From Roof To Ground: Rethinking Habitat Via Roofscape Design. Part 1 - Research

From Roof To Ground 從屋頂到地面

Part 1 RESEARCH

OUVER

2

RTURE

3

Politecnico di Torino Facoltà di Architettura Corso di Laurea Magistrale in Architettura Costruzione Città Academic Year: 2016-2017

Master’s Degree Thesis

From Roof To Ground

rethinking habitat via roofscape design

Candidates Carlo Alberto Monteverde Giorgio Salza

Supervisor Mauro Berta Co-Supervisor Francesca Frassoldati External Supervisor Peter Ferretto CHINESE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG

從屋頂到地面

From Roof To Ground rethinking habitat via roofscape design

The production of a roof or its image seems to be preliminary condition for stimulating and provoking encounters between people, as if these few signs were enough to evoke the notion of inhabiting. nArchitects

INDEX site

86

COMMUNITY GLOBAL CITIES

16 17

TWO MODELS 20

Endless Cities

22

Bounded Cities

26 HYPER-DENSITY 26

76

90

DENCITY

92

SOCIAL DEBATE

46 48

HONG KONG: RENEWAL BETWEEN REVITALIZATION AND GENTRIFICATION

100 104 107

52 IN BETWEEN SPACES

108

A COMPARISON BETWEEN THREE MAIN PACIFIC METROPOLIS

52

HONG KONG’S CANIONS

27

HISTORY AND ECONOMIC GROWTH

57

STREETS

30

POPULATION GROWTH AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

60

STREETS: WORKERS SUNDAY GATHERINGS

114

62

ROOFTOP COMMUNITIES

115

32 34 36 38

TIMELINE

109 110

116

RENEWAL CASES

66

120

LANDS OF RECLAMATIONS

66

MONG KOK AND LANGHAM PLACE

124

67

WEDDING CARD STREET

138

68

FUTURE SCENARIOS

LANDS OF RECLAMATIONS

ROOFTOP AS EVOLUTION OF THE PUBLIC SPHERE

PA RT I

experiment KOWLOON CITY CBD2

260

KAI-TAK

GENTRIFICATION DEBATE IN KCD

Methodology

MA TAU KOK INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUND

ARRIVAL DISTRICT

CHANGES AFTER KAI TAK CLOSING

160 PRE-CONDITIONS 160

ROOFSCAPE: AN INTERNATIONAL OPEN DEBATE

161

STARTING FROM THE CURRENT SITUATION

THE NEW MTR STATION

162

MTR STATION AN ENTREPRENEURIAL DISTRICT

THE PUBLIC SPACE DEBATE Official public spaces Informal public spaces

MA TAU KOK PEOPLE

Rooftop settlements’ community sphere

176

Rooftop gardening

190

Rooftop playground

200

APPLICATION

214

ANALYSIS

252

MASTERPLAN

5 STREETS

260

BACKGROUND

268

DIMENSION AND ROOFSHAPE

270

USERS: INTERVIEWS

272

POTENTIALS

272

NEIGHBOURHOOD

274

PROJECT

274

CONCEPT

286

WATER SYSTEM

288

VEGETATION SYSTEM

290

COMMUNITY HUBS

292

HUBS TYPOLOGIES

THE MAGIC CARPET OF HENDRICK TIEBEN

298 CONCLUSIONS 300

REFERENCES

INTRODUCTION

It was 2009 when Portrait From Above, edited

by Rufina Wu and Stefan Canahm, came out, revealing throughout the world the existence of “another” Hong Kong built above the city itself.

Informal communities rose more than 50 years ago above high rise buildings and, as the author refers, in her publication these settlements look like rural villages on the top of other buildings (Wu, 2009).

In this historical period of abrupt growth of the cities, with globalized networks of human settlements and infrastructural configurations (Brenner, 2014), this kind of architecture is the answer to the overpriced cost of dwellings of the city. Most of all, what is interesting, it’s the human natural propensity to set up communities even on a strange location as a roof.

This unique and bizarre urban development inspired this research, that aims to find new solutions for an alternative development of hyper-dense cities, using roofs as new ground

10

0 for the urban community growth. Thinking of a roof as a new habitat for the public sphere (Fraser,1993). That’s a step forward compared to what we expected to find. We were looking for the reason behind, we found, intrinsically, a way forward another kind of development.

Therefore, this thesis started from a deep analysis of how globalization influenced the urban development of the main cities of the world, focussing on three Asian trade ports, including Hong Kong, who are continuously re-shaping themselves due to unceasing immigrants flows and business investments.

In particular Hong Kong, at the center of the debate on urban development, it’s a mixture of top-down planning and bottom-up informal activities(Frampton, 2010), that unfortunately is facing a series of redevelopments of historical urban areas that are increasing gentrification at the expense of community heritage. Wedding Card Street and Langham Place are some cases that influenced this debate.

Despite these events, community is constantly re-shaping its boundaries, finding always unexpected developing solutions. You can understand a lot of Hong Kong people by looking at the use of residual spaces as sidewalks, causeways, high rise buildings canyons and, obviously roofs. These spaces are the soul of the public sphere and sense of community in Hong Kong. Between these solutions, roofs are those having a better outlook for future. In a future of increased building density, the current ground floor, concerned as base of the ordinary urban experiences,(Crawford, 2008) could be shift on above high-rise buildings, opening to an innovative and alternative urban vertical expansion.

Consequently, the research concentrates on Kowloon City District, in East Hong Kong, where one of the most radical urban renewal projects of the city is under development: the Second Central Business District of Hong Kong. Beside this top-down process, in the same district, is located one of the poorest workingclass neighborhood of the city, Ma Tau Kok. This area is an arrival station for immigrants and it is well-known for the presence of several informal settlements on roofs of old buildings, disparate ex-industries and for the lack of community gathering places. Thanks to its industrial background, this area is full of

massive buildings with unused large flat roofs, that have been field for our rooftop community habitat.

Following a deep study of social needs, through interviews with population and local NGO’s, we defined, as urban planning methodology, a matrix of functions, starting from users requested goals and desirable scenarios.

Throughout this methodology, linked to the analysis of each building of the area, regarding users, neighborhood, roof shape and potentials, we projected the community spaces of each roof in Ma Tau Kok. Reconnecting to the research start point, the thesis ends with a detailed study of the roof vertical expansion of the “5 streets” rooftop informal village. Our project aims to find a solution to improve inhabitants lifestyle and community public sphere, through innovative entrepreneurial solutions.

This thesis aims to criticize the usual top-down urban planning of such a global city as Hong Kong. We propose a bottom-up solution, starting from population needs and cultural heritage of the city.

We introduce a community-based program for future urban redevelopments. We introduce maximum use of buildings, converting roofs to innovative community hubs. Our aim is to move from Roof to Ground…

11

DENCITY

BOUNDED CITY The Bounded City is a city typology whose growth increased intensifying the constructed land ENDLESS CITY The Endless City is a city typology whose growth increased in extension.

GLOBAL CITY An urban centre that enjoys significant competitive advantages and that serves as a hub within a globalized economic system.

GLOBALIZATION The worldwide movement toward economic, financial, trade, and communications integration.

Globalization implies the opening of local and nationalistic perspectives to a broader outlook of source: Oxford Dictionary * source: Cambridge Dictionary

an interconnected and interdependent world with free transfer of capital, goods, and services across national frontiers.

HYPER-DENSITY A city that has an overall density that exceed 5000 inhabitants per Km2 density sufficient to support subways as density above 30 units/acre RECLAMATION LAND* land that was under the sea or was in a very poor condition, but has been improved so that it can be used for farming or building on SPRAWL The disorganized and unattractive expansion of an urban or industrial area into the adjoining countryside.

GLOBAL CITIES A main character of this research is the city and its transformation.

As explained by the United Nation statistics, nowadays 54% of the world’s population lives in urban areas, and it will increase of 12% before 2050. We are living one of the greatest migration phases of all times, that would re-shape cultural boundaries, borrowing them. People searching for employment opportunities, political and economic stability move to richest urban areas.

In some cases metropolis dramatically grow because of their economic and politic influence on world economy. As S. Sassen reveals in Cities In A World Economy and in The Global City, due to the ascendance of information technologies and the liquidity of capital1, the social and political dimension, meet the economic, cultural and development one. In this context we see re-shaping territorial boundaries, from national to global. Global cities are subject of several re-

16

searches and in many cases the results, shown by various theorists2, flow in the sterilization of the cultural heritage. The global city, according to Brenner, associates process of profit-driven urbanization to the re-shaping of urban spaces, sterilizing the vibrance of the street life.

The urban development of many cities depends mainly on business factors, so the politics give more attention on these than on people necessities. For example one of those business factors is tourism.

Tourism has become an important and significant business component of most large cities3.

The tourism sector, regarding global cities, is under uninterrupted growth. According to the “Global Report on City Tourism” the number of international tourists arrivals increased from 277 million in 1980, to 983 million in 2011 and it will expand of 3,3% each year until 2030. In the global exports ranking it’s the fourth category after fuel, chemicals, food4. As

1. Sassen S., The Global City: introducing a Concept, from Brown Journal of World Affairs, 2005.

2. See Brenner, N., Cities For People, Not For Profit : Critical Urban Theory And The Right To The City, London, 2012.

3. Law C. M., Urban Tourism: The Visitor Economy and the Growth of Large Cities, London, Continuum, 2002.

a result, cities are constantly changing in order to facilitate the increasing demand, providing even better services, leisures, experiences. The transformation of the cities, brings vitalism and dynamism but, at the same time destroys the cultural heritage and community life. A huge literature has been expounded by sociologist and anthropologists about this issue. The anthropologist F. La Cecla, in Against Urbanism, openly denounces the role of the urbanist, as fundamental character related to urban development, for increasing inadequate responses to the daily realities, responsible, together with the government of replacing cultural heritage with anachronistic and sterile architecture. According to M. Sorkin, we live in the era of “the end of Public Space�5: the globalized urban planning focus the development on gentrified shopping areas, shopping malls and other leisure zones, destroying local markets and traditional activities.

TWO MODELS The overcrowding of cities forced the reshaping of urban spaces. How cities developed is one of the main issues that governments, developers, mayors, planners, architects, sociologists and urban geographers had to face. Principally the expansion or densification depends on territorial and political factors. Some of them are known for the extensive growth, the endless cities, others for the intensive growth, the Bounded cities. We selected these two models because of their extreme nature of expansion, from horizontal to vertical.

4. UNWTO data, Madrid, <www2.unwto.org/publication/ unwto-annual-report-2012>, 2012 [last retrieved: 2017-0615].

5. Sorkin M., Variation On A Theme Park: The New American City And The End Of Public Space, New York, 1990.

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NEW YORK GLOBAL CITY INFLUENCE ON WORLD ECONOMY CHART

TOKYO HONG KON DUBAI BEIJING SY

CHICAGO MUMBAI MACAO MILAN MOSCO TORONTO LOS ANGELES MADRID MEXIC SEOUL

JOHANNESBURG

WASHINGTON DUSSELDORF BEIRUT

MELOBOURNE

MONTREAL

LUXEMBOURG

MONTEVIDEO

BUENOS

ROME

MINNEAPOLIS

NEW

HAMBURG

GUANGZHOU

NICOSIA

HO

SAN

MIAMI

HOUSTON

CARACAS

DHABI

VIENNA

DELHI

MANILA

SEATTLE

ABU

AIRES

BERLIN

CHI

FRANCIS

BARCELONA ATHENS

MINH

CITY

BIRMINGHAM

RIO

TEL

AVI

AUCKLAND DE

JA

BRATISLAVA PORT LOUIS CASABLANCA MANAMA STUTTGART SOFIA COLOGNE ST LOUIS HELS GLASGOW VALENCIA

NAIROBI KANSAS

BRISTOL CITY

HANOI

PHOENIX

CINCINNATI

ALMATY

CHARLOTTE

GUADALAJARA

LYON

ANTWERP QUITO

SAINT

DOHA

LAHORE

PETERSBURG

BALTIMORE

LEEDS

SANTO

JEDD

DOMIN

TALLIN PUNE PORTO PORTO ALEGRE ORLANDO GOTHENBURG MARSEILLE OTTAWA COLOMBO LJUBJANA TEGUCIGALPA RICHMOND IS

K LONDON GLOBALIZATION AND WORLD CITY DATA

NG PARIS SHANGAI YDNEY SINGAPORE

OW SAO PAULO FRANKFURT BRUSSELS CO CITY AMSTERDAM KUALA LUMPUR

SCO

A

INSTANBUL BANGKOK

IV

BANGALORE OSLO

ANEIRO

KIEV

JAKARTA

BOSTON COPENHAGEN

CHENNAI

BRISBANE

ZURICH

DUBLIN CAIRO

BUCHAREST

GENEVA

BOGOTA

WARSAW TAIPEI

CALCUTTA

MUNICH

VANCOUVER

MANCHESTER

KARACHI

DETROIT

PRAGUE

STOCKHOLM

BUDAPEST LIMA

DENVER

ATLANTA

GUATEMALA

CAPE

TOWN

MONTERREY

CITY RYADH OSAKA

SINKI PANAMA CITY SAN DIEGO LAGOS PERTH SHENZHEN CLEVELAND SAN JUAN CALGARY

DAH

EDINBURGH

NGO

SAN

AMMAN

SALVADOR

HYDERBAD

VILNIUS

ZAGREB

ROTTERDAM

TAMPA

ADELAIDE COLUMBUS

KUWAIT

PORTLAND

INDIANAPOLIS

BELGRADE

PITTSBURGH

SAN

EDMONTON

JOSE

RIGA

GEORGETOWN

SLAMABAD MUSCAT DURBAN AUSTIN BELFAST GUYAQUIL NAGOYA TURIN SOUTHAMPTON MILWAKEE WELLINGTON CURTIBA ACCRA

GLOBAL CITIES

Endless Cities The Endless City is a city model whose growth increased in extension. This term was coined by R. Burdett6, who made a deep survey, composed of several essays of different authors, on urban growth and expansion of last decades. Burdett, regarding Mexico City urban growth, refers “sprawl stretches endlessly to the horizon”.

