Euphorigenic Landscapes — Issue 1.0 Sören Schöbel, Daniel Czechowski (Ed.) (Schriftenreihe - LAREG, Bd

Home , Kowloon Walled City, Shan Pui River

URBAN LANDSCAPE STUDIES EUPHORIGENIC LANDSCAPES

Euphorigenic Landscapes — issue 1.0 Sören Schöbel, Daniel Czechowski (Ed.) (Schriftenreihe - LAREG, Bd. 12/ Monograph Series - Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional Open Space, Vol. 12)

LAREG HONGKONG 22°18′N, 114°10′E

SIZE 1,104 KM2 POPULATION 7,061,200 DENSITY 6,480/KM2 ELEVATION 50 M TIME ZONE HKT (UTC+8) URBAN LANDSCAPE STUDIES ISSUE 1.0 EUPHORIGENIC LANDSCAPES PAGE 18

THE LANDSCAPE OF by Shenzhen River. Since Palaeolithic, HONGKONG there have been people like Hakka set- Yi-Fong Kuo tled and lived here. Hong Kong used to be a traditional agricultural region with only 2000 population in 1842; but it FLOATING CITY grew into an service-based internation- “Many, many years ago, on a fine, clear al economic centre with 7 million pop- day, the floating city appeared in the air ulation and average PPP about $4,4000 in full public gaze, hanging like a hy- in 2010. It’s 3500 times of its popu- drogen balloon....”1 lation in about 150 years ago. Hong Kong’s modern development focused Why does one choose XiXi’s “the Float- on interest-oriented, easy managed and ing City” as the introduction of this es- one-step development, mainly based on say? Is Hong Kong really a non-rooted, the power of modern governance and rich and alienated city as described in market economy, Lefèbvre’s global and XiXi’s novel or Wong Kar-wai’s Chun- institutional level, to transform land re- gking Express? “The Floating City” de- source to capitals and to working and scribes a modern international harbour living spaces for 7 million people. It’s city that was developed by overcoming power to transform the regional land- natural power and merging cultural scape is very different from the urban differences in a short time by the use areas grew from European medieval of institutional, economic, technologi- towns and Chinese ancient cities while cal and global labour power. Yes, Hong in these urban areas, the power of Mor- Kong is most recognised as a city in- phology, the power of global and insti- stead of a region for that it is isolated tutional level and the power of habitat from its ground; and it is merely about has hundreds of years to converse and the urban centre besides the Victoria intersect. The Landscape of Hong Kong Harbour and different functional–pro- is created with predominated traces of ductive, recreational and dwelling–sites quantitative plans and orders by indus- connected by rapid transport modes. In trial logic. fact, Hong Kong as a region is a mountainous peninsula (Kowloon Peninsu- THE LAYER OF MORPHOLOGY AND la) with 263 islands (the one opposite LAND RESOURCES Kowloon Peninsulas called Hong Kong Hong Kong, located at the intersection Island) and is divided from Shenzhen of Global market economy and Chinese URBAN LANDSCAPE STUDIES ISSUE 1.0 EUPHORIGENIC LANDSCAPES PAGE 19 social economy, has naturally the op- In the south, due to the mountain portunity to become an open market. forms and the regional climate, the The morphological beginnings of Hong surroundings of Victoria Bay and Port Kong as an international finance centre Shelter developed different livings. The are the Victoria Bay and its mountain- surroundings of Victoria Bay (known ous terrain. The Vitoria Bay–located as Hong Kong and Kowloon District), at the mouth of Pearl River Delta, the has more than the natural harbour. Its most developed area in China after 18 mountainous landform provides a shel- century, and with natural 15-meter’s ter for consistently settlement against deep water–and the 1180 km coastline typhoons ravaged the South East Asia from the islands, provides the foun- every summer. If one took the Central- dation for Hong Kong to grow up to Mid-Levels Escalator and Walkway the top-ranked container throughput System from the central business dis- among international harbours. In addi- trict at the coast to the top Victoria tion, the distribution of its mountains, Peak (known as the Peak), one would island, plains and bays is the most im- experience the Hong Kong miniature portant character to decide its urban while passing by the working/public region’s distribution: First, the form spaces, semi-private/mix-used high- of the Kowloon mountains that run rise districts and private villas. The sky- from north-east to south-west, has di- line, of glitter skyscrapers sitting on the vided Hong Kong into 4 areas: at the winding coastline with clusters of set- south-west is the Victoria Bay and its tlements at different times background surroundings; at the north is the Yuen by the hidden hills around the Victoria Long alluvial plain; at the north-east is Harbour, not only symbolized the glory the Sha Tin Hoi (also called Tide Core) of modern and industrialized Hong and its surroundings; in addition to Kong, but also the economic centre of Port Shelter at the south-east. Second, the market world and the winner of the alluvial fans that located at every river highest priced rental units. On the con- mouths, together with bays suitable trary, although the Port Shelter area is for harbours and ports development, full of hills and bays; there is no shel- found the core of urban development. ter against typhoon. The coastal basalt Furthermore, the distance to the coast- landscape is preserved and the fishing line and the landform of mountains village, Sai Kung, is the classical scene forms hierarchal the transition from for countryside shots against urban artificial to natural landscapes. area in Hong Kong movies. URBAN LANDSCAPE STUDIES ISSUE 1.0 EUPHORIGENIC LANDSCAPES PAGE 20

