate legal, administrative, and judicial systems from the rest of the country.1 It was previously colonized and governed by Portugal since the mid-16 century and turned over to China in 1999. 1 Since Britain occupied Hong Kong in 1841 and Macau slowly lost its competitiveness in trade and manufacturing industries, the Portuguese government made the gambling industry legal in Macau in 1844, and the city soon became known as the “Monte Carlo of the East.”2 Until now, it is still the only city in China where casinos and pari-mutuel gambling are legalized.2 After centuries of cultural exchange and fusion, Macau has become a unique city with diverse ethnicities, cultures, and religions.3 However, due to its heavy focus on the gambling industry, Macau is currently experiencing severe economic and development imbalance, especially in its upper and lower regions.4 The upper region, also known as the old town, is where historical architectures, markets, and residential areas are located, whereas the lower region is occupied by the world’s largest casinos along with luxury hotels and shopping malls.4 According to statistics, around 70% of visitors visit Macau for gambling, and only 30% go there to sightsee.3 The old town slowly lost its cultural advantage as an increasing number of visitors choose casinos and the lower area of Macau as their travel destinations. Yet, the uniqueness of cultures and histories is what makes Macau irreplaceable in the Asian-Pacific region.

This project focuses on imagining alternative futures of Macau and aims to open up new possibilities in repositioning Macau as a Capital of Culture and exploiting its cultural advantage.

OPPORTUNITY Since Macau is a coastal city, the local government is planning to build a seawall after experiencing typhoon and severe flood-

ing issues. The wall will be placed in the harbor area in the old town (Figure 1). However, this proposal was pushed back by the general public because there is a lack of long-term planning and the seawall doesn’t fundamentally resolve the issue. Some designers argue, instead of building a wall, the Macau government should consider working collaboratively with the city next door—Zhuhai. Building a dam that connects the harbor areas of both cities will be the most efficient way of preventing floods and other potential natural hazards. Additionally, by connecting two cities, it will enable new opportunities in economic cooperation and cultural exchange. Although this proposal is not feasible at this point because of separated governments and legal systems in the two cities, it does provide a new perspective of addressing environmental, economic, and cultural challenges in Macau.

Our future scenario building and designs are based on what happens if there is a dam connecting Zhuhai and Macau. Since the dam is located beside the historical old town in Macau, we want to take the geographic benefit of the dam to direct more people to explore the unique local cultural heritage in Macau.

Currently, the majority of visitors will travel directly to casinos in the lower part of Macau. We imagine the dam can be built in various physical structures to give visitor other travel options (Figure 2). Therefore, the dam takes the physical form of a bridge to connect two cities. International visitors and visitors from mainland China can choose to travel directly from Zhuhai to Macau through this bridge. In order to attract more people to visit the upper area, we think it is important to let people experience the highlights of Macau’s diverse culture before entering Macau.

Below the bridge, there will be a public market featuring local craft-makers, artists, designers, and peddler selling traditional local goods. Once people experience the local culture while crossing the bridge, they can either choose to visit the historical old town of Macau to experience its cultures more in depth, or travel to the lower part of Macau for the gambling experience.

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MACAU UPPER AREA (HISTORICAL AREA)

PROPOSED SEAWALL LOCATION

MACAU LOWER AREA

ZHUHAI (THE NEARBY CITY)

Figure 1: Coastal Map of Macau and Zhuhai

CASINOS

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Figure 2: Cultural Bridge Market Design

THE CULTURAL BRIDGE MARKET DESIGN The bridge market is separated into 2 main stack physical structures, and is designed based on the two potential routes that people may take while passing the bridge (Figure 3). For those who hope to experience the cultural heritage before entering Macau, they can choose to enter through the bottom yellow highway. For those who only want to pass through the bridge, the upper grey highway serves as an express highway.

The oval shape of the market allows cars and visitors to enter and exit freely.