The Endless City is usually characterized by the unplanned development of the suburbs, strong slum presence, extremely high land-use, but low-density. Mumbai, Mexico City, Sao Paolo are endless cities.

These cities are all in developing countries and they are, unfortunately, known for ethnic and economic fragmentation. For example, Mumbai is the second economic pole of India and it has the biggest informal settlement of the world, Dharavi. All these cities grew due to the migration of poorest people from the countryside to the city. The lack between city centre and suburbs, referring to S. Sassen, will grow even more, until the definitive fall of the middle class that will radically define the division between rich and poor people.

This model is typical of Latin America and Africa.

SAO PAULO

photo taken by: http://srala.org/eventos/ii-seminario-nacional-de-urbanizacao-de-favelas/

1905 1945 1975 Data from: Marron Institute of Urban Management, 2017.

6. Burdett R., The Endless City: The Urban Age Project by the London School of Economics and Deutsche Bank’s Alfred Herrhausen Society, London, 2010.

20

2016

Sao Paulo is well-known as the main economic pole of Brasil.

More than two centuries ago it was a small trading outpost for gold and expeditions. During the XX century it grews becoming the largest urban area in Brazil. In 1900 the population was of 240 thousand, actually it turned into more than 21 millions.

GLOBAL CITIES

MEXICO CITY 1905 1945 1975 2016

photo by: Pablo Lopez Luz

Mexico City is the financial and political capital of Mexico. Its urban sprawl covers more than 2.000 km2 and has a population of more than 19 million people. It is known as one of the most extensive cities all around the world.

Currently Mexico City is at the center of the sprawl debate and it is facing some crucial issues as building new infrastructures and fights against the social segregation of the suburbs.

Data from: Marron Institute of Urban Management, 2017.

MUMBAI

In the last century, urban expansion of indian cities, related with rapid economic growth, globalization and social changes, involved a huge reshaping of the whole country. Mumbai became one of the crucial nodes of the indian XX century development.

This city had a pronounced growth in only 50 years, reaching an expansion of 604 km2. In Mumbai there is the largest informal settlement of the world and has a huge issue with basic infrastructure and social tensions.

1905 1945 Data from: Marron Institute of Urban Management, 2017.

1975 2016

photo taken by: http://srala.org/eventos/ii-seminario-nacional-de-urbanizacao-de-favelas/

21

GLOBAL CITIES

Bounded Cities We defined, as opposite of the Endless City, the Bounded City. This is a city model whose growth increased intensifying the constructed land. Due to their geographical and political nature, the urban growth of this city model depends on its state borders. It is characterized of high-rise building and extremely high Floor Area Ratio. Streets are narrows, living spaces are tiny and expensive and usually these cities are facing issues as air pollution and overcrowding.

These cities can oftentimes be related to hyper-density. This term was firstly explained

by V. Chakrabarti in A Country For Cities, as density sufficient to support subways or as density above 30 units/acre. Another definition, by the architect D. Holmes7, was “a city that has an overall density that exceed 5000 inhabitants per Km2”. Hyper-density is often related to Bounded Cities. As a result of their urban expansion impossibility, these cities need to renovate through continuous redevelopments and urban densification. The large part of Bounded Cities exceed 5.000 people/km2 and 30 units/acre.

Singapore, Macau, Hong Kong are Bounded Cities. These cities are all in the Asian Pacific region and are city-state or special administrative regions, promise lands for nearby people. These cities, because of their economic stability and better quality of life, are really appetible destination for immigrants, because of this they are extremely growing in population. These countries face the lack of providing flats for low-income people with some of the most efficient public housing systems.

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Lack of space can be defined as the most dangerous issue of these cities. Because of this, in many cases, urban growth is developing in several layer one above the other, in order to optimize the space at the best. As Frampton referred in Cities Without Ground “To a visitor, Hong Kong appears at first confounding in its complexity and seemingly chaotic organization […]

Footbridge networks throughout the city that grew piecemeal, built by different parties at different times to serve different immediate needs, eventually formed an extensive network and became a prevailing development model for the city’s large-scale urban projects.” and continues “Hong Kong enhances three-dimensional connectivity to such a degree that it eliminates reference to the ground altogether. Hong Kong is a city without ground…”.

7. Damian Holmes, Hyper-city, Hyper-density, <http://www. damianholmes.com/2015/07/12/hyper-city-hyper-densityhow-to-design-cities/>, 2015 [last retrieved: 2017-07-05].

GLOBAL CITIES

SINGAPORE

1905 1945 1975 Data from: Singapore Land Authority, 2016.

2016

Singapore is an indipendent republic and ex British Colony. It is one of the main trade ports of the world. Due to its economic stability and tolerant policies, exactly as Hong Kong, it had several immigration flows that rapidly increased the population. Due to the impossibility of expand on mainland, Singapore repeatedly developed new urban areas on reclamation lands.

MACAO 1905 1945 1975 2016

Data from: Cartography and Cadastre Bureau, 2017.

Macao is a Special Administrative Region of China, of 30 km2 and a population of 652.000 people. This city is incredibly growing in these last years, thanks to gambiling and tourism facilities. This city is currently living the economic boom that Hong Kong and Singapore faced 50 years ago, and at the same time, is challenging an incredible urban densification, that now is exceeding 21.000 people per km2.

23

GLOBAL CITIES

HONG KONG

Hong Kong is a Special Adimistrative Region of China. It has a size of 1174 km2, of which mostly is mountainous and only 30% of this is composed of urbanised areas.

Since the foundation, Hong Kong has a huge revelance in trading relations between Asian and Western Countries. Due to open mind politics, economic and social stability, it became soon an arrival city for immigrants from mainland China and other countries. The immigration issue implied a relevant housing program and a consistent urban densification. Nowadays, Hong Kong is popular for being one of the densest cities in the world.

24

1905 1945 1975 Data from: Hong Kongâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Lands Department, 2016.

2016

25

HYPER-DENSITY

A COMPARISON BETWEEN THREE MAIN ASIAN PACIFIC METROPOLIS Hyper-density is a peculiarity of three significant metropolis of the Asian Pacific: Singapore, Macau and Hong Kong.

High-density, is always related to good-quality of living, sustainable transports and services8.

Actually, we think that, as in several cities this is a sustainable urban strategy, in others it is a necessity, and in some cases, in a future of population growth, it could even become a problem.

Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the case of these asian bounded cities, city-state or special administrative regions who cannot expand as other cities and, at the same time, are growing in population and continue densifying land use. Of course, it is no accident Singapore, Macau and Hong Kong are among the densest cities of the world.

Therefore we decided to focus on certain issues and themes of these cities in order to reach the main character of our thesis: is it possible/necessary a development of the public sphere on

26

the rooftop of high rise building?

8. Ng E., Designing High-Density Cities For Social And Environmental Sustainability, London, VA : Earth-scan, 2010.

HISTORY AND ECONOMIC GROWTH Singapore, Macau and Hong Kong are three cities that share a similar colonialist past. Each of them grew, in the past, as Asian pole for trading between Europe and China or Japan. Singapore and Hong Kong, rivals for centuries for leading asian pacific trades, are similar for their development through the centuries. Both of them were English colonies, with a key role in British maritime history, that actually maintain some feature of their colonial heritage concerning politics, justice and culture. For Example, Singapore is a parliamentary democracy based on the English model. Hong Kongâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s civil and criminal law is derived generally from the United Kingdomâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s legal system. Both of them, in the last century became well-known business hubs, thanks to tax friendly policies and social stability, and nowadays are two of the main off-shore financial and trade centers of the world9.

Macau, unlike previous named cities, was a Por-

tuguese colony, while at the same time, as them, it was the main intermediate for international trades between Portugal and Japan.

In Macau, as well as in the other two cities, there are a few natural resources, so its economy is based on trade, gambling and tourism10. Macau is a free port and trade is really important: it imports raw materials and exports finished goods. Nevertheless, gambling is the main sector of Macau economy: thanks to that, this city had been Asiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fastest growing economy of all time, with an annual GDP growth of 14% between 2002 to 201311, and continuous investors from all the world in the gambling sector. Multiculturalism, open mind societies low tax policies, trading based economy is what these cities have in common and what makes them a promise land for thousand of immigrants and investors every year.

9. Sassen S., Cities in a World Economy, Sociology for a new century, 1994.

10. Kvan T., Karakiewicz J., A Brief History Of Reclamation In Macau, from Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society Vol. 37, 1998, pp. 137-148.

11. World Bank data, www.worldbank.com, 2015 [last retrieved: 2017-06-10]

27

INDIA

SOUTH-EA

CHINA HONG KONG MACAO

AST ASIA IA YS LA

MA SINGAPORE

INDONESIA

HYPER-DENSITY

POPULATION GROWTH AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT These cities are truly mixed cultures. These treaty ports were, for centuries, meeting point between Western and Eastern cultures. Due to their tolerance and political stability, Singapore, Macau and Hong Kong became home for refugees during wars and black periods of neighbouring countries. These immigration flows remarkably increased the population of these cities and engaged economic growth. Especially in Hong Kong, where from 1950 through 1970 there was a boost of the industrialization12.

Furthermore their reputation for livability, job and investment opportunities continued to attract immigrants, and nowadays, this trend of urban population growth is inevitably raising.

According to the latest statistics Hong Kongâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 40% population is composed of immigrants, as 30% of Singapore and 60% of Macau13 14 15 and probably they will grow more and more during the next years16.

This became a issue for the spatial urban development of these cities that, with a shortage of land, could only densify constructed areas, or reclaim lands from the sea. Currently Singapore and Macau has 100% of inhabitants living in urban areas and Hong Kong 97%17. The extremely high density that today characterized these cities is a controversial debate between governments, planners, developers, theorists.

The main points of the debate are the relation between density and livability, the impact of pollution, high-prices flats and neighborhood life.

Among the years Governments due to the rapid

30

urbanization, had to re-shape their cities, in order to merge residents, investors, tourists needs.

Housing is the main issue in a hyper-density bounded city; flats prices extremely increased during the years, reaching some of the highest prices per square meter of the world. That is how, concerning the housing policy, there is no coincidence that these cities are well-known for being some of the best public housing programs throughout the world. Hong Kong government is the main housing investor of the region. 50% of the inhabitants live in public housing estates, built largely in New Towns in the New Territories. Singapore has a similar policy to Hong Kong, where more than 80% of inhabitants live in public housing estates in satellite compact and self-sufficient districts18. Macau despite the other two cities, is now facing the housing prices issue, and its government currently is organising a partnership between public and private sector in order to boost the construction of new public housing estates19.

Besides housing, what is re-shaping the urban landscape of these three cities is the balance between investments, tourism and quality of living environment.20 For example, Macau grew into the gambling sector and now, in addition to several international investments in constructing new casinos, it is facing the issue of having more tourists than it can receive. Government statistics referred that in 2014 Macau received 30 millions tourist over a population of 600.000 inhabitants21. For a city that lives for tourism, it is important to

HYPER-DENSITY

invest and densify as best as possible the urban land.

That’s one case that represent the actual challenge that these three cities are facing: three cities living for trade, investments and tourism, can’t afford a drop of services, that could decline investments to more attractive sites, that’s why these cities are hyper-densifying and constructing on reclamation lands. This process could destroy community sphere, as several researches reveal, but could open to a future of public spaces on the roof of high-rise building.

This is a fundamental point that government, most of all Singapore, are bearing in mind for a future development of the urban community.22

12. Shelton B., Karakiewicz, Kvan T., The Making of Hong Kong: From Vertical to Volumetric, Routledge, London, 2011.

13. The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica, Macau Administrative Region, <https://www.britannica.com/place/ Macau-administrative-region-China>, 2017, [last retrieved: 2017-08-12] 14. The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica, Singapore, <https://www.britannica.com/place/Singapore>, 2017, [last retrieved: 2017-08-12] 15. The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica, Hong Kong Administrative Region, 2017, <https://www.britannica.com/ place/Hong-Kong>[last retrieved: 2017-08-12] 16. UNEP, United Nations Environment Programme: Annual Report, 2014, <http://www.unep.org/ourplanet/may-2015/ unep-publications/united-nations-environment-programmeannual-report-2014> [last retrieved: 2017-08-13] 17. United Nation data, 2015, <http://data.un.org/> [last

retrieved: 2017-08-12] 18. Hong Kong Housing Authority, http://www. housingauthority.gov.hk/en/ 2017, [last retrieved: 2017-08-12] 19. Zhidong Hao, Social Problems in Macau, <http://www. chinaperspectives.revues.org/552>, 2005, [last retrieved: 201708-12] 20. Law C. M., Urban Tourism: The Visitor Economy and the Growth of Large Cities, London, Continuum, 2002.