In the north, there are major differences Yet the mountainous terrain also leads the alluvial plain and the alluvial fans. Hong Kong the competition of land re- The alluvial plains of Yuen Long and sources and the difficulties in connect- Fanling area, is equipped with good soil, ing developed areas. This can be easily great flat area and wide intertidal zone discovered through the proportion and that found the foundation of agricultural distribution between developed lands settlements. Before Hong Kong’s urban and urban greens. The various hill- development, there were plenty of fish tops of basalt bases were designated as farming, shrimp ponds and rice fields. ecological and environmental sensitive Moreover, before the idea of “develop- areas such as country parks. This fact ing with Shenzhen” came, the alluvial leads directly that 67% of Hong Kong plain was the granary of Hong Kong that total land is green and that the devel- from the Deep Bay to the Tai Mo Shan oped areas are limited to 20% flat area scattered mangroves, gei wei (基圍; the at the hill foots. water area closed by embankments; also used for fish farming), shrimp ponds, To house as more people as possible in fields, and waitsuen 圍村( ; walled vil- limited land is always the key to mod- lages). However, due to the develop- ern Hong Kong development. Espe- ment pressure from Shenzhen, these cially in those harbour and river mouth agricultural landscapes are transform- areas, the high-rise buildings are so ing. Compared to the alluvial plain, the densely sited that serous urban heat ef- alluvial fan along the ShingMun River fects arise. Yet, under the philosophy of by Sha Tin Hoi was also settled by sev- “human over nature”, and the support of eral walled villages of fishermen. How- modern technology and local construc- ever, since the Sha Tin Hoi was one of tion materials, these limitations in mor- the biggest bays among Hong Kong; and phology do not stop the pace of Hong the construction cost to built channels Kong development; in turn, they inspire to connect Kowloon (surroundings of Hong Konger’s creativity to form the ba- Victoria Bay) and Sha Tin through Lion sis of 3-D urban area. Such an attempt to Rock was affordable; the alluvial fans control and overpass nature is the global by Sha Tin Hoi were the first area to be institutional level–the combination of chosen for new towns (mainly with har- urban governance and market economy. bours, industrial sites and housing areas) to support continuous growth of the surroundings of Victoria Bay in 70’s. URBAN LANDSCAPE STUDIES ISSUE 1.0 EUPHORIGENIC LANDSCAPES PAGE 21