In terms of the placement and the distribution of the market’s recreational facilities, we intentionally placed the parking lot in the center of the marketplace, surrounding the cultural center.

The cultural center will be where cultural events are held, and it will also be the first stop of the visit. Once visitors experience highlights of local cultures, they can explore more of the surrounding galleries, restaurants, and shops. We also considered potential events that could be held at the bridge market, and created an event guide based on seasons, local festivals, and existing events (Figure 4).

Bridge Market Restaurants and Markets Galleries Vendors and Shops Cultural Center Parking Area

Figure 3: Cultural Bridge Market Physical Structure Design

MACAU CULTURAL BRIDGE MARKET DESIGN

Upper Bridge

47

Lion Dance Festival

Artist and Flea Market

Macau Drama Performance

Music Performance + Book Fair

International Firework Festival

Artist and Flea Market

JANUARY

MARCH

MAY

JULY

SEPTEMBER

NOVEMBER

FEBRUARY

APRIL

International Cultural Exhibition:

Artist and Flea Market

*Portugal Bullfight, handicraft art

JUNE

AUGUST

OCTOBER

DECEMBER

Portuguese Culture Festival

International Movie Festival

Macau Music Festival

Macau Photography Exhibition

*dragon boat race, art, food & more!

EVENT GUIDE FOR MACAU CULTURAL BRIDGE MARKET *Based on Instituto Cultural de Macau Figure 4: Event Guide for Macau Cultural Bridge Market

POLICY AND EXPERIENCE DESIGN

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We also propose a series of policy changes around this design proposal to create a smoother and more convenient travel experience. Since Macau and mainland China have different legal, administrative, and judicial systems, both visitors and local residents from mainland China and Macau have to use a passport to enter and exit Macau. Personal verification is necessary, but this step of checking passport multiple times makes the general travel experience inconvenient, especially when we consider the distance between Macau and Zhuhai is only 8.7 km. If there is going to be a bridge/dam between Macau and Zhuhai, it means that both local governments must have reached some degree of consensus to work collaboratively to simplify the customs

process. We suggest there will be three different types of bridge passes, which include business, resident, and traveler passes, that allow residents and visitors to access the bridge multiple times without carrying their passports (Figure 5). The application process is simple. For local residents from Macau and the mainland, they can use their ID and valid employment letters to apply for a resident or a business pass that will last for 6 months to a year. For international travelers, they can apply for a traveler pass for 7 days with their passports once they land in Zhuhai or Macau.

FIGURE 5

LOCAl RESIDENTS FROM MACAU AND ZHUHAI

INTERNATIONAL TRVALERS

BRIDGE PASS

BRIDGE PASS

BRIDGE PASS

通行证

通行证

通行证

Valid from 2.27.2019 - 2.27.2024

Valid from 2.27.2019 - 8.27.2019

Valid from 2.27.2019 - 2.27.2024

Business Pass unlimited all-day pass

Resident Pass unlimited all-day within 6 months

Traveler Pass unlimited all-day within 7 days

Figure 5: Bridge Pass Design for Macau Cultural Bridge Market

REFLECTION The Macau trip evoked mixed emotions as we explored two economically imbalanced and highly contrasted areas in Macau.

Being raised in mainland China, we both found ourselves feeling nostalgic in the historical area since the architecture style and the neighborhoods reminded us about where we grew up.

The cage extension on the residential windows, vendors on the street, and fish markets, all these little familiar details brought us a sense of home. However, these places in our memories are mostly replaced by high-rise buildings. In some ways, it is a trip to the home that doesn’t exist anymore.

The lower area is luxurious and glorious, mostly occupied by the casinos and shopping malls. Interestingly, the designs of casinos have very little connection to the regional historical architectural styles. The Venetian Macao and The Parisian Macao, for example, are both constructed based on the iconic Venetian and Paris landmarks. Walking inside both casinos almost felt like traveling in different countries. The recreation of landmark and exotic traveling experience made us question what is originality in an increasingly globalized and urbanized world. Highrise modern buildings are another example of the recreation of design and urban travel experience, since they have replaced a lot of traditional buildings in mainland China.

