Reconnecting the fragmentation between the underutilized waterfront & the hinterland : reimagining North Point waterfront / cy Siu, Wing Yee

Abstract

Hong Kong was only a small fishing village about one hundred and fifty years ago. The population remained at a relatively low level before the Second World War, at about six hundred thousand, and dropped abruptly during the War. Not too long after the War, there were a few occasions where huge influx of immigrants from the mainland China came to settle in Hong Kong. Today the population has increased to 7.15 million. Hong Kong has undergone massive transformation in city and economic development. With the rapid increase in population and economic development, there has been a continuous growing need for land supply. The Hong Kong - geographical settings is mainly mountains, taking up almost 60% of land which is not very suitable for housing development. In the early days, human settlement was mainly concentrated on the flat land along the Victoria Harbor. Housing developments gradually extended uphill, and the cost of development increases when the hilly terrain gets steeper whilst the slope safety becomes more difficult to ensure. Reclamation has long been adopted by the Hong Kong Government to create strips after strips of land along the coastal front of Hong Kong Island as well as other parts of the territories to increase the land supply for more development. The design thesis is a response to the phenomenon of fragmentation of space between the waterfront and the hinterland in Hong Kong. It will look at the relationship between the city, the edges and the infrastructure in Hong Kong. A project area – North Point Waterfront - will be identified with an objective to restructure the waterfront by extending urban grids to the edge, to recreate a public realm between the waterfront and the hinterland, and to reconnect the water to the existing urban fabric.