THE LAYER OF GOVERNANCE AND control over natural resources. In addi- LANDSCAPE STRUCTURE tion, its efforts on infrastructures, such The available landscape element of the as transportation, water and food sup- layer of governance could be traced ply and housing, provide the basic liv- back to the military commanding sta- ing conditions of rapid life style and of tions from Ming and Qing dynasties, Hong Kong as an urban habitat. which were set up to guard the coastline and to look after the inner land. To describe the layer of governance in For instance, the Kowloon walled city Hong Kong, one can’t miss these three was located by the coastline of Kow- fundamental linear spaces: The first one loon Peninsula and opposite the British is the Boundary Street, which divided colony on Hong Kong Island by Victo- the New Territories, and the Hong ria Bay. Nevertheless, when Hong Kong Kong and Kowloon District. In the grew into a modern harbour city, these south of the Boundary Street, the Hong military commanding stations, like Kong and Kowloon District is the cen- their fellow along the Chinese coast, tre of Hong Kong and a luxury shop- lost their original functions and were ping, catering and economic district. converted to thematic heritage parks of Over 150 years’ dialogue between Can- modern planning system. tonese tradition, English modern and global economy, there are both mod- Compared to governance attitude of ern functional skyscraper districts and “securing the coastal land but not de- historical cultural mix-used districts. veloping” at Ming and Qing dynasties The New Territories sitting at the north (prohibition policy), the British gov- of the Boundary Street, is not only fo- ernment in Hong Kong was to experi- cusing on countryside development, ment a colonized “city + countryside” but also the main destination of those that has never been seen. Its’ regional new towns with idealistic “garden city” governance toward shaping modern structure and with the eternal mission Hong Kong landscape is mainly by the to support the economic growth of the land use and development control sys- Hong Kong and Kowloon District. The tem, including different development New Territories is the area to preserve and planning applications between the traditional Chinese countryside in Brit- New Territories and the Hong Kong and ish colony, and also the land reserve Kowloon District (the surroundings of zone. The land rights, of original people Victoria Bay/ Harbour); and systematic of the New Territories, are allowed to URBAN LANDSCAPE STUDIES ISSUE 1.0 EUPHORIGENIC LANDSCAPES PAGE 22

be hold in clans or families as in Qing The existence of the FCA is now facing dynasty; so that some specific agricul- the challenge of new towns and new tural landscape tissues are preserved. development projects such as the Fair- In the meanwhile, the introduction of view Garden. In the new coming plan, New Territories Small House Policy the FCA will be shrunk from 2800 ha to speeds up the death of traditional vil- 400 ha. A new urbanization movement lage houses. Thus, upon the non new- is now in the Yuan Long Plain, and the town area in the New Territories lies reflections of the Shenzhen River and the landscape the varied from tradi- the Victoria Harbour are going to over- tional village houses, fields, and three lap someday. floor small houses. To be simplified, the part at the south of Boundary Street is The third line is the coastline in the a highly developed urban city; and the year of 1887. What shows on the map part at the north of Boundary Street is of 2011 at the location of 1887’s coast- an urban region consisted of new-town line are main streets; and where used to clusters with transitional regional land- be sea are now the territory of high-rise scape between agricultural and indus- buildings and urban open spaces, no trial societies. matter they are called business zones, airports or urban parks. Lacking for The second linear space is the Frontier flat lands for development, Hong Kong Closed Area (FCA). This is the old bor- government’s main means of getting der of British colony and the new bolder lands was through land reclamation. of Mainland China and its Special Ad- The lands of the new towns such as Tai ministrative Region. Since the existence Po and Tuen Mun, and the former Kai of the FCA, the development is very Tak and the new Chek Lap Kok airports different between Shenzhen River: In are all from land reclamations. Yet the Shenzhen there are clusters of high-rise most dramatic landscape change occurs buildings; while in Hong Kong there at the Victoria Harbour, the start point are rice fields, fish ponds and natural of Hong Kong. Although lots of lands villages. Then again, with recent year’s released through reclamation to main- trading trends that the Hong Kong’s tain the economic growth, the price was manufacture industry is moving to the paid that the narrowest gap of Victoria north- east of the Pearl River Delta, the harbour shrunk from 3000 meters to connection between Hong Kong and less than 800 meters. The Victoria Har- Shenzhen are getting closer and closer. bour is now the Victoria River. URBAN LANDSCAPE STUDIES ISSUE 1.0 EUPHORIGENIC LANDSCAPES PAGE 23