Traveling from China to North America and other countries, we see high-rise buildings as one common language that ties people from various places and cultures together. However, this common language somehow flattens our perception of the world as high-rise buildings become almost too dominating in urban areas. Cities develop so fast in a way that we almost don’t know what to hold on to. Therefore, we want to use this design proposal as a way to preserve what matters to us—which are the historical traces that record hundreds of years of cultural exchange and colonization in Macau. The proposal is also a metaphor for the desire for preserving our own distinct cultural

identities under the influence of globalization and migration.

Another intriguing moment throughout the field trip was observing and understanding new urban behaviors. Both Macau and Hong Kong are small and highly densified regions, therefore, this relatively extreme living condition brings social phenomena that are rarely seen in other cities. One notable detail is that a lot of people in downtown HongKong travel with a carry-on suitcase. After talking to local residents, we found out that these people are mainland Chinese travelers. Due to the high living expense in HongKong, mainland travelers rarely stay over night. Instead, they travel to Hong Kong to take advantage of its zero tax policy and purchase luxury products. In this case, an empty carry-on suitcase becomes a means of transportation for carrying luxury products and crossing regions with different administrative, government, and legal systems. This phenomenon even becomes a new business opportunity for residents from both Hong Kong and Mainland China to earn from selling products with price differences. We were both fascinated by this new behavior and the new layer of cultural significance of suitcases in this scenario. Although we haven’t thought about how to use design to meet this growing trend and its potential needs, we do think cultural preservation should consider both local historical aspects and new urban behaviors.\ The trip ended up by watching the expansion of modified landscape and new construction sites on the way to the airport. Over time, people modify the landscape little by little. The changes people make is eventually reflected on their lifestyles and everyday moments. The beauty of urban design is its complexity and relativity because people are simultaneously shaped by what they built, created, and visited.

It is quiet poetic and beautiful to think of city, space, and people this way.

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References [1] Kenton, Will. “Special Administrative Region (SAR).” Investopedia. April 08, 2019. Accessed March 25, 2019. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/ special-administrative-region.asp.

[2]“History of Macau as a Portuguese Colony.” Yesterday’s Shadow. August 23, 2014. Accessed March 21, 2019. https://yesterdaysshadow.wordpress.com/ history-of-macau-as-a-portuguese-colony/.

[3]“A Discussion on Building Macau’s City Identity ” Welcome - Instituto Cultural De Governo Da R.A.E De Macau. Accessed May 03, 2019. http://www.icm.gov. mo/rc/viewer/a/656.

[4]“History of Macau as a Portuguese Colony.” Yesterday’s Shadow. August 23, 2014.

Accessed May 03, 2019. https://yesterdaysshadow.wordpress.com/history-of-ma cau-as-a-portuguese-colony/.

Appropriation of Public Space: Domestic Workers & Parallel Traders

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Jennifer Kwan

There is a very popular video on YouTube talking about cage homes in Hong Kong by Johnny Wharris from Vox Boarders.

Wharris mentioned housing prices in Hong Kong in 2018 was almost 20 times higher than median household income. A huge number of residents, who couldn’t afford a living space, have to squeeze into a “home” which was even smaller than a parking space in the U.S. Land and housing in Hong Kong is definitely compared to gold. The government of Hong Kong has full control of the land use. Their interest is usually focused on the real estate developers but the local residents. Land use for the community versus economic development is always in an unbalanced situation.1 Under this big picture, public space in Hong Kong is extremely valuable because private space (affordable housing) is not even enough in the first place.

