Utilization of the urban gaps : temporary landscape in between redevelopment

Abstract

In between the congested crowded urban layout of old districts in Hong Kong, it is not hard to discover one and another small left behind “gaps” in between the buildings. These lots, being left over, are either as land banking lots, or rented out for short-term tenancy. They, as being falling into the result of urban renewal, have an ultimate destiny of being redeveloped, but well before that, they are just leave there and wait for their other accompanies, in order to redevelop as a larger foot print. While the short 4 to 9 storey tall old Tong Lau had been redeveloped into 30-storey tall high-rise building, the capacity of affordable households had been raised significantly. Under the government policy of providing 1 m2 of open space per person, the growth of open space is obviously cannot catch up with the rapid redevelopment of old district. The urban land banked gaps, as a byproduct of the urban renewal process, are actually could be taken as a potential buffer to the imbalance development speed of urban redevelopment and open space. In connection to the temporary nature of the urban gaps, this thesis is aimed to focus on temporary landscape and to provide a sustainable strategy for coordination of different stakeholders, so as to utilize the gaps in a more valuable and sustainable way. Based on three main concerns: temporary, flexibility and sustainability, this thesis will test out how the strategy, in operational and design aspect, could work. An experimental case of Kowloon City district would be used as an example for testing the temporary landscape system.