The other important system of the las, most of Hong-Kongers, both in the layer of governance came from the 19 Hong Kong and Kowloon District and century British tradition of preserving the new towns in New Territories, live countryside and natural heritage. Up in the united dwellings–at the housing to the year of 2010, there are more than buildings about 16-30 floors–provide 24 country parks and 7 ocean parks by the government and the develop- designated as the urban recreation ers; and work in another high-rise of- or “BBQ” areas within 1-hour travel fice building. Additionally, in the New zone; in addition to 17 SSCIs with spe- Territories that encourages country- cific ecological values, such as Mai Po side living, from 70’s people lived not natural reserve at the Yuan Long Plain. in the historical village houses but the This is the most important foundation 3-floored small houses with less than of why Hong Kong’s 68 % total land is 65.03 square meters living area. Moreo- still green or countryside under such a ver, by the outskirts of urban areas or demand for developable land. However, traditional settlements sometimes lie although the system could secure these the refugee houses made by timber or greens, but it can’t secure that Hong- iron sheets legally. Kongers could get enough time to be familiar with these greens. In fact, most Due to the high price and rent of hous- of Hong-Kongers pass by these greens ing, many people live in the New Terri- to different blocks though various tories and travel everyday to Shenzhen, travel modes. They see these greens but the Hong Kong and Kowloon District, not walk on or touch personally these and even Macau or Zhuhai for work. greens. Convenient and rapid transportation becomes the key to Hong Kong’s daily THE LAYER OF URBAN HABITAT AND life. Between the New Territories and SPEED OF MODERN LIFE the Hong Kong and Kowloon District, As described in the introduction, Hong there are various transport modes, such Kong grew from a cluster of agricul- as metro, rail and fly-over motorways, tural settlements of only 2,000 peo- running underground, through the ple to an urban region of 7 million in mountains and in the air, in order to population in about 150 years. For deliver people and goods to the desti- these, to find a good dwelling in Hong nations as soon as possible. Further- Kong is always thorny. Despite of the more, sitting in the busiest business wealthy people living in the hillside vil- centre, the Central-Mid-Levels Escala- URBAN LANDSCAPE STUDIES ISSUE 1.0 EUPHORIGENIC LANDSCAPES PAGE 24

tor and Walkway System is not only fast convenient life created by the layer of but also operated rain or shine. As the governance. Multi-functional high-rise trailer of Octopus (digital wallet system buildings, travel boxes and Octopus of Hong Kong) said, Octopus－and the could supply almost the basic daily moving boxes－ makes life easier. needs of a human’s dwelling and working. Yet as criticised by Lefebrve, such Meanwhile, similar moving boxes and spaces are merely homogenous, quan- tunnels bring everyday from China titative produced dwelling machines fresh food and water to support the or boxes that function only specific life daily life of 7 million people in Hong experiences; but such spaces are not the Kong. Although during the British habitat that reveal the meaning of be- Colonization, about 17 water reservoirs ing. were created through closing bays or valleys to supply clean water and main- THE LAYER OF EVERYDAY LANDSCAPE tain agriculture in the New Territories. AND HETEROGENEOUS URBAN LIFE At the moment of integration between In fact, there is another layer to make Shenzhen and HK, urban water sup- Hong Kong so colourful, to provide ply comes from the East River, and the opportunities to communication and water reservoirs are transformed to connection of different culture, and recreational use gradually; the urban to support and linking the layers of agriculture in the New Territories is governance and private life in addi- almost dead except some transformed tion to integrate with the morphology to organic faming through green par- and to make one localized. This layer ties and some struggling and fighting is where Hong Kong’s slow life lies and against the layer of governance like the where the lost values are. According to Choi Yuen Village. With the backup Lèfebrve, taking design/political land- of the mainland, individual city’s food scapes off the layer of governance and self-sufficiency is no longer valued. In the layer of homogenous habitat off the turns of local agricultural landscape, map lays the intermediate layer. Than the Hong Kong food culture that values it’s also what J.B. Jackson called the ex- flesh ingredients is now supported by isting and the transforming vernacular industrial transport network exceeding landscapes that created by the conver- Hong Kong’s territory, shipping con- sation of users and the spaces. In Hong tainers and retail logistics. Kong, taking off the layer of governance This is the Hong Konger’s modern and the layer of homogenous habitat, URBAN LANDSCAPE STUDIES ISSUE 1.0 EUPHORIGENIC LANDSCAPES PAGE 25 such as the filled tide lands, new-towns, in the streets/blocks for the inhabit- airports and country parks, out of the ants, no matter where these inhabitants’ map, there are different landscape tis- origins are. Due to historical biding of sues lie in high-density development these interests groups, neighbourhood areas, such as the Hong Kong and blocks present different landscape char- Kowloon District, and the low-density acters and different attitude toward liv- development area, such as Yuan Long ing. Plain. For instance, the Temple Street area In high-density development areas, the of Kowloon was where the fishermen’s most significant landscape tissues are gathering around in the past. It is now streets/blocks (街坊, in Chinese means the place to experience traditional one or more streets or one block or nightlife of Hong Kong. Before land people living in these areas, estates (屋 reclamation, the Temple Street con- 邨, UkTsuen; tsuen in