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) defines public space as an area or a place that is open and accessible to all people, regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, age or socio-economic level. Public gathering spaces such as plazas, squares and parks; connecting spaces including sidewalks and streets are also considered as public spaces. To put it simply, a well-designed and maintained public space is the foundation of a health city. Social mixing, civic participation and recreation in a public space could help develop a sense of belonging for people in the community. A successful public space should be able to bring diverse populations in the city together. UNESCO also suggests having daily events, seasonal or annual fairs in public space can diversify and harmonize different communities in one place.2

The followings are my observations, research and study, and suggestions joining the students of Chinese University of Hong Kong in January this year.

To begin with the foreign domestic helpers, according to the Census and Statistics Department in Hong Kong, there are more than 370,000 foreign domestic helpers in 2018. The Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand are among the top three countries which have contributed the most foreign labor force to Hong Kong for decades.3 I was born and raised in Hong Kong. Jèhjè means an older sister in Cantonese. I can’t recall since when, Jèhjè has also become the title for migrant domestic workers in Hong Kong. We believe calling them sisters sounds more respectful and intimate because workers can also refer to servants in Cantonese. This beloved title; nevertheless, doesn’t mean that they are treated with respect and justice in some cases. High living costs, minimum wage compensation and live-in requirement are the major reasons why domestic helpers can only afford to spend their Sundays, the only day off each week, in public spaces. When we are bothered by their communities blocking the

street or occupied all the shared facilities on Sundays, have we ever considered what other choices these Jèhjè actually have?

These 370,000 domestic helpers are all subject to the live-in requirement by the government since April 2003, in order to prevent them jostling with local domestic helpers for part-time work.4 This policy, claimed by the workers and labor rights activists, has put the helpers in a vulnerable situation where they could be easily exploited or abused. “When I signed [the] contract, it seemed like I was also signing a verdict admitting I will be in prison for two years.” said Grace Estrada, the chairperson of the Progressive Labor Union of Domestic Helpers. It sounds ironic but being in prison could even be better than living in with their employers because there is time to rest in jail. According to an interview from the South China Morning Post (SCMP), a number of helpers were suffered from long working hours, lack of sleep and proper sleeping place, and poor diet under the livein contract. A lot of employers wouldn’t honor the contract but assume the helpers to be 24 hours on call to take care of their families. Even on Sunday, their only rest day, some employers would impose a curfew regulating the helpers to be home at a certain time; while the others were asked to finish duties so that they could head out, mentioned by Liza Marcelino, one of the interviewees.5 Indeed, domestic helpers truly understand not all employers can afford them to live outside. With the almost 380,000 migrant workers of various nationalities, finding a living place for each one is an extremely tough job in an exorbitant property market.

What these helpers hope is an option to live on their own if their employers could afford or willing to provide a more desirable living condition for their helpers, emphasized by Estrada.5

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Public space in Hong Kong is in fact poorly designed or inefficiently managed. During our trip to this affluent international city in Asia, we’ve observed so much tensions about the right use of public space between various communities. There were two huge groups, foreign domestic workers, and mainland visitors or parallel traders, seemed to occupy public spaces in an irritating way. Domestic workers; however, only gathered in large groups on Sundays. Since visa restriction is liberalized by both Hong Kong and Central Governments, overcrowding by mainland visitors and parallel traders in public space has been a problematic issue in the past 15 years. This issue is perennial which Hong Kong government should really try to listen what the society needs rather than just focus on building a rocketing economy.

So where do these helpers go and how they spend their Sundays? Central and Causeway Bay in Hong Kong Island are the two major hang-out spots for foreign domestic helpers. Once we arrived the concourse of the Central MTR Station, tens of thousands of international people, who were mainly from Southeast Asia, gathered in groups and headed out to the public spaces in the neighborhood like Charter Garden, Statue Square or the headquarters of HSBC. Central is also known as the CBD of Hong Kong. The area is comparatively empty after business hours during the weekend. Public spaces in Central have become the gathering locations for domestic helpers every Sunday not only because of their income and budget, but also considering the availability of community support like congregational service, postal service and remittance.

