From reviving "homes" to sustaining "communities" : a framework for conserving public housing estates in Hong Kong with the historic urban landscape approach

Abstract

Heritage conservation in Hong Kong is focused on individual buildings rather than building clusters or neighbourhoods. In the case of public housing heritage, there are examples of standalone blocks being revitalised, but these public housing estates have never been holistically considered for conservation under the concept of cultural landscapes. Although many of them have existed intact for over half a century and now carry strong collective attachment, they are often undervalued and planned for demolition and redevelopment. Public housing is one of the major architectural typologies in Hong Kong belonging to the Modern Movement. The notion of decent modern housing for all was one of the critical ideologies of the Modern Movement and brought forward a global trend of planning and building housing projects, especially after the Second World War. Still dominated by dense, high-rise public housing estate blocks, the Hong Kong public housing programme is one of the extraordinary examples inheriting Modernist ideologies. The objective of this thesis is to recommend a comprehensive and sustainable conservation framework applicable to public housing estates in Hong Kong, by following the Historic Urban Landscape (HUL) approach. Through literature research, site surveys and qualitative interviews, this thesis argues that public housing estates in Hong Kong should be recognised as urban cultural landscapes for safeguarding and sustaining. Using Shek Kip Mei Estate as a case study, this thesis provides a better understanding that public housing estates constitute wider cultural landscapes instead of standalone buildings. There will be both challenges and opportunities if public housing estates are to be protected with the Historic Urban Landscape approach. Even though cultural landscape concepts are well-defined internationally, there is a lack of direction for how they should be implemented in Hong Kong, let alone applying them on public housing estates. A case study of conserving public housing estates in the United Kingdom is analysed to discuss how foreign practices may be adapted in the Hong Kong context. This piece of research demonstrates the contextual applicability of cultural landscape concepts in Hong Kong by using the typology of public housing, creating possibilities for further research on cultural landscapes and area conservation in Hong Kong.