A Culture of Fragmented Borderlands

Today I discovered that next to Rio de Janeiro, and Bombay, Hong Kong is one of the most fragmented, economically, socially, politically etc. segregated country in the world. Go figure. No wonder I hate Hong Kong planning a so called urban design so much and opted to leave it for design in China and anywhere else in the world. On the other hand, now that I am working with another spatially and socially divided “bordering” city in the world, I wonder if I was set out in Hong Kong to further see and experience these conditions first hand. I feel that everything I have done, every move I have made has lead me to better understanding my thesis on edge cities and borderland conditions. The disparity in Hong Kong is unbelievably wide. It ranges from a few Tycoons who own and run billion dollar estates, controlling the market, to people trying to survive over night in small “cage” like housing at HKD 2000/ month to make ends meet. Social segregation is more than transparent in HK, it is clearly accepted. With the lack of public open spaces, widely gated residential communities, immigrant housemates that occupy peoples homes during the week and sleep under highway bridges by the weekend-- there are mounds of non-designated outdoor “public” spaces where these housemates (mainly from the Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia) and their family members gather, temporarily allocated to sit on cardboard paper or trash bags as they share KFC and other local treats with friends. Their cheerful faces and color blends of funky hair and wear show no signs of inequality. However their harsh reality is never being accepted for permanent residency, it's a debate whether working for 7 or more years should grant them such. Think of California debate over illegal mexican immigrants working for years and whether or not they should have the rights to gain access to citizenship/working permit--in HK's case LEGALLY approved working immigrants currently CAN NOT gain anything other than a minimum wage (which was passed at HKD28 about a year ago). In addition to visible social disparities and open spaces, it is apparent in the way in which towers are designed, not to be so accessible by the public. New residential estate with seemingly share central common spaces are gated off or on podium level only accessible by the resident. Bridges connecting commercial towers are quite good in terms of accessibility across very wide highways and roads, however are only catered by expensive tenants, attracting a flow of prospective customers. The only real public domain that may work as such, although not driven by such is the completely “transit-oriented development” model at most metro stations all over HK. Public transit is highly affordable and with the convenience of the “octopus” card, accessible by all. For a range of HKD4.50 to HKD11.5, you can get from one side of the island (kowloon station) all the way to the other (central station). Exits bringing you to commercial streets are connected in many places from the station, and the underground is connected by affordable convenience shops such as 711, circleK, and other local pastry shops well received by the locals. The MTR, although privately owned and driven by commercial profit gains, is the only model I see in HK benefiting the whole (where the Trickle-down Effect is actually working). Almost all of the major waterfront in HK, which is so widely advertized and prized is indeed not accessible by anyone through any promenade, park or plaze space (large spaghetti-like of motorways along the water make it impossible to access). Instead, water-frontage is sold as added property waterfront estate whereby developers compete to build higher and higher towers for better and better views of the harbor. It saddens me to know that waterfront becomes “waterview” whereby the most exquisite restaurants my front their customers with breath taking views from above. I spent a lot of time in the past trying to “find” free waterfront views of the city from above, the best ones have ALWAYS been at expensive bars and restaurants. As an urban designer, seeing such spatial and social inequality leaves me in despair, especially when the policy just doesn't allow for any creativity to drive the challenges posed all over the world on bordering conditions. As a response, I have turned by back on Hong Kong and decided to tackle design problems in other places, whereby urban design can be better implemented on the social and spatial level. I'm not sure when Hong Kong will have the chance once again to further develop into the competitive global city it once was; however, if it does not address its social, economic, and infrastructural bordering conditions, it may well eventually fall under.