380,000 of people is definitely not a small number. The huge population has turned the public space into little trading posts, a flea market, a community and entertainment center. From what we saw, they had set up an organized system from sending goods or money to setting up a comfortable personal zone for enjoying the day. Early in the morning, a few cargo trucks had already occupied the passenger loading zone next to the MTR station. Helpers, who waited in line, were all carrying gallon size checkered storage bags. They handed them over to the drivers who were in charge of these “trading posts.” Statue Square and Charter Garden have been turned into a flea market where they could find from clothes to gadgets. Some of them took the spot at Starbucks to set up their own make-up station. Domestic helpers had also turned HSBC into an imaginative lawn. Under its significant elevated entrance, each group of helpers set up

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their own seating booth by taping up carboards to create a divider. This setting was seen in both large area public spaces and circulations like on a connecting bridge between two buildings.

They all had a wonderful time catching up, sharing their food, singing songs or dancing with their communities.

Moving onto another issue. Hong Kong was handed over to China in 1997, after 156 years ruled by the British. The blue flag was down and the red one now flutters in the breeze, Hong Kong and China have never been that closely connected ever since. The Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) was launched in 2003, after the super-spreader of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS.) CEPA is the first free trade agreement between the Central Government and Hong Kong. Under the policy, entrepreneurs in Hong Kong could gain greater access to the market in mainland; at the same time, mainland would be mutually benefited from reaching out to the global market through Hong Kong, one of the world’s financial capitals since 80s.6 CEPA has also loosen the restriction of visitors from China to Hong Kong on July 28 the same year. Residents who have permanent household registration in the listed 49 cities are eligible to apply for the relevant exit endorsement from relevant mainland authorities.

The endorsement has granted them traveling to Hong Kong individually but not in tour groups once every three months or twice a year. The permit holder can stay up to 7 days each visit but there is no endorsement renewal limit.7 CEPA has helped Hong Kong’s economy to recover in the aftermath of SARS. Economy boosted immediately but it also

overcrowded this teeny-tiny city, which was 110 times smaller than New York. Here are some numbers from World Tourism Organization (UNWTO.) From 2002 to 2014, the total number of visitors traveling to Hong Kong escalated from 16.6 million to 60.8 million. An annual growth rate was 10.4 percent. In these 12 years, tourists from mainland China raised from 6.8 million to 47.2 million, which was equal to an average annual growth rate of 17.5%.8 In March 2018, Hong Kong Tourism Board received 4.99 million visitors of that month. Three quarters of them, 3.66 million, were from mainland China. Comparing with March 2017, the number of mainland tourists has jumped 10.1 percent.9 Tourists from China; however, would usually come to Hong Kong just for a day. They prefer not to stay overnight because of the expensive rate, said by Si-wing Yiu, the tourism sector legislator.9 More often, shopping for designer products and daily necessities is the main goal of their visits. Food and product safety, and copyright infringement are problematic issues in China since ages ago. Food safety is questionable for residents in mainland after the baby formula scandal in 2008. Chinese food safety officials confiscated 64 tons of raw dairy materials contaminated with melamine, a toxic industrial chemical that could cause kidney stones and kidney failure. Infant formula with the use of melamine had killed 6 babies and made 300,000 of them ill. Melamine was found in the products of 22 dairy companies in various cities in 2008, which meant one out of every five supplies in mainland China.10 Overcrowding in public spaces is subjected to all these scandals

in mainland China. Since there is a huge demand of daily necessities like baby formula, over-the-counter medication, beauty products, and luxury goods from mainland consumers, stores in each neighborhood have been replaced by chained pharmacies, jewelry and designer stores. In order to buy in bulk, individual tourists would walk with suitcases in the city. Tens of thousands of suitcases have occupied and swiveled on sidewalks.

This situation happens every single day in all areas, from commercial districts like Causeway Bay, Tsim Sha Tsui, and Mong Kok to residential areas like Sheung Shui, Tuen Mun and Yuen Long. These residential districts are affected the most because they are very close to the checkpoints that separate Hong Kong and China. Relatively low transportation cost has attracted mainland residents to come visit back-to-back.

Immense demand of daily necessities has also created another problem—parallel trading. In fact, parallel trading is a euphemism of smuggling. Parallel traders import non-counterfeit products without the permissions of the intellectual property owners so that they can avoid paying tariff and benefit from it. Other than the Individual Visit Scheme, Chinese government has granted more mainland residents an Exit-Entry Permit (EEP) these days, which allows them to enter Hong Kong and Macau multiples times a day because of business or visiting their families. Numerous Mainlanders have taken the advantage of the EEP to engage in parallel trading. Sidewalks, plazas or gardens next to the shopping malls are now loading zones for parallel traders. Once they step out of the stores, they would immediately remove all the packages and squeeze everything into their luggage. Packages or boxes are left on the streets where

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no one would care if it’s going to affect the traffic or serenity of the neighborhood. Irresponsible business owners would also invade public space for their product showcase. Long queues for transportation, food or services happening in public space has become very common due to escalating visitors and parallel traders.

As someone who grew up in Sheung Shui, seeing how the city has changed throughout the past 10 years is nostalgic and crestfallen. My family moved to Sheung Shui when I was 6 years old. It used to be a peaceful town where there were only small local businesses like stationery shops, cha chaan teng (a Hong Kong-style café,) grocery stores and old-style Shanghainese hair salons serving local residents. The neighborhood rarely changed during my childhood. Local businesses were usually run for decades and owners would pass down to their next generation. Walking on the streets was relaxed and joyful. We could recognize our friends and neighbors in the sharing spaces. Now, so many districts or towns in Hong Kong have been turned into commercial hubs where people come and go. Pubic space is full of strangers who would never want to know anyone or the culture of a community. Lacking of dynamic between you and me is impossible to develop a sense of belonging at one place.

Again, economic development or meeting the community needs? Hong Kong government has well-observed the tensions in the society even before the Umbrella Movement in 2014. Public space should be reserved and efficiently designed for social

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mixing and interaction, relaxation and recreation. There needs to be a clear boarder to divide community space and commercial use.

In the end of the workshop, we came up with the following ideas trying to improve the tranquility of the public space. Our goal is to promote a more diverse and harmonious society and help solve overcrowding issue in public space.

To improve social mixing, alienating or pushing domestic workers out of the public space is inappropriate or it’ll create more dissension in the end. The labor force contributed by them through decades is highly recognized. Without their help, lots of parents couldn’t go to work and provide financial stability for their families. This could also turn out hurting Hong Kong’s economy. To respect of their hard work, we believe some community centers could be open for them on Sundays. Local charities can also work with their unions. Low rent for a gathering space could possibly happen. Another suggestion would be having domestic workers to join voluntary work so that they can rent a space for free; at the same time, it is a mean to give back to the society. Our team has also created some modular seating booths and a service kit for domestic workers to spend their day in public space. An inclusive approach is the key to keep Hong Kong continuing to present itself as a friendly international city.

In March this year, there has been already a city’s art community, Hong Kong Ballet, providing free pop-up ballet performance in Statue Square, in order to support domestic workers and

highlight their lives.11 This has set up a significant example to influence more similar local communities to help support domestic workers in Hong Kong.

Overcrowding issue; nevertheless, seems to be a more complicated issue because it has involved politics. Besides of examining the existing visa system, we believe Hong Kong government could utilize technology more broadly—encouraging online business. There could be pick up points set up at the boarders for the mainland individual travelers. Developing a shopping mall close to the boarder could effectively reduce the populations going to the residential areas. However, the design, transportation and management of the mall is crucial. The Boxes Mall in San Tin could have been successful if there was a more thoughtful and intricate system connecting the mall and the boarder. Program and cultural studies are extremely important when choosing the location or in the schematic design phase. The Boxes Mall now is basically empty because no one visits.12 It revealed to us that there has been lacking of comprehensive planning or consultation when Hong Kong government made their decision.