21. DSEC, Statistics, <http://www.dsec.gov.mo/Statistic/>, 2016 [last retrieved: 2017-08-12] 22. Centre for Liveable Cities and Urban Land Institute, 10 Principles for Liveable High-Density Cities: Lessons from Singapore <http://www.clc.gov.sg/documents/ books/10PrinciplesforLiveableHighDensityCitiesLessonsfrom Singapore.pdf>, 2013 [last retrieved: 2017-08-12]

31

HYPER-DENSITY

TIMELINE

This timeline explains the relation between the main historical events of these three Asian Pacific cities, their population and economic growth. Hong Kong and Singapore are known (togheter with South Korea and Taiwan) the Little Dragons of Asia, known for their rapid growth during the XX. We think, actually that Macau is nowadays reaching the rapid development that characterized the Little Dragons in the last decades, so it could be defined as the 5th Little Dragon of Asia. n. inhab. (mil)

1

1844

1839 1842

0

32

1 8 0 0

1 8 1 0

1 8 2 0

1 8 3 0

1 8 4 0

1 8 5 0

New Territories leaded to Britain for 99 years

British colony establishment

2

S.Raffles established a British trading post

3

Opium trade between England and China

4

Portoguese colony establishment

5

Capital of Straits Settlements - first migrant flow

1826

1869

Trade Boom

1557

1898

1869

Suez Canal opening

1832

6

1856 - 1860

Second Opium War

1817

Gambling legalization

1800

First Opium War

7

British colony establishment

1842

8

45

125k 97k

30

25k

74

1 8 6 0

1 8 7 0

1 8 8 0

1 8 9 0

1 9 0 0

HYPER-DENSITY LEGEND

1980 - 1990

Horizontally is represented the time flow.

Vertically , the population growth.

The dragon dimension represent the GDP per capita growth.

1997

Economic Boom!

1 9 6 0

1 9 7 0

1 9 8 0

1 9 9 0

Macao

652k

432k

247k

Gambiling world leader

Chinese SAR

Chinese territory under Portugal Adm

($) 15k

1 9 5 0

1999

M

Future development programs

independence

Joins the Federation of Malaysia

British reoccupation

Neutral territory during wars

Japanese Occupation

2006

GDP P.C.($) 96k

First World War

GDP P.C.($) 40k

k

1 9 4 0

21

1 9 3 0

M

($)

1

Singapore

k

($

,7 M

175k

3,3

($) 8k

1 9 2 0

25

0 ) 45

($) 3k

1 9 1 0

1979

3

175k

4k

3M

2001

769k

00k

5,6

4,1

,1 M

ng

M

($) 9k

56k

M

M

k

1,6

4,8

($) 2

1915 - 1918

($)

1941

6,7

k

1930 - 1945

1965

12

1869

g Ko

7,4 M

($)

Second World War

1963

Hon GDP P.C.($) 56k

1939 - 1945

Financial Boom

1950 - 1970

2016

Gambiling expansion

Global event

Gambiling expansion

Macao event

Chinese SAR

Singapore event

2005

Asian Financial Crisis

Hong Kong event

1997

2 0 0 0

2 0 1 0

2 0 2 0

33

HYPER-DENSITY

LANDS OF RECLAMATIONS Reclamation plays a crucial role in urban development of these global ports through meet the ever increasing residential, trade, investments needs. Macau and Singapore are particularly affected by a shortage of land and high request.

Almost the 100% of these lands are urbanized.

Unlike them, Hong Kong has less issues about lack of space, since only the 40% of the entire territory it is urbanised. Hong Kong 60% undeveloped and natural land is largely not available to be built on, because of a highly mountainous terrain (New Territories and the Islands)23.

Hong Kong has developed New Towns in the New Territories only from 1973, since the starting of the New Town Development Programme, due to the residential emergency of those years, providing house for more than 1.8 million people. Before that year, New Territories valleys were filled of industries and agricultural fields, partially abandoned after the economic decline of the manufacturing production of Hong Kong.24 Reclamation in Hong Kong has a long history.

First traces we have about that, where beaches that were reclaimed for salt growing25 during the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC - 9 AD).

After that, the main reclamations were done under the British government, from 1854, with the reclaim of the marshland north of Happy Valley. The main reclamation land intervention of Hong Kong were on Victoria Harbor.

Furthermore the Hong Kong International Airport, Disneyland Resort and the Kai Tan Airport were all constructed over reclamation

34

lands. Mainly in Hong Kong lands were reclamated for business and infrastructural facilities.26 However, a social debate about new reclamation lands between government and population is currently under way. In Hong Kong 2030+, a action plan for the Hong Kong future development, the government proposed new reclaiming lands in the east of Lantau Island (ELM project), in order to build the third Central Business District of the city. Population and NGO don’t agree with this government proposal, because of the irreparable environmental consequences that the reclamation would bring to the territory. At present 5,4% of Hong Kong are reclamation lands. 27 Between the three cities, Macau has the highest rate of reclamation lands: between 1990 and 2017, the artificial lands where almost the 170% of the original territory and it will increase of 12% within the next two years .28 Due to the extreme fast growth of the gambling sector and the huge tourism flow. Macau, once composed of three different islands: Macau Old Town, Taipa and Coloane. Nowadays Coloane and Taipa compose a only land.

The “in-between” case is Singapore, whose reclamation lands represent almost the 30% of total dimension of the island. In 10 Principles for Liveable High Density Cities edited by the Centre for Liveable Cities and Urban Land Institute, reveal the interesting policy that the government is acting in urban development,29 mixing new reclamation lands and re-development of unused lands, as ex-industries or golf

HYPER-DENSITY

fields. In order to manage a population growth in the next 13 years, exposed a detailed urban strategy for the development of the city until 2030. That will require other 76.000 ha of new lands, besides the actual existing artificial lands of 71.000 ha(Ministry of National Development data, 2016).30 Unfortunately, reclamation land is highly unsustainable. There are several reason about the unsustainability of land fill, presented in deep by several researches , from the damage of the natural heritage, to water pollution, coastal and inland erosion, impact on marine biodiversity.31 Therefore, this thesis aims to find a different solution to the current urban development policy of these cities, particularly of Hong Kong, based, in some cases, on unsustainable practices and influenced by profit driven investments, by proposing a radical alternative to the usual urban development.

23. Harris P. G., Environmental policy and sustainable development in China: Hong Kong in Global Context, Bristol, 2012.

24. Lange, C., New Territories: Deconstructing and Constructing Countryside: The Great Divide of Rural and Urban In Hong Kong, vol. 86, 2016, pp. 92–97.

25. Chan, Yk., Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Houten, vol 48, 1999, pp. 103-124.

26. Environmental Protection Department, Final Environmental Impact Assessment Report, http://www.epd. gov.hk/eia/register/report/eiareport/eia_1532008/EIA-pdf/ Appendix/app%206.1.pdf, 2008, [last retrieved: 2017-08-25] 27. Development Bureau, Planning Department , Hong Kong 2030+: Towards a Planning Vision and Strategy Trascending 2030, 2016.

28. Leitão L., Macao builds a new frontier with ambitious reclamation, 2016, https://macauhub.com.mo/feature/macaobuilds-a-new-frontier-with-ambitious-reclamation/.

29. Centre for Liveable Cities and Urban Land Institute, 10 Principles for Liveable High-Density Cities: Lessons from Singapore, <http://www.clc.gov.sg/documents/ books/10PrinciplesforLiveableHighDensityCitiesLessonsfrom Singapore.pdf>, 2013 [last retrieved: 2017-08-12] 30. Ministry of National Development, A High Quality Living Environment For All Singaporeans: Land Use Plan to Support Singapore’s Future Population, <www.mnd.gov.sg/ landuseplan>, 2013 [last retrieved: 2017-08-12] 31. See Tian B., Wu W., Yang Z., Zhou Y., Drivers, trends, and potential impacts of long-term coastal reclamation in China from 1985 to 2010, from Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, Elsevier, vol 170, 2016, pp. 83-90.

35

HYPER-DENSITY

LANDS OF RECLAMATIONS

When cities canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t grow outward to the mainland, due to the economic and population expansion, they develop on the water.

Singapore, Hong Kong, and Macao, during the last century, have been at the center of the debate.

Starting from similar causes, they developed on the sea new appetible areas for industries and facilities.

For many cases these cities have been criticized for an irriversible impact on the environment and on the original island shape. On these schemes we can see the land reclamation development, during the years, of these three cities and their impact on the territory shape.

LEGEND

Future Reclamation lands

SINGAPORE

Reclamation lands

HONG KONG

0

5

10

20

ORIGINAL LAND 20%

80%

ORIGINAL LAND

578

km2

RECLAMATED LAND

141

km2

TOTAL LAND

719

km2

Singapore reclamation percentage

36

Original lands

1900

'%"

1973

'%"

1989

'%"

2009

'%"

2017

'%"

6%

94%

1104

km2

RECLAMATED LAND

km2

TOTAL LAND

Singapore reclamation history

70.2

1174.2

km2

Hong Kong reclamation percentage

HYPER-DENSITY

RECLAMATION OUTCOMES

PROS CONS

more space

business facilities

coastal protection

enviromental issues

habitat fragmentation

flooding

MACAO

'%"

'%"

'%"

'%"

'%"

0

5

10

20

0

1

5

2

ORIGINAL LAND 1887

62%

38%

1967 1976

11.6

RECLAMATED LAND TOTAL LAND

1996

1900

km2

18.8

km2 1983

30.4

km2

2017 Hong Kong reclamation history

Macao reclamation percentage

1975

1994 2017 Macao reclamation history

37

HYPER-DENSITY

ROOFTOP AS EVOLUTION OF THE PUBLIC SPHERE Peter Kammerer, a South China Morning Post editor, on Monday 26th of September 2016 begin his daily column referring: “If you want to destroy a community and its spirit, take away its meeting and recreation places.”32 and continue: “In the case of the playground, it’s problematic as the district is already heavily built-up. Open spaces and recreation areas have been rapidly disappearing or shrinking. In their wake have arisen the Independent Commission Against Corruption, the Customs and Excise headquarters and in front of the ferry pier, an under-construction mall and luxury housing development. Kids who want to kick or throw a ball about have that tiny court and pitch, and soon even that will disappear”. This report clearly explains the lack of the Hong Kong government in producing community spaces and its interest in creating gentrification and business facilities above all.

What Hong Kong is missing is the right to the city33 34, as essence of the city that could be define by everyday and spontaneous interaction processes. The fragmentation of the public sphere, in favor of business and commercial venues, destroys the community involvement in urban development. As Lefebvre said, since the city was an exchange value, currently, through neoliberal and capitalist policies it turn in use value.

As these cities are now, often, developing in order to increase commercial and investments facilities through the construction of new buildings, an alternative scenario is growing,

38

the development of new habitats on the roof of buildings.

Referring to an evolution on the roof, we particularly consider those developments that enhance the sense of community. An interesting case of Hong Kong are rooftop communities, informal settlements constructed above highrise buildings, built since the 1950s’ as answer to the lack of housing, that radically exemplifies the concept of a low density village of the countryside on the top-floor of buildings.35 This extraordinary phenomenon could open a debate through the possibility of new evolutions of the city. In the Singaporean case, instead rooftop use is so highly debated by the society, that the government has set a project, called Skyrise Greenery, that motivates, across economic aids, privates in construct greenery installations on the rooftop of their building to promote the development of high rise private and public green areas as innovative leisure areas. 36 In Macau, instead, we can see a homogeneous roofscape composed of illegal structures, similar to the Hongkongers rooftop settlements, but without the same sense of community. This is only a rooftop evolution as answer to the rapid growth and overcrowding of the city. 37 As we can understand, there are the preconditions for a development of the community on the roof of buildings. Moreover we decided to start from these condition to make our project in Hong Kong, starting from the already existing rooftop scenario of Kowloon City District.

HYPER-DENSITY

32. Kammerer P., There’s no shortage of land for housing in Hong Kong, only a lack of will to act for the people, from South China Morning Post, 26 September 2016, http://www.scmp. com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2022556/theres-noshortage-land-housing-hong-kong-only-lack-will-act, [last retrieved: 2017-08-22] 33. See Lefebvre H., Le Droit à la ville, Paris, 1968.

34. See also Harvey D., Rebel cities: From the Right to the City to Urban Revolution, London, 2012.

35. Wu R., Canham S., Portrait From Above: Hong Kong’s informal rooftop settlements, Berlin, 2008.

36. National Parks Board, 2017, <https://www.nparks.gov. sg/skyrisegreenery/>, 2017, [last retrieved: 2017-08-22] 37. Choi S., Demolishing illegal structures may be subsidized, from Macau Daily Times, <http://macaudailytimes.com. mo/archive-2009-2014/macau/36546-demolishing-illegalstructures-may-be-subsidized.html>, 2012, [last retrieved: 2017-08-22]

39

COMMUNITY

COMMUNITY the people living in one particular area, or people who are considered as a unit because of their common interests, social group, or nationality.

Also, the feeling of sharing things and belonging to a group in the same place where you live.

RIGHT a moral, ethical or legal principle considered as an underlying cause of truth, justice, morality or ethics.

GENTRIFICATION the process of renovating and improving a house or district so that it conforms to middle-class taste.

source: Oxford Dictionary

HUMANITY the human race, which includes everyone on Earth. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s also a word for the qualities that make us human, such as the ability to love and have compassion, be creative, and not be a robot or alien.

PUBLIC SPACE a place for everybody to enjoy their coexistence and represent their collectivity and common interest without drowning or disaggregating their diversity.

CHI

INA HONG KONG

SOCIAL DEBATE The main subject of this chapter can be defined as a central theme of our thesis: the relation between community and cities transformation.

Cambridge dictionary defines community as “the people living in one particular area, or people who are considered as a unit because of their common interests, social group, or nationality”, but its meaning doesn’t relate only to people, community is also, referring to the Oxford dictionary, “the feeling of sharing things and belonging to a group in the same place where you live”.

Etymologically we can say it is the common unity in which a group of people identify theirself and thanks to which they decide to live together, sharing profits and benefits, rules and lifestyle. Community is the heart of civilization, cities should grow up and develop with a view to its improvement.

As Peter Brenner explains in his Cities For Pe-

46

ople Not For Profit, the unfolding effects of the global economic recession are dramatically intensifying the contradictions around which urban social movements have been rallying, suddenly validating their claims regarding the unsustainability and destructiveness of neoliberal forms of urbanization. Moreover, strategies to commodify urban space often fail dismally, producing devalorized, crisis-driven urban and regional landscapes in which labor and capital cannot be combined productively to satisfy social needs, and in which inherited sociospatial configurations are severely destabilized, generally at the cost of considerable human suffering and massive environmental degradation.38 Today’s density cities, often, do not identify with people living in but with promoter that build them.39 In urban renewal, usually, attention is emphasized on profit instead of quality of life, the need to grasp as much as possible

the building land makes developers to be usual to focus projects on residential and commercial typologies by reducing spaces for community, its meeting and recreation places, playground and markets40.

Humans need to see, to feel, to touch, to enjoy and to sum up all these perception in his “world”. Besides these anthropologic needs there are so many specific ones not satisfied in commercial and cultural attractions thought by urbanists41. These are creative and recreative activities as arts, knowledge, plays, sexuality, sports. Activities of experiences and values’ exchange, that give us the awareness of being human. Referring to Henri Lefebvre, cities are missing their rights.

The social aspects of high-density living are dealt with in Designing High-Density Cities For Social And Environmental Sustainability, by Bryan Lawson, Sung Woo Shin and John C. Y.

Ng. Lawson theorizes that the perception and identity of open spaces in high-density cities are particularly important in providing inhabitants with a sense of belonging.

Quality city living in high-density context means that there is a need for a balance between a top-down developing and a citizen’ s participation.

38. Brenner, Cities For People, Not For Profit, 2012.

39. Harvey, Rebel cities, 2012.

40. Kammerer, There’s no shortage of land for housing in Hong Kong, only a lack of will to act for the people, 2016.

41. Lefebvre, Le Droit à la ville, 1968.

47

SOCIAL DEBATE

HONG KONG: RENEWAL BETWEEN REVITALIZATION AND GENTRIFICATION Hong Kong Government, even though the positive way it is dealing with larger and larger flat demand, is missing to organize its developing avoiding gentrification processes that destroy the essence of the city itself, its everyday life, made of exchanges and meetings between every member of the community.

As a consequence of Hong Kong’ rapid economic development and the particular way in which the building stock has been redeveloped in the inner urban areas, it presents as a peculiar case of gentrification. In certain parts of the city gentrification is occurring very rapidly, and is private sector driven, although the area continues to provide for the commercial and retail needs of its remaining original population.42 The Urban Renewal Authority (URA)’s role is to identify critical areas in which upgrading actions are necessary. Often, though, the used strategy is the total replacement of problematic areas, by demolishing and building new structures, operated by developers who just look for profit, without thinking about historical and social contest and its importance for the community living there.

Main URA’s contradiction lies is the fact that its goal is an urban upgrading, thinking on residents’ necessity and local culture, but, what they really do it’s the opposite.

In many articles of the South China Morning Post, a famous english-language magazine in Hong Kong, URA is presented as a government’s body more interested in private investors’ profit than policy areas’ lifestyle.

This format of top-down approach did not address the social, economic and environmental needs of the local communities. Residents from redeveloped areas have little participation throughout the whole process of urban regeneration, from layout planning to the community redevelopment. The only thing they can participate is the arrangement of the compensation given by the authority. They have to pay the cost even the redevelopment is not what the citizen desire.43 New buildings have an higher quality, so commercial premises have an higher price compared to what older traders can pay, forcing old merchants moving to cheaper districts.

Deep distinction and regulation can also be seen in HK public space organization. The Government has established the creation of two different kinds of public spaces, active and passive ones. Every district in the city has to be provided with a playground for children, a sitting area supplied with bunches and tables for relaxing and playing, a park for sport activities.

This characterization do not allow people to live the public space as they want, especially in ethnical minorities there is not an identification in these places. This is a reason why is not difficult to find immigrants on the streets trying to re-appropriate space for their activities. These interactions in public spaces have been further limited due to the increase of contracts between private companies and the Hong Kong government. As early as the 1980’s, the government has sold land “around” public space to private

42. La Grange A., Pretorius F., Gentrification and Hong Kong’s Inner Urban Areas, Enhr Conference, Toulouse, 2011.

43. Ho E., Renewing the Urban Regeneration Approach in Hong Kong, SS Student E-Journal, vol.1, 2012, pp. 110-139.

48

49

SOCIAL DEBATE

parties in exchange for property taxes and other fees. This has essentially privatized these public spaces and reduced their significance as a place to freely express one’s self, as they are now often located in privately owned financial instructions such as banks and even malls. 44 Furthermore, this way of designing the city as an agglomeration of separated lots, is the reason why it’s missing the space as a link for the city. This fact is underlined by the emerging of countless number of “in-between spaces”, im-

mense canyons between one building and the other, three meters wide and as high as about seventy-five meters, without any function, used as garbage storage or homeless’ shelter.

In the following pages we show some examples from Hong Kong’s panorama we experienced during our research time on site. Through these cases studies we analyse particular realities, their renewal policies and citizens’ response.

SITTING AREA

Sitting areas are tiny spaces included between high -rise buildings.

These areas are mostly used by aged people for playing chess or other table games.

They are composed of wood/steel tables and chairs, pergolas and beches.

For the most part, these sitting areas are paved.

44. Urban Hong Kong, Public Space, <http://urbanhongkong.weebly.com/public-space.html>,2017 [last retrieved: 2017-09-10] 50

SOCIAL DEBATE

RECREATION GROUNDS AND PLAYGROUNDS

Playground areas and recreation grounds are middle-size public spaces, used by children, families and guys for playing sports as basketball, badminton, soccer, tennis, volley and suddenly a swimming pool.

Usually these areas are near the district sport center.

Recreation grounds are a usually surrounded by a jogging track.

These spaces are used until night.

PARK

The park is the biggest public space type. It is a oasis of nature of the city. It is surrounded by row of trees. Inside a park it is possible to play several activities as fitness, Taijiquan, jogging and dance.

The biggest park of Hong Kong is Victoria Park and it included all the previous mentioned public spaces typologies, with several tennis courts, soccer fields and a swiming pool.

51

IN BETWEEN SPACES HONG KONG’S CANYONS

Hong Kong is famous for its lack of space, both public and private, but in this metropolis people are still looking for rooms for interaction. When a city oppresses, in this case with its shortage of space, people are inclined to find strategies to extend their private sphere where they find space, beyond the domestic one. Therefore, Hong Kong citizens assumed the “in-between spaces” mentioned above, as exploitable areas, fully fledged “open-air living room”. In these canyons, the division between the private and public has blurred. The rooms are not literal extensions of interior spaces, like terraces or verandahs, but they are spaces where all kinds of things can happen. Activities overlap, sometimes public, sometimes private, sometimes both. Geraldine Borio and Caroline Wuthrich in Hong Kong In Between, ironically assert - Hong Kong is largely a city without vandalism, who would want to destroy one’s own living room?”

This reclamation of space is a clear illustration of Hong Kong’s lack in thinking about the community while projecting the city development. Appropriating a space is like feeling at home, even in a public space of a metropolis. This is the reason we choose to live in a city: we enjoy the possibilities to expand our private selves and spheres and to interact with others. We enjoy appropriating city as we wish, using the city as much as it uses and shapes us.45 When space for expanding is more and more decreasing people have to settle for what they have, narrow and dirty alleys.

45. Borio G., Wuthrich C., Hong Kong in between, Zurich, 2015.

52

53

店 空 事 店 店 店

店空事

店 空 事 店 店 空 事 店

Hong Kong citizens assumed the “in-between spaces” as exploitable areas, fully fledged “open-air living” room.

店空事

店 空 事 店 店 空 事 店 店

店空事店

TAXI

54

店 空 事 店 店 空 事 店 店

事空店

店 空 事 店 店 空 事 店 店

店空事

55

56

IN BETWEEN SPACES

STREETS During our research time in Ma Tau Kok district, visiting frequently the area on different day-times, we have been able to map inhabitants activities and corresponding places.

We noticed that the lack of public space is deeply reflected in the way people use and live the streets.

Oriental culture is characterised by a caotic and frenetic street life.

A causal walk on the street can tell one a lot of about the city. Walking through Hong Kong itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s common to meet people doing every kind of things on residual spaces as sidewalks, and causeways.

These spaces are the soul of public sphere and sense of community in the city.

Here, you can find people working in little kiosks, cooking smelling street-food or others meeting each other practising sport.

Often the adaptation to local needs of these residual spaces is due to the lack of an appropriate public area. Usually, minorities do not identify in local spatial organisation and they look at these no manâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s land as a temporary solution for their needs.

This picture well shows a group of immigrants from Pakistan talking and playing cards on Ma Tau Kok Road, sitting on a bench in the garbage, even if a public park is not far away. Immigrants prefer it because they can feel it their and can do activities they prefer.

57

店 空 事 店 店 空 事 店 店 空 事 店 店 空 事 店 店

行政辦公

58

肉店 事空店 事空店

事空店

店 空 事 店 店 空 事 店 店

店空事

店 空 事 店 店 空 事 店 店

煙草商

煙草商

意大利餐廳

59

STREETS: WORKERS SUNDAY GATHERINGS A further circumstance, particularly symbolic of the citizens space’s demand, it’s about what happens every Sunday on Hong Kong streets.

Every week thousands of female workers from Indonesia and the Philippines gather in Hong Kong’s streets, spending their time together, enjoying each other. Some are eating while others play cards, style one another’s hair and trade romance novels.

There are an estimated 200,000 female domestic workers from other countries living in Hong Kong. Most of them, despite being university educated and speaking several languages, are employed as maids for the city’s wealthy families. They are nurses, teachers, physiotherapists, pharmacists, computer programmers and business wo60 men, however, they can make three times more money in Hong Kong, the government dictated salary is about $600

US a month4⁶, than they can practice their professions in the Philippines. They usually have children in their own countries and send a substantial portion of their salary home to their families. Not all employers treat their maids as they should. Sometimes, domestic helpers have already been taken advantage of, by unscrupulous middlemen in their home countries, who charge them exorbitant prices for work visas and transportation to Hong Kong.47 As a result they arrive in city already owing a large amount of money. If they land up with an employer who is not kind, they hesitate to report them to the authorities. They need to keep their job to pay back their travel loan and send money home to their families who are depending on them. It is not that difficult for employers to break their contracts with the women and they cannot stay in Hong Kong unless they have full time employment. It is easy to see why often

women tolerate the abuse of their employers rather than take legal action against them. Some women are sexually harassed.48 These “helpers”,the common term for domestic laborers in Hong Kong, are expected to work twenty four hours a day, six days a week, but government regulations dictate they must be given twelve consecutive hours of free time each Sunday. Since the women cannot afford to go to movies or eat in restaurants on their day off, they gather in Hong Kong’s train stations or outside public buildings.

According to prof. Hendrick Tieben, Chinese University of Hong Kong, woman do not meet into official public spaces, as parks and sitting areas, because they do identify in that activities drawn up for that places. They want to lie down and eat together and, not having economical possibilities for going out of the city, they have to sit on the streets to

do it.

Despite all, this creates a friendly atmosphere in an informal public space where ideas and cultural expressions such as food can be appreciated. While some people feel uneasy about people gathering in the streets, it gives residents the ability to express themselves and be social in a city where large buildings and structures dominate the 46.

Hong Kong Government, Hong Kong, <https://www.gov.hk/en/ atmosphere.

residents/employment/recruitment/foreigndomestichelper.htm>, 2016 [last retrieved: 2017-09-05] 47. Moss E.L., That one day is all you have’: how Hong Kong’s domestic workers seized Sunday, The Guardian, 7 March 2017, <https://www. theguardian.com/cities/2017/mar/10/sunday-sit-in-inside-hongkong-weekly-domestic-worker> 48. Driedger M., Maids Day Off in Hong Kong, Things Asian Press, 61 15 November 2010, <http://thingsasian.com/story/maids-day-hongkong> [last retrieved: 2017-09-05]

IN BETWEEN SPACES

ROOFTOP COMMUNITIES Rooftop communities are a particular kind of space reclamation in Hong Kong. They could be defined as temporary structures, built on ’50-’60 buildings, that never received a building permission from Government.

It has become practice that poors and immigrants people, not having enough money to buy a regular apartment and not finding a place to live on the ground level, move on the top of old buildings by exploiting the roof layer as free building area.

Looking from above, the city is full of “flying villages” almost invisible at ground level. Here people live in poor conditions, sharing the close quarters, services and water, but creating kind of communities with deepest roots than ground ones. The roof became the place of everyday life, home for developing of an everyday urbanism that Margaret Crawford well defines as a kind of urbanism that is not concerned with aesthetics but with specific activities of the daily life.

It constitutes an empirical approach that strengthens frequently unnoticed existing situations and experiences that occur in everyday life.

62

63

64

店 空 事 店 店 空 事 店 店

事空店 65

RENEWAL CASES MONG KOK AND LANGHAM PLACE Mong Kok is at the heart of the Kowloon Peninsula, it is one of Hong Kong’s most crowded districts, and at one time recorded the highest population density area in the world. Mong Kok is a mix of old and new buildings, with shops and restaurants at street-level and commercial or residential units above. It is also a well-known, popular shopping and entertainment district.49 An enormous redevelopment project, announced in 1980s and completed by URA in 2005, affected a great part of the district, starting from Shanghai Street renewal, up to Langham Place shopping mall ’s construction.

The project has a site area of 11,976 m2 and was a joint development between the administration and the Great Eagle Group. It required the demolition of 58 buildings and the relocation of 2,603 people.50 The redevelopment also relocated Hong Lok Street, known by locals as the “Bird Street”, a particular area characterized by a plentiful birds’s shops presence, that was substantial section of local and tourist’s market.

Overall, the distribution of types of shops and types of customers reflects that the shops do not only serve local residents but tend to be commercially orientated. There are around 200 shops located at Langham Place, from fast-food outlets to more upscale restaurants, from nonbrand to high-fashion boutiques and numerous

66

international designer shops. These shops would target higher end customers. Langham Place is clearly intended to attract customers from all over Hong Kong as well as tourists; however, it is doubtful whether local Mong Kok residents would spend their money in these upmarket shops.

49. La Grange, Pretorius, Gentrification and Hong Kong’s Inner Urban Areas, Toulouse, 2011.

50 Urban Renewal Authority, Hong Kong, <http://www.ura.org.hk/en/media/press-release/2005/20050125.aspx>, 2017, [last retrieved: 2017-09-05]

RENEWAL CASES

WEDDING CARD STREET As we mentioned before, the process of urban redevelopment deployed by URA were predicated on property-ownership and presumably the abuse of land resumption. The debates on rehousing had been gradually limited to questions concerning the calculation of monetary compensation for decades, until being challenged in the case of Lee Tung Street. This last, known as the Wedding Card Street by locals, was a street in Wan Chai, famed in Hong Kong and abroad as a centre for publishing and for the manufacturing of wedding cards and other similar items. It was an important part of the cultural heritage, a representing vein of the city’s daily life, meeting and sharing point for citizens and tourists. All interests of this street were resumed by the Government since 1 November 2005, Lee Tung Street was demolished in December 2007 as part of an Urban Renewal Authority project to redevelop as a luxury shopping and housing district. As other URA projects, just a little of the original tenants have been resettled on site.

The H15 Concern Group’s campaign “flat-forflat, shop-for-shop” opened up a site of community resistance during 2004-2008 that tried to regain their rights and “interpretation of rights”. Before the demolition of Wedding Card Street, the place was regarded as a “complete street” nurtured by an invaluable community network comprised of a variety of local small business and longtime residents.51 Among those shops was a well-maintained dynamic enabling different kinds of business to function in the same pool. With the compensation unable to keep up with the rapid gentrification in WanChai, it was nearly impossible to maintain such a well-established social network after redevelopment. The community members were both displaced and dispossessed in regard to their loss relational situatedness and accessibility to a local network of livelihood.52

photo by Martin Chan 51. Shui-Mei H., Urbanizing Carescapes of Hong Kong: Two Systems, One City, Lanham, 2015.

52. Wai-Chung Lai L., Planning by Contract: The Leasehold Foundation of a Comprehensively Planned Capitalist Land Market, Economic Affairs, n.25, 2005, pp. 16-18.

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RENEWAL CASES

FUTURE SCENARIOS In Hong Kong city we have found a unique and rare mix of public and private space, generating “transition places”, where the concept of space assumes a new and innovative character.

Hong Kong developementr has been conditioned by two main features: lack of building space and the conditions determined by economic development53. Actually, part of HK’s financial policy is based on sale of land, so Government and private developers share interests in taking full advantage of land’s transformation. This developement is not encouraging the creation of new open spaces inside city’s dense urban structure.

The lack of the public space derives from the absence of a general vision and an integrated planning by authorities. In Hong Kong there are many different institutions dealing with public space issue: Planning Department, the Leisurem Culture Service Department and Architectural Services Department54. All these departments have a specific responsibility, though no one has the faculty of dealing with a comprehensive vision of public spaces.

Government should move in an innovative way, focusing on people issues before economic Hong Kong lacks of a public space culture, even though there are a lot of unused spaces that could represent an opportunity to provide accessible places, promoting a bigger social integration.

As explained above, ground floor space is less and less available by people for common use, though, changing the point from we look at the

68

city and looking it from above, we discover an enormous flat surface made of flat floors and terraces, a portion of space that could be exploited and still not used in the majority of contemporary cities.

53. Rossini F., Nuevos espacios colectivos de la ciudad vertical contemporànea, El caso de Hong Kong, Conference report, 2015.

54. Hong Kong Government, Planning Department, Hong Kong, <http://www.pland.gov.hk/pland_en/tech_doc/ hkpsg/full/>, 2017, [last retrieved: 2017-09-05]

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SITE

CBD* (Central Business District) the main part of a city where most of its offices, stores, etc.

DISTRICT an area of a country or city, especially one characterized by a particular feature or activity.

ENTREPRENEUR person who sets up a business or businesses, taking on financial risks in the hope of profit.

GFA** The area of a building can be measured in a number of different ways, and it is very important to be clear about which measure is being used, for example in property sales, planning applications, building regulations applications, lease source: Oxford Dictionary source*: Cambridge Dictionary source**: designingbuildings.co.uk

negotiations, rating valuations and so on.

IMMIGRANT a person who moves from one place to another, especially in order to find work or better living conditions.

REDEVELOPMENT the action or process of developing something again or differently.

In architecture, construction of new buildings in an urban area, typically after demolishing the existing buildings.

PUBLIC SPACE a place for everybody to enjoy their coexistence and represent their collectivity and common interest without drowning or disaggregating their diversity.

HONG

KONG KOWLOON CITY DISTRICT

KOWLOON CITY Kowloon City District has a particular and ancient history, that influenced the role of Kowloon peninsula in Hong Kong economy during the centuries, especially in the last years. So it is important to know it, in order to understand the pre-conditions behind our project.

The first informations we have about this area are dated from the Sung Dynasty, as a defence position from the Mongolian offensive. Since this period, several fishing villages were born in the region. However, as presented by the official maps, the first record of “Kowloon City” have been in 1860. This district took the name from an important defence post built in Qing dynasty, in 1847: the Kowloon Walled City.55

This garrison city was built after the British occupation of Hong Kong Island, to resist to possible offensives. Several fishers and farmers villages were scattered around the Walled City, especially in the currently named To Kwa Wan. At the southeast of the “City”, there was the market street called Kowloon Street, where fishers and farmers used to exchange their products. This street became soon a trade link from Hong Kong Island to the Chinese territories. 56 So, Kowloon District developed as soon as a strategic area for the production of goods.

In 1898 Kowloon City was leaded to Britain as part of the New Territories, except of Kowloon Walled City, that remained a Chinese post insi-

55. Ho P., Lo H., Ng W., Lam H., Chang W., Tse Y.M., Historical cum Social Study on Kowloon City districtin connection with Kai Tak area, Hong Kong, <https://www.heritage.gov.hk/en/doc/conserve/kowlooncityfinalreport.pdf>, 2009, [last retrieved: 2017-09-05] 56. Carney J., Living in the City of Darkness, 12 February 2015, <http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1191748/kowloonwalled-city-life-city-darkness> [last retrieved: 2017-09-08] 57. Convention For The Extension of Hong Kong, 1898, <http://www.chinaforeignrelations.net/node/151>

76

de the British territory.56 This political decision influenced the urban development of the district. The most of the transformation of urban area occurred since the British administration.57 During the ’20 and ’30 of XX, old villages were demolished and new streets were laid out. Some of the original streets still exist, as Kowloon City Road and To Kwa Wan Road, others were destroyed during following decades.

The district grew rapidly through continuous immigration flows caused by Chinese political instability. Chinese people used Kowloon Walled City as gate towards a new life in the prosperous neighbour Hong Kong. For this reason the whole district evolution is strictly related to the development of Walled City. During this period of growth, starting from ’10 of the last century, there was a strong land reclamation program.

One of these areas was bought by two investors, Mr. Ho Kai and Mr. Au Tak, who financed the construction of the international airport and a residential district nearby. The reclamation program, divided by the government in 3 phases, ended in the middle ’30, with the official opening of Kai Tak airport.58 Exactly as Walled City was a key point for the populating process of the district, Kai Tak airport was a key for the following urbanism developing. In fact, it remained one of the lowest building height for a long time, particularly since Kai Tak closing.

After the Japanese occupation, that caused the demolishment of several streets located near the airport, in order to enlarge the Kai Tax dimensions, with the British reoccupation of the district, Kowloon City District flourished

58. Civil engeneering and development department, The Story of Kai Tak, Hong Kong, http://www.ktd.gov.hk/publiccreatives/en/ the_inheritance.html., 2017, [last retrieved: 2017-09-08]

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KOWLOON CITY

in the industrial sector. In the 50’ this district became again an arrival point for immigrants and workers. Beside, and especially above, existing buildings, new squatters settlements and rooftop communities were built up. Especially in To Kwa Wan, where a huge housing program enabled low-income people to have low-priced flats.59 During the successive years, Hong Kong was facing a huge economic boom due to the textile and light manufacturing industrial sector (plastics, silk screen printing, toys, vacuum flasks). Great part of these factories were built in Kowloon City District, in many cases on new reclamation lands.

These 3 decades, from the end of the II World War until 1970’s can be defined as the gold period of Kowloon City District.

However, as consequence of the labour costs and land rents increasing, the city faced the issue of maintaining competitive prices. In the same period, the provision of some laws in Mainland China to facilitate factories development on its own territory and other restrictions of Hong Kong’s products, led the Hongkongers factories to move to Chinese Pearl River Delta.60 Great part of Kowloon City District’s factories were abandoned. Therefore, since the ’90, due to even low prices, those factories were bought by artists, especially in Kwun Tong Area and by car mechanics, most of all in To Kwa Wan, giving again a new face to the district, nowadays well-known for its particular workshops.61

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A new era started since the Kai Tak closing in 1998. New laws were adopted on buildings height, allowing high rise buildings construction, before prohibited because of the airport presence. Several lands were bought by developers in order to build luxuries residences. An example is the Grand Waterfront Plaza, a private housing estate of more than 60 floors completed in 2007, located on the coast were once there was one of the 2 old Kowloon Towngas.

Moreover, in 2005 started CBD2 project, that aims to turn the historical popular and industrial district of Kowloon City into the second business district of the city.62 As we understood, since its born, this district had a fundamental role for the Hong Kong economy, initially because of agriculture and fishing, consequently dealing with manufactures industry and in the future with finance. However, what distinguishes most of all this district from others, it’s that it has always been an immigration arrival point and it is characterised by an even high multiculturalism. As industrial district, the lack of space forced a high land use for construction to detriment of green areas and public spaces. Anyway, the government decision of revitalise the exiting industrial building, maintaining them as cultural heritage of the city, allows us to think about a possible use of their large flat roofs as an evolution of that public space that themselves removed from the ground floor.

59. Shelton B., Karakiexicz J., Kvan, The making of Hong Kong : from vertical to volumetric, New York, 2011.

60.Hong Kong Memory, Industrialization in Post-war Hong Kong, Hong Kong, <http://www.hkmemory.hk/collections/postwar_ industries/industrialization_in_postwar_hong_kong/index.html#&panel1-1>, 2016 [last retrieved: 2017-09-08] 61. Centre for Culture and Development, CUHK, Survey on the Current Status of Industrial Buildings for Arts Activities and Future Demand, Hong Kong, http://www.hkadc.org.hk/wp-content/uploads/ResourceCentre_ResearchReport/20110127_CSIB/Research_ Report.pdf., 2010, [last retrieved: 2017-09-08] 62. Energizing Kowloon East, Background, Hong Kong, http://www.ekeo.gov.hk/en/about_ekeo/background.html., 2016, [last retrieved: 2017-09-08]

KOWLOON CITY

HISTORICAL MAPS

1860

1940

1920

1957 These maps present Kowloon City District evolution.

The first map relates to the First Convention of Beijing, 1860. It defined land division between China and England. The secon map shows the evolution of Kowloon City. The third map, instead, represents the development of To Kwa Wan and Ma Tau Wai in 1940. The fourth image shows the reclamation lands growth of the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;50s. The last map shows the current situation of the area.

maps from oldmapsonline.org

2015

maps from oldmapsonline.org

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KOWLOON CITY

1898

KOWLOON WALLED CITY

photo by Ian Lambot

1950

80

1975

photo by Ian Lambot

1989

photo by Greg Girard

2017

photo by Ian Lambot

KOWLOON CITY

KAI TAK

1898

photo by South Chine Morning Post

1981

photo by Andrew Subbaby

1998

photo by Vincent Yu

1947

photo byJim Watkins

2017

81

82

KOW LOON

CIT Y

DIST

RICT

KOWLOON WALLED CITY PARK

MA TAU WAI

KAI TAK DEVELOPMENT AREA

MA TAU KOK

KWUN TONG

TO KWA WAN

HUNG HOM

83

84

KOWLOON CITY

This is the coastal area of Kowloon City Distrct. We analysed this part because of its heterogeneous nature. Due to the proximity to the sea, the KCD coast has always been used by industries and port services. This area had the most relevant residential construction period during the ‘60, the Hong Kong’s industrial boom era.

The hilly area, instead, has the most of the services of KCD. Infact, several schools and government buildings are there. Almost the entire part of public housing estates are in this area.

RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS SERVICES INDUSTRIAL BUILDINGS

85

KOWLOON CITY

OFFICES

CBD2 According to the Cambridge Dictionary a Central Business District (CBD) is “the main part of a city where most of its offices, stores, etc. are”. The Encyclopaedia of World Geography deepens by asserting :“ A Central Business District (CBD) is the nucleus or downtown of an urban area that contains the main concentration of commercial land use, with the highest percentage of retail shops, offices and services such as banking and finance. […] Applicable to any city, the CBD is found in global cities with international and financial business centres such as New York, London […] Hong Kong …” and continues “In global cities where CBD is strong, advantages include local expertise, world-class technology, specialised knowledge, and networking capabilities”.63 Hong Kong has one of the most influential financial markets of the world and, as we explained in the first part of this thesis, it needs an even uncreasing growth of new attractive spaces for investors. Since the financial boom of the ‘80s, Hong Kong has developed a huge CBD in Central district of Hong Kong. However, currently, beside a more commercial offices space need, the presence of the abandoned and unused Kai Tak land favoured the government decision of transforming Kowloon City District into an expansion of the current CBD, branded as CBD2.64 In the report made by Jones Lang 63. McColl R. W., Encyclopedia of World Geography, New York, 2005, pp. 159-161.

64. Energizing Kowloon East, Background, Hong Kong, 2016.

86

RESIDENCES

C B D2 THE

KAI

TA K

STADIUM COMPLEX

REDEVELOPM

PUBLIC HOUSING

The area involved in the Kai Tak Redevelopment is a huge territory of more than 360 hectares. It is plan to become the Second Central Business District of Hong Kong.

The area is a mix of several functions.

There are more than 2.000.000 sq/m of new houses. Several commercial areas, a Stadium Complex, offices, a Cruise Terminal for turists and in the Kwun Tong Area, there is a hospital.

This area is supposed to become a central node for the future development of Hong Kong

COMMERCIAL

METRO PARK

MENT

HOSPITAL

HOUSING AND COMMERCE

CRUISE TERMINAL

MASTERPLAN

87

KOWLOON CITY

Lasalle Broader Hong Kong: Commercial Space Master-plan embraces CBD2 Development it is noticed that “A total of 11 million ft2 (almost 1million m2) of commercial space is forecast to be built on the Kai Tak development area, of which we expect about half will be Grade A, office for use by private sector”.65 The main project of this major redevelopment plan, promoted by the government since 2004 (first studies), it’s the Kai Tak Development (KTD), with a total dimension of 320 hectares, 2 millions m2 planned 49.000 housing units projected and the biggest public park of Hong Kong.

By the way, this plan aims to take care of the community and the district heritage as revealed by the facts. In 2009-2010 the government enact a policy of revitalisation of old industries, sometimes illegally occupied and often deteriorated. In 2012 the government established Energizing Kowloon East (EKEO), as supervisor office in order to monitor the development of Kowloon East, promote to future users the project and intermediate between government and inhabitants. As reveals the official KTD website “The planning vision of KTD is to develop a distinguished and vibrant, attractive and people-oriented community by the Victoria Harbour”.66 An interesting example of Kai Tak Development promotion in public debate by Energizing Kowloon East in 2014, is the Kai Tak Fantasy International Ideas Competition on Urban Planning and Design in order to find a solution for

88

a future implementations by the government.

The goal of the project had to be a solution for tourism and entertainment for public enjoyment. The winning project was Kai Tak 2.0: Healthy Lift Off, an attractive project that incorporates global and local solutions, with a synergy between nature and urban, through floating structures. The main interesting thing is that this competition induced a huge debate upon the future development of the district, from the lowest social classes to the highest.67 Therefore, Kowloon City District is truly transforming: new scenarios are opening to new social classes, by encouraging the middle-high class inhabitants arrival and relation with the low-income present population. We can see this mixture also in the new project, where luxurious estates are beside public housing estates. By studying this redevelopment plan, we’ve noticed there is an impressive interest by the government in facing community’s needs in planning projects. A issue that in the past often created debate in Hong Kong.

65.Jones Lang Lasalle, Broader Hong Kong: Commercial Space Master-plan embraces CBD2 Development, Hong Kong, <http://www.jll.com.hk/hong-kong/en-gb/Research/paper-hk2012-CBD2.pdf.>, 2015, [last retrieved: 2017-09-08] 66. Civil Engeneering and Development Department, Kai Tak Development, Hong Kong, 2017, http://www.ktd.gov.hk/eng/ 67. Energizing Kowloon East, Kai Tak Fantasy International Competition, Hong Kong, <http://www. ekeo.gov.hk/kaitakfantasy/en/exh_result.html.>, 2014 [last retrieved: 2017-09-08]

KOWLOON CITY

CBD2

TOTAL AREA: 328ha COMMERCIAL 20.3ha

6.2 % 1.4 %

2.7 %

AMENITY

MIXED USE 1.4ha

8.9ha

10.6 % ROAD NETWORK

HIGH TO MEDIUM DENSITY HOUSING 34.5ha

21.6 %

2.6 %

70.9ha

LOW DENSITY HOUSING 8.5ha

13.6 %

GIC/SCHOOLS/OTHER SPECIFIED USES 44.5ha

OPEN SPACE

7.1 %

H

31.3 %

MULTI-PURPUSE STADIUM COMPLEX 23.2ha

102ha

4%

CRIUSE TERMINAL AND TOURISM NODE 13.3ha

$

882.500

H 85.500 NEW POPULATION $

2.044.700 HOUSING GFA

85.400 NEW EMPLOYERS

H 351.100 HOTEL GFA

$

OFFICE GFA

H

H

450.600 RETAIL GFA

$

H $

$

89

KAI TAK The Kai Tak area has a great importance in Hong Kong history. It is one of the main reclamation land program in the history of the city, nevertheless it is an icon of Kowloon City District. Nowadays, after the airport closing, several studies has been took.

The government decided to build the development of the CBD2, as evolution of the Central District. The previous projects 90 considered the evolution of the reclamation lands, but consequently to various bad opinions, the government decided to develop a project with no reclamations.

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KOWLOON CITY

GENTRIFICATION DEBATE IN KCD Gentrification issue, as explained in the previous pages, is a key point of the social development in Hong Kong. Every development or renewal project flows in fervent debates between population and government. Also the huge and relevant Kai Tak Development plan is, nowadays, a key issue of the urban debate in Kowloon City District. Although the government thought about community necessities in this project, gentrification seems to be inevitable. As we previously claimed, the urban plan foresees, in addition to the new constructions, the revitalisation of old industrial buildings, known as the cultural heritage of Kowloon City District. This process, theoretically remarkable, is having an unexpected tendency to gentrify these old areas.

Since the introduction of this policy of revitalisation, as the “Survey on the Current Status of Industrial Buildings for Arts Activities and Future Demand 2010” reveals that over 60% of industrial buildings users, most of them artists and musicians, are having serious economic troubles due to significant rent hikes and severe land-use restrictions.68 These factors, in some cases, are forcing artists to move to others more affordable areas in the city. A famous case of this controversy is the one faced by Hidden Agenda.

This is one of the most acclaimed live houses of Kwun Tong (a sub-district of Kowloon City District) and it’s facing, since 2011 several troubles with the Land Department and the Food and Hygiene Department. A controversial event that rose up the public opinion, happened in 9th of May 2017, as referred the HKFP,

92

Hong Kong Free Press, when a police raid led to 7 arrests at the Hidden Agenda, including British musicians of the indie band TTNG. After that, several protests by dozens of music fans and artists outside the Kwun Tong police station.

After been released, TTNG members said “Hong Kong as we know as an international city with freedom and diversity, should give greater room for creative works and performance to flourish” and referring to the continuous police raids, Hui Chung-wo, the Hidden Agenda founder, referred “From noise, to Food and Environmental Hygiene Department licenses, to land lease violations… this all stems from the Hong Kong government’s lack of understanding for what a live house does” and talking about licensing several police reclaims “when [the authorities] want to arrest you, they can arrest you in every possible way.” 69 Hidden Agenda, by offering a venue for independent music, has contributed to transform a old industrial area in a place for community and exchange of ideas.

Unfortunately, consequently to several police raids, Hidden Agenda faced various troubles due to performance cancellation and incessant rent increasing. so that in middle July Hidden Agenda shouted down. This is only one of the most famous cases (others are Osage Gallery, startfromzero, Salt Yard, etc.), but it is essential to understand Hong Kong’s government policy about the redevelopment strategies of these areas. As we defined in the previous pages, there is a detachment in the relation between government redevelopments and community spaces,

KOWLOON CITY

that frequently it is not filled. The pursuit of the government, through non-governmental and semi-governmental organisations, to get new urban plans and population needs closer, continue to prove insoluble difficulties.71 As the new KTD and the 2009-2010 Policy of Revitalisation are thought in order to improve spaces for the community and, obviously, for commerce and work, they’re, maybe, what Lefebvre defined as “a result of capitalist forces”. These new redeveloped areas, through fixed policies, don’t let people to freely experience, organise and occupy spaces and different classes are induced to move to other parts of the city, especially immigrants, small traders and, as formerly confirmed, several artists.

68. Hong Kong Arts Development Council, Survey on the Current Status of Industrial Buildings for Arts Activities and Future Demand, Hong Kong, 2010.

69. Tong E., Hidden Agenda raid: All 7 released, as UK band laments Hong Kong’s ‘difficult’ creative environment, 2017, <https://www.hongkongfp.com/2017/05/09/hidden-agendaraid-7-released-uk-band-laments-hong-kongs-difficult-creativeenvironment/> 70.. Zuser, T. (2014).Hidden agenda? Cultural policy in Hong Kong’s urban redevelopment, Master’s thesis, Department of Cultural Studies, Lingnan University, Hong Kong, 2014, http://commons.ln.edu.hk/cs_etd/21

Discussion between the police and Hidden Agenda founders after the venue’s closing due to licences issues Photo: Yuen Chi-chung

93

94

KOWLOON CITY

This map shows the urban growth of Kowloon City District coastal area. We focussed on this area because since its born it is the most involved in urban developments, due to the proximity to the sea. As we can see the central area of To Kwa Wan and great part of Ma Tau Kok shall keep old buildings since the 60’s in great part in bad conditions with informal settlements above the roofs.

The southern area of Hung Hom and Ho Man TIn are the most renovated, and rich areas. The bay is still full of industries. Except for the Kai Tak Redevelopment Area, there are also other two areas under construction that are located on To Kwa Wan’s coast.

PUBLIC HOUSING ESTATES RESIDENCES BUILT BETWEEN ‘60 AND ‘70 RESIDENCES BUILT BETWEEN ‘80 AND ‘90 RESIDENCES BUILT AFTER AFTER ‘00

95

SQUARE METER PRICE : 70.000 HKD (8.500€)

FLAT DIMENSIONS : 40 < 70 m2

in this area, because new public housing estates development was moved to new towns.

By the way, houses built in the ‘60s are the cheapest ones and the greatest part of the district residences. These houses were built consequently to the industrial development of the district, with cheap materials and nowadays is facing several issues of mainteinance.

These houses are characterized by the presence of rooftop communities of the top level. Since the ‘80s, in the period

RESIDENCE BUILT BETWEEN ‘60 AND ‘70: PANG CHING STREET BUILDING

SQUARE METER PRICE : NO DATA AVAILABLE

FLAT DIMENSIONS : NO DATA AVAILABLE

PUBLIC HOUSING ESTATE: LOK MAN SUN CHUEN

This diagram aims to present the relation between the house construction period and the square meter price in Kowloon City District.

New house construction, so, defines the social transformation of the district, through gentrification.

Here there are the 4 housing models of Kowloon City District, ordered from the cheapest to the most expensive. The public housing program is outside from our assumption, even if since the ‘80s no public housing units were constructed

FLAT DIMENSIONS : 30 < 75 m2

RESIDENCE BUILT AFTER ‘00: GRAND WATERFRONT PLAZA

SQUARE METER PRICE :110.000 HKD (14.000€)

FLAT DIMENSIONS : 30 < 50 m2

RESIDENCE BUILT BETWEEN ‘80 AND ‘90: HANG CHIEN COURT

Transactions data retrieved on Centadata: http://www1.centadata.com/ephome.aspx

SQUARE METER PRICE : 130.000 HKD (16.000€)

of the financial boom, the constructions quality is better and flats are occupied by middle-class people.

The most interesting transformation is in the first years of 2000. These new estates were built after the Kai Tak closing, thanks to new building laws, that let developers to construct more levels. These new estates are characterized by a shopping mall podium and luxurious towers.

KOWLOON CITY

98

KOWLOON CITY

99

MA TAU KOK Ma Tau Kok is an area of the sub-district of To Kwa Wan, Kowloon City District, south west of Kai Tak area and north of To Kwa Wan. This is a limited area of 0,24 km2 on the East coast of Kowloon, principally composed by old industrial buildings, but it also comprised old houses and a luxurious private housing estates.

It is well-known in Hong Kong for the Cattle Depot, an old slaughterhouse of the first years of XX century, currently renovated as an artist village.

In Ma Tau Kok is situated the Kowloon City Ferry Pier and the Ma Tau Kok Public Pier, which, at present, characterise this area as port for people and goods in Kowloon East. This area is also a terminal station for many busses of Kowloon, enough to make Ma Tau Kok one of the better served zones by this public transport.

The main streets are Ma Tau Kok Road, a busy street with the most of the shops and restauran-

100

ts of the area, and To Kwa Wan Road, the street that cross Kowloon City district from the centre of To Kwa Wan to the new Kai Tak redeveloped area.

Ma Tau Kok, as core area of Kowloon City District has been involved in every transition that the district itself has faced during the years. The area is characterised by several car workshops that in the years occupied the ground floor of residential buildings. Industrial buildings, after been closed down, were subdivided in little offices, sold to private societies and as stated before, an old slaughterhouse, the Cattle Depot, is currently used as artist village.

Ma Tau Kok is also known in Hong Kong for the presence of the two most important town gas of the city, one of which has been closed and replaced by the luxurious Grand Waterfront Plaza.

Most of all, Ma Tau Kok is a transit area for visi-

tors and inhabitants, thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s why the great part of services are for locals. This area is mostly paved, except for a Recreation Ground, a green and sport area that shares with To Kwa Wan sub-district. Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a a lack of public spaces, but on the other side there is an high presence of NGOâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, charities and public services for immigrants and low-income people. Also the large number of artists and manufacturers that occupy part of the unused old industries, are interested in social assistance, organising free courses and community events for locals and immigrants. Ma Tau Kok is an interesting ever-changing old district that is charachterised by significant flows of population and unexploited urban potentials that have been a starting point for our project.

101

CATTLE DEPOT ARTIST VILLAGE

TO KWA WAN RECREATION GROUND

102

MA T AU K OK A

REA

KAI TAK

KOWLOON CITY PUBLIC PIER

103

MA TAU KOK

INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUND During 1950s and 1960s small industries were really diffused in To Kwa Wan and Ma Tau Kok districts.

These factories do not have anything in common with the large scale or modern factories, hiding in the local community, they formed a special mode of production, by closely tying their operations with the people living there. This small scale 104 industries now is an important collective memory of Ma Tau Kok people.

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MA TAU KOK

ARRIVAL DISTRICT Despite its industrial developing, Ma Tau Kok is well known in Hong Kong because of its multicultural nature and corresponding lifestyle. The district, but more broadly To Kwa Wan area, received since the early 20th century many land-usages, which in more established parts of the territory are considered too hazardous or polluting: the Cattle Depot, the Gas Town, the cotton factories and the airport.

On the other hand, due to its logistic importance, the area is well connected with the other parts of the city and offers a range of jobs for local grassroots and newcomers.

Based on its noise emissions and air pollution, spaces for housing, workshops and businesses are cheaper here than in other areas, thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s why the district became an arrival land for many immigrants arriving to Hong Kong and looking for an economic solution to begin a new life in the city. Walking on the streets of Ma Tau Kok it is common meeting people from all over the world, mainly from Mainland China, Southeast Asia, as Indians and Pakistans, but you can also get in contact with Philippine families or African guys, came to Hong Kong looking for a better life quality.

The presence of such numerous different ethnic groups made Ma Tau Kok famous for its multiculturalism, though, not always it is well seen by original dwellers of the city. The relation between residents and immigrants is often not easy.

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MA TAU KOK

CHANGES AFTER KAI TAK CLOSING The existence of the International Airport on the near Kai Tak reclamation land, inevitably influenced the urban development of Ma Tau Kok more than other districts. All the buildings constructed before 1998 were built of a maximum of 9 storeys, in some cases, as the residences of the so called “13 streets” are decreasing in height, reaching 5-6 storeys in the airport direction.71 Since the closing of the airport, this area became more appealing for investments and old unused industrial building were demolished in order to construct luxurious private estates of more that 60 storeys like the Grand Waterfront Plaza. This process further brought new shopping malls, never been existed in Ma Tau Kok, and old shops were changed in gourmet corners.

This process is also transferring a new social class, that composed of rich people, to such an historical popular sub-district as Ma Tau Kok. Due to the rising of the second Central Business District of Hong Kong in the Kai Tak area, the government wants to expand the renewal project to great part of Kowloon City District, particularly on the close vicinity to the Kai Tak Development. Because of that in 2011, after the promulgation of the Urban Renewal Strategy, that proposed to set up the District Urban Renewal Forum, a district advisory body that has been adopted in order to let the renewal process being more district-based and public participatory, Kowloon City District has been established as the first pilot DURF. The interesting thing of this innovative process is that it

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gave us a document called Social Impact Assessment of Urban Renewal Plan for Kowloon City” that explain the district community profile or the analysis of people’s livelihood in areas to be affected by the Urban Renewal Proposals, the future project of the district proposed by the government and the relative social impact and feedback from stakeholders, relative proposed mitigation measures and strategies for the relocation of locals.73 As referred by the report “Kowloon City will undergo numerous large-scale infrastructures projects […] These projects will bring a new scene to the district in the future”. In the project of the KTD, the whole coast of Ma Tau Kok is under redevelopment, this represents the demolishment of the so called 5 Streets and other industrial and residential buildings. This seems that those buildings need to be demolished and people to be relocated. Since this, in the report are explained several issue that could be caused by redevelopment. Some of them concerned fees related to development, re-housing issues, most of all for the great number of illegal housing tenant (subidivided housed, rooftop communities), increase in financial burden after redevelopment, inability .

Due to those several difficulties, the government is now thinking about reshaping boundaries of the Kai Tak Development project in Ma Tau Kok, taking into account preservating and revitalisating projects of those old houses on the coast, instead of their demolishment.

71. Ngo J, Neighbourhood Sounds To Kwa Wan: Rundown but in high spirits, South China Morning Post, 10 August 2012, <http://www. scmp.com/article/1014458/kwa-wan-rundown-high-spirits>.

72. Civil Engeneering and Development Department, Overview of Kai Tak Development, <http://www.ktd.gov.hk/eng/overview.html.>, 2008.

MA TAU KOK

THE NEW MTR STATION Between several Kowloon City District renewal projects, probably the most relevant is the construction of the MTR station of To Kwa Wan. This area has always been badly connected by the MTR, so that, currently, the closest stations to Ma Tau Kok, are Ho Man Tin and Whampoa station, more than 1.5 km far from the area. Consequently to the Kai Tak redevelopment in 2012, the government decided to plan a new MTR line called East West Corridor, that links Sha Tin directly to Central, in order to serve the whole Kowloon City District, including Ma Tau Kok area.73 In 2018 probably the MTR station of To Kwa Wan and Ma Tau Wai will be finished. Since the born of this project, the land prices have risen and several renewal projects were thought by the URA and private developers. Actually, discussions about the demolishment of great part of the old buildings of the district were held since ’90s by the URA, but never was realised.74 For example the construction of the Grand Waterfront Plaza, new luxurious residences with a huge shopping mall, probably can be related to the Kai Tak redevelopment and the MTR station development.

Although as referred by the RHL report, talking about the future development of the neighbourhood of To Kwa Wan “It is inevitable that neighbourhood characteristics of these older districts shall cease after redevelopment activites, therefore the preservation of the traditions and way of life in these areas had become hot topics.” and continues “Amongst redevelopment proposals, the Urban Renewal Authority

emphasised in their Bailey Street/Wing Kwong Steet Development Project, that it aims to retain pedestrianised streets to provide for retail use rather than building large-scale shopping malls, as well as to focus on improving local environment”.75 In the future, one of the possible consequence of the MTR station will be the interesting by developers in buying old industrial buildings to make profit, maybe interacting with the promising numerous start-ups that rose up in the district in the last years, facilitating an innovative business-based district development, as encouraged by the government with the 20092010 Policy of revitalisation, leaving aside the only construction of luxurious real estates and shopping malls, maintaining the actual local environment.76

73. MTR Corporation Ltd, Shatin To Central Link, <http:// www.mtr-shatincentrallink.hk/en/project-details.>, 2013 [last retrieved: 2017-09-08] 74. Sung T., URA plans HK$10b redevelopment in To Kwa Wan, RTHK, 3 June 2016.

75. RHL International Ltd, The Wheel of Gentrification, Market Watch Report, June 2016.

76.Policy Address, Breaking New Ground Together, < https:// www.policyaddress.gov.hk/09-10/eng/p21.html>, 2010 [last retrieved: 2017-09-08]

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MTR STATION In these last years, according to the government decision of renewal the Kai Tak Area as new CBD, it has been improved the underground infrastructure, building 3 new MTR stations in the areas of To Kwa Wan, Ma Ta Wai and Kai Tak. This new infrastructure project is the continuation of the East West Corridor that links Tai Wai and Hung Hom, part of the project of 110 linking Sha Tin to Central.

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MA TAU KOK

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NEW MTR STATION

MA TAU KO

MA TAU WAI MTR STATION

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MA TAU KOK

AN ENTREPRENEURIAL DISTRICT These crowd of future possibilities and activities shall make Ma Tau Kok a thriving developing area where the government could invest in the following years. Cities need to develop in an entrepreneurial way which transforms themselves into places that enable and facilitate start ups, innovative business models development, flexible to evolve over time, a vibrant urban space welcoming for foreigners and locals, a cluster for innovation with a positive impact on the immediate surroundings and on the city overall.77 To Kwa Wan state of affairs changed after the decommissioning of Kai Tak Airport, the repeal of the related building-height limitations, the redevelopment plan for Kowloon East and the construction of the new Shatin-Central MTR link. Many urban blocks were already redeveloped into new expensive residential estates.

However, the large sites of 13 Streets and 5 Streets offer a unique opportunity to develop alternative urban models, which learn from the history of the place, and combining affordable housing with spaces for economic opportunities and social encounters.

Ma Tau Kok has already a multicultural and entrepreneurial background that should take advantage of the future developing to improve its potential betting on industrial and commercial aspects, focusing on its community reality already existing more than on a privatisation of this heritage.

77. Tieben H., The entrepreneurial city - re-envisioning To Kwa Wan, Hong Kong, 2016.

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MA TAU KOK

THE PUBLIC SPACE DEBATE

The deep characterisation of the public space carried out by the Government has its reflection also in Ma Tau Kok area. Due to the city’s regulation we find different categories of “Official Public Areas”: - To Kwa Wan recreation ground is designed for sport activities and children playground; - How Sham Park is a relaxing area where Chinese meet to play cards and karaoke, -Waterfront sitting area is a dock fitted with benches where people relax fishing and reading.

This characterisation do not allow people to live the public space as they want, especially in the minorities there is no identification in these places. This is a reason why is not difficult to find immigrants on the streets trying to re-appropriate space for their activities.

vice from Causeway-bay to Kowloon Peninsula.

Beyond its primary aim, it is theatre of many other activities, such that it could be defined as an informal public space. In the early morning it’s easy to see elderly using this outdoor space for sporting activities, people going jogging or practicing in kung-fu. Over the whole day, you can see people sat on its benches fishing or just reading a book, enjoying the sun and the see air. It is place for religious rites and tourist meeting-point at the same time.

- 13 and 5 Streets. Also on their sidewalks people live their life as in a public living room.

Apartments located inside building on these streets are really dirty and narrow, for that reason dwellers move their life on the streets.

We identify four mainly “Unofficial Public Areas” where people meet and stay together: - Hung Fook Street is a little street in the South of To Kwa Wan district. People here, giving back the street to pedestrian, have the possibility to organise events and block parties.

- To Kwa Wan Road is the main road of the area. The informal public space here are wide sidewalks where dwellers meet, eat and speak together.

- Kowloon City Pier; this is the most important informal public space. Located in the south-east of the district, it is the docking area for ferry ser-

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13 Streets

OFFICIAL PUBLIC SPACES

5 Streets

Waterfront sitting area 13SITTING Streets WATERFRONT AREA 13 Streets

Wan Recreation Ground 5 Streets 5 Streets

Kowloon City Ferry Pier Waterfront sitting area Waterfront sitting area TO KWA WAN RECREATION GROUND

To Kwa Wan Road Wan Recreation Ground Wan Recreation Ground HOI SHAM PARK

Hoi Sham Park Kowloon City Ferry Pier Kowloon City Ferry Pier Hung Fook Street To Kwa Wan Road

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MA TAU KOK

OFFICIAL PUBLIC SPACES

To Kwa Wan Recreation Ground

Waterfront Sitting Area

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To Kwa Wan Recreation Ground

MA TAU KOK

Hoi Sham Park

Hoi Sham Park

Hoi Sham Park

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INFORMAL PUBLIC SPACES 13 Streets 13 STREETS13 Streets 5 Streets 5 Streets 5 STREETS

Waterfront sitting area Waterfront sitting area 13 Streets 13 Streets

Wan Recreation Ground Wan Recreation Ground 5 Streets 5 Streets

KOWLOON CITY PUBLIC PIER Kowloon City Ferry Pier Kowloon City Ferry Pier Waterfront sitting area Waterfront sitting area TO KWA WAN ROAD

To Kwa Wan Road To Kwa Wan Road Wan Recreation Ground Wan Recreation Ground Hoi Sham Park Hoi Sham Park

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MA TAU KOK

INFORMAL PUBLIC SPACES

Hung Fook Street

13 Streets

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Kowloon City Ferry Pier

MA TAU KOK

Kowloon City Ferry Pier

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MA TAU KOK PEOPLE During our research time on site, we had the opportunity to interview different kinds of people living and working in Ma Tau Kok. We tried to understand which is the way people live and think the area and its public spaces.

124 In the following pages we present some of these interviews, the most representing and meaningful.

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MA TAU KOK

A CONVERSATION WITH SIUTIN COMMUNITY CULTURAL CONCERN

We met SiuTin thanks to Maggie Ma, an Hongkongese architect of Domat Studio, in order to know something better about the Ngo C.C.C. and about the main issues of To Kwa Wan and Ma Tau Kok. He took us to the rooftop communities and helped us in relate with people who speech only in cantonese.

He explained us the role of a Ngo in a multicultural district as Kowloon City.

What is your role in Community Cultural Concern? Where does the Ngo operate in Hong Kong?

I am one the founder of C.C.C., my mainly work is to keep in touch all these organisations trying to help their interaction, so that the result is better. But my work is also to speak and interact with citizens, understanding their problems and needs.

We are not working only in this area but we have others offices in Wan Chai, at the Blue House, and in New Territories, where we are working on the village theme, particularly in Choi Yun. Here in To Kwa Wan - Ma Tau Kok we mainly deal with public space and rooftop communities themes.

Who lives on rooftop communities? How do your organisation favourite the integration of immigrants in the district?

The majority of rooftop dweller are immigrants from Mainland China, South-East Asia and Africa. Many of this last are refugees who find

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a place here in Hong Kong because of the open policies for the reception.

To help the integration between locals and immigrants C.C.C. in collaboration with ToHome organises cooking classes and language courses.

In your opinion, which could be the best operation to improve their lifestyle?

I think that the most important operation is to try to create a sense of community between dwellers, so that they could live and share their little and narrow space without problems.

SiuTin is the founder of the Cultural Community Concern (C.C.C.) an NGO working on Ma Tau Kok district and he is also in contact with all the organisation working in this area. This is why he is maybe one of the person that better knows which are the most problematic issues in the district. Thanks to him we had the chance to go inside rooftop communities and to speak with dwellers.

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A CONVERSATION WITH FRANK TO KWA WAN HOUSE OF STORIES

We met Frank Al at the seat of “The House of To Kwa Wan Stories”, a no-profit organisation born in the last 10 years in the district. Its main goal is to enter the community, to feel and experience the local people’s lives, in order to build a “Home” that belongs to To Kwa Wan. It is based in its headquarter but, at the same time interacting with the public space. Key members of the Stories of House includes Senior social worker Lai, Artist Wong Tong, a part-time staff Ling, and many students who are doing their internship from different colleges.

Which are the main activities of the ToHome?

The House of To Kwa Wan Stories is an important community for the district, we organise crafts and arts workshops, this is also a place where people could meet for studying or discussing about the district.

Do you have any relation with rooftop communities?

It is one of communities most in need. The most important issues deal with rubbish and lack of space. We worked on one of these in To Kwa Wan Road, giving them primary services and upgrading their common spaces. Now it has became an aggregation point for all citizens who could go above the building enjoying this space, away from the traffic and noisy street.

Is rooftop farming an existing reality here in Ma Tau Kok?

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Yes! There are some organisation working on it.

Project Green is one of these, they built a rooftopgarden above an industrial building where they cultivate boxes that people could rent.

They also organise teaching class where people learn to farm their vegetables.

It is an interesting developing field that could be better improved.

Frank Al is a volunteer of The House of To Kwa Wan Stories. He is a 19 years old guy, studying to be a film-maker. He is part of â&#x20AC;&#x153;To-Homeâ&#x20AC;?, as they call it, not from many time but he has been really happy to help us.

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A CONVERSATION WITH TOMMY ST. JAMES SETTLEMENT CHARITY

We met Tommy (Au Yeung Kwun Tung) at St. James Settlement Charity, where he works sicne a few years. We talked with him about the issue of redevelopment in Kowloon City District and how the charity helps inhabitant in this period.

What is the St. James Charity mission? Which is its role in the urban renovation program?

St. James Settlements has the mission of helping people who live in houses under URA redevelopment process finding new affordable housing solutions. The main issue is that a lot of people of these houses is living in illegal condition, and the government don’t provide any reward, so they move to other illegal houses, that are often miserable solutions. The To Kwa Wan St. James’ role is being mediator between government and people.

Which are the main issues of the URA redevelopment programs?

The main issues of the URA redevelopment programs is about rewards to dwellers, that aren’t enough for buying another flat in good conditions in Hong Kong, where the housing price per square meters reaches really high values. In this way, people move to other districts in search for affordable flats.

Which are the most common people’s feelings about the redevelopment of Kowloon City

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district?

Well... the large part of inhabitants of these houses, are elderly people that lives here since more than 30 years ago. Redevelopment programs favourite gentrification and increasing of costs for living, so it is difficult for them to continue living here, however they don’t want to move, because they’re afraid of moving to other parts of the city.

Which are the limits of the Public Housing Program?

Hong Kong probably has one of the best Public Housing Programs, however, the large request of the last years and the lower amount of available public housing flats, is an important issue that convinced the government in increase limitations for apply a request. Also often the waiting lists reach more than 5 years of await.

Tommy is a volunteer of the St. James Settlement Charity.

He helps people under redevelopment programs.

He well knows issues about urban renewal and we talked to him in order to understand better how the people interact with these processes.

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A CONVERSATION WITH PADDY NG WHEEL THINGS MAKERS

Why do you live and work in this building Paddy? Is it a kind of illegal setup?

Yes, it is. But it is really common in this part of the city. There is not many space on the ground.

What is exploitable is very expansive, so people use these abandoned and free spaces. This district was an important industrial area in the past but, now, factories are moving to Mainland China and South-East Asia. The Government has a project to transform this district into a mix of commercial and residential, but know these building are still abandoned.

What do you think about Hong Kong and particularly To Kwa Wan and Ma Tau Kok district?

I love my city, but I know that there are a lot of problems in its organisation and distribution of wealth. Ma Tau Kok is my district, I always lived and worked here. I think that it is a very interesting place where to live, it is full of different people, a mix of locals and immigrants, but of course, this involves many coexistence issues. At once, there are also many locals working hard trying to improve their district.

Can you make any examples?

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Of course. I meanâ&#x20AC;Ś Walking on these streets and speaking with people living here, you can hear about many problems concerning living space, public and private space. But there are a lot of NGOs working on this theme, trying to help people less educated.

Which is the biggest problem in Ma Tau Kok? I think the lack of public space. You can find parks and sitting areas, but it is not what people really need here. Because of the high rent on building, people live in really little and narrow apartments, so they need places where they can do what they want without any restriction or tasksâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; definition.

Do you think people do not identify in these public spaces?

Yes, mainly immigrants minorities. They do not have many things in common with Chinese people.

Paddy Ng is a 35 years old Hong Kong citizen. He spent all his life living and working in Ma Tau Kok. He is the founder of â&#x20AC;&#x153;Wheel Thing Makersâ&#x20AC;? a craftsman association specialised in working scrap metal, trying to build something new, particularly bicycles.We met Paddy in his laboratory, above an abandoned industrial building where he also lives from many years.

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A CONVERSATION WITH GRACE PROJECT GROW

Project Grow is a project promoting the creation of rooftop farm above Hong Kong building. We met Grace on the roof of an ex-industrial building reconverted into offices. This rooftop garden is not open to public yet, but anyone can sign up for one of their events taking place there.

How is Project Grow born?

To Kwa Wan is an old neighborhood, the residents are attached to the place but it is losing its energy, we are just making our tiniest effort to rejuvenate the community again. Using the farming we keep community touch.

How can a citizen join you?

Everybody can join us. People have just to rent one of our boxes. Than we farm it and the renter could come here and learn how to farm it.

Once a week we meet for a cineforum and than we eat together our products.

Who is a typical renter?

The majority are guys and families. We have even members coming from the New Territories.

How did you find this rooftop, and how did you have a permission to farm here?

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This is an ex-industrial building, now converted into offices. We asked to societies if we could use the roof and they agree. The Government gave us the permission because we do not product only food but also culture and values.

Grace is a 55 years old volunteer of â&#x20AC;&#x153;Project Growâ&#x20AC;?.

She is originally from Mainland China, but she lives in Ma Tau Kok from 40 years.

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A CONVERSATION WITH WILFRED, BLUE AND MIUMIU CATTLE DEPOT ARTISTS VILLAGE

We met these three artists at the entrance of the Cattle Depot, an historical building of Ma Tau Kok that originally was a slaughterhouse and now, since 2001, it is an artist village. We found this innovative solution as potential for the community sphere of Ma Tau Kok. So we asked them some question about the relation between the people and the structure.

What does the Cattle Depot Artists Village promote?

The Cattle Depot is an artists venue promotes several events and exhibitions. It is composed of a bigger building for the exhibitions and other smallers as atelier for artists. People come for watching performances from all around Hong Kong and in these last few years the Cattle Depot had an increasing audience, thanks to local newspaper articles.

What is the relation between the Cattle Depot artists and people living in the neighbourhood?

The biggest issue of the Cattle Depot is that is bounded by walls, so people who don’t know what we do inside here, think that is a private property. People living in the nieghbourhood don’t interact with us, indeed, they sit outside the entrance on the street.

Why do people don’t interact with the Cattle

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Depot?

We think that people isn’t interested in relate with this venue partially because they don’t understand what we do inside, but also because there aren’t community areas where people can sit and discuss. As fundamental key point, lots of the people living in the surrounding neighbourhood are low income and they don’t have money to buy a ticket for an exhibition. As conclusion here the great part of the shows are in cantonese and lots of the people are immigrants and they don’t understand the language.

We need to solve those issues. Art must be for everybody!

Wilfred, Blue and MiuMiu are three young artists based at the Cattle Depot Artists Village. Wilfred and MiuMiu are two actors, Blue is a dancer. They live in Hong Kong, a little far from Ma Tau Kok.

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MA TAU KOK

THE MAGIC CARPET OF HENDRICK TIEBEN Magic Carpet was launched in 2013 by Hendrik Tieben of the School of Architecture and Anthony Fung of the School of Journalism and Communication at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, as an outreach program combining documentation of daily life, community engagement and urban design.

The project was first held in Sai Ying Pun in 2013 and was subsequently brought to To Kwa Wan in 2016. It consist in a transformation of a public space into an outdoor cinema in which movies about the neighbourhood are shown.

The movies are produced by local secondary school students, following a series of workshops that prepare them to conduct video-interviews with the community.

At Magic Carpet, community members and the general public interact with each other, building a stronger bond between themselves while empowering them to re-envision the possibilities of public space together.

The Magic Carpet project has been supported by the Knowledge Transfer Fund of The Chinese University of Hong Kong and the Quality Education Fund, Hong Kong. Each project has been linked to studios of CUHK to engage urban studies and design students in community projects.

A parallel Magic Carpet project is organized by the National Taiwan University in Taipei. Results of both Magic Carpet projects will be discussed on a forthcoming book publication in late 2016.78 78. Tieben H., Magic Carpet. Re-envisioning Community Space in Hong Kong, Hong Kong, The Journal of Public Space , 2016.

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MA TAU KOK ROOFS We made a deep survey of the Hong Kong roofs, studying precondition and potential. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve seen an heterogenous roofscape, that could be interesting to experiment on.

We divided roofs in residents, industries and services, taking care of the differences and users. We met 140 people living on these roofs and people that interact with them.

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MAP

Here we present the current situation of Ma Tau Kok district. This bird’s-eye view easily shows the wealth of exploitable spaces on the roof layer. Buildings are characterised by different heights, from low industrial buildings to residential towers, offering a very heterogeneus developing “ground”.

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1 13 STREETS 2 5 STREETS 3 GRAND WATERFRONT PLAZA 4 CHONG CHIEN COURT 5 HANG CHIEN COURT 6 WEI CHIEN COURT

2 SERVICES 7 CATTLE DEPOT ARTISTS VILLAGE 8 TO KWA WAN SPORT CENTER 9 NORTH POINT FERRY PIER 10 BRADBURY NURSING HOME FOR BLINDS 11 KOWLOON ANIMAL MANAGEMENT SERVICES 12 THE HONG KONG SOCIETY FOR BLINDS

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INDUSTRIES 13 KAPOK INDUSTRIAL BUILDING 14 MERIT INDUSTRIAL BUILDING 15 ON LOK FACTORY BUILDING 16 LUCKY HOUSE 17 CHEONG WAH FACTORY BUILDING 18 HING WAH CENTER 19 SHUN LUEN FACTORY BUILDING 20 NEW LEE WAH CENTER 21 NEW PORT CENTER 22 FREDER CENTER 23 K.K. INDUSTRIAL BUILDING 24 D.H.L. HOUSE 25 TRIANGLE MOTOR LTD 26 ETC HONG KONG 27 FRANK DALE & STEPSON HONG KONG 28 11 MOK CHEONG ST BUILDING 29 13 MOK CHEONG ST BUILDING 30 TING SUN PLAZA 1 31 TING SUN PLAZA 2 142

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A view of the 13 streets

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A view of the Chien Courts

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A view of the New Port Center

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A view of the Bradbury Nursing Home for Blinds

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A view of the To Kwa Wan Recreation Ground

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A view of Ma Tau Kok north

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f time PART 1

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Carlo Alberto Monteverde Giorgio Salza