Eden of the Orient
Hong Kong’s dilemma
2020 - Hong Kong
Hong Kong has a unique set of urban characteristics. Beyond what it is known for: a vertical city boasting the highest number of skyscrapers in any city around the world, it reveals a growing lack of space. Build on a set of islands, with mountainous terrain covering the majority of the available land, all that is left to build are tiny slivers of space where the ever-rising population needs to be housed. To solve the land shortage, the Hong Kong government has been building hyper-dense 'new towns'. The results are staggering and form the subject of this photo-essay. 2 seemingly completely disassociated elements converge in the Hong Kong landscape: high rise living with abundant green-topped mountains. It reveals a set of problems, and explains the deeper meaning of the social unrest currently overtaking Hong Kong: is there still a liveable future in Hong Kong?
Future
With the ever rising housing shortage and associated costs, there has to be a solution for future development. One trajectory that the Hong Kong government has been taken is to look at land reclamation. As most of the new towns are already build on (partly) reclaimed land it is obvious to solve the land shortage with building more reclaimed land. This is exactly what the next proposed megaproject is for Hong Kong: Lantau Tomorrow Vision. This project would become the most expensive infrastructure project the city has ever undertaken and has logically faced a lot of discussion. While much of Hong Kong has seen land reclamation to extend shorelines and decrease the iconic Victoria Harbour, one can ask if it is necessary to build on water. With a disproportionate land use between residential land and the country park, you could wonder if it would perhaps be ok to encroach slightly in these boundary and find a more cost-efficient solution for the land shortage. After-all Hong Kong isn't short of land, it is short of land dedicated for housing. If all fails, we could also decide to live even smaller and increase density on the land that has been allocated for housing. Spend less time indoor and enjoy the country park because they take a big chunk out of our wallets each month.