Going back to Wharris’s video, the two experts he interviewed, Paul Zimmerman from Designing Hong Kong and John Wright, Friends of Sai Kung, both pointed out there has been land management issues in Hong Kong. Land is either inefficiently used or badly managed.13 If land use is still totally determined by the market, public space would always be just a platform for trading. Community is never going to be benefited from it.

References [1] Vox, J. W. (2018, August 15). Inside Hong Kong’s Cage Homes. Retrieved April 29, 2019, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLrFyjGZ9NU [2] Prideaux, Bruce & Tse Tony. World Tourism Organization. “Growth of Chinese Tourists to Hong Kong, China 2002 to 2014.” January 1, 2015. Accessed 29 April, 2019. https://www.e-unwto.org/doi/pdf/10.18111/knips.2015.1.1.1 [3] Census and Statistics Department. “Foreign Domestic Helpers by Nationality and Sex.” July 26, 2018. Accessed April 29, 2019. https://www.censtatd.gov.hk/ hkstat/sub/gender/labour_force/ [4] Siu, Jasmine. South China Morning Post. “Why Foreign Domestic Helpers in Hong Kong Must Live in Their Employers’ Home.” February, 14, 2018. Accessed April 29, 2019. https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/community/article/2133377/ why-hong-kong-wants-foreign-domestic-helpers-live-their [5] Siu, Jasmine. South China Morning Post. “Hong Kong’s Domestic Workers Share Stories of Ill-treatment, Poor Living Conditions and Rights Abuses.” February 15, 2018. Accessed April 29, 2019. https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/com munity/article/2133421/hong-kongs-domestic-workers-share-stories-ill-treat ment [6] Trade and Industry Department. “Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA).” March 1, 2019. Accessed April 29,2019. https://www.tid.gov.hk/english/cepa/cepa_overview.html [7] Tourism Commission. “Individual Visit Scheme.” January 14, 2019. Accessed April 29, 2019. https://www.tourism.gov.hk/english/visitors/visitors_ind.html [8] Prideaux, Bruce & Tse Tony. World Tourism Organization. “Growth of Chinese Tourists to Hong Kong, China 2002 to 2014.” January 1, 2015. Accessed April 29, 2019. https://www.e-unwto.org/doi/pdf/10.18111/knips.2015.1.1.1 [9] Kang Chung, Ng. South China Morning Post. “Hong Kong Visitor Numbers Continue to Rise, with 5 Million Tourists in March.” April 30, 2018. Accessed April 29, 2019. https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/arti cle/2144090/hong-kong-visitor-numbers-continue-rise-5-million [10] BBC News Asia Pacific. “China Dairy Products Found Tainted with Melamine.”

July 9, 2010. Accessed April 29, 2019. https://www.bbc.com/news/10565838 [11] Knott, Kylie. South China Morning Post. “Domestic Helpers in Hong Kong Applaud Arts Outreach and Seize Chance to Show Their Creativity.” April 7, 2019. Accessed April 29, 2019. https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/ article/3004798/domestic-helpers-getting-boost-hong-kongs-arts-community [12] Yau, Cannix. South China Morning Post. “Hong Kong Shopping Centre The Boxes Racks Up HK$18 million in Losses as Operator Awaits Land-Use Permit Renew al.” Sept 5, 2018. Accessed April 29, 2019. https://www.scmp.com/news/hong kong/hong-kong-economy/article/2162845/losing-hk18-million-launch-hong kong-shopping [13] Vox, J. W. (2018, August 15). Inside Hong Kong’s Cage Homes. Retrieved April 29, 2019, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLrFyjGZ9NU

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EXPLORING PUBLIC SPACE INFRASTRUCTURES IN THE PEARL RIVER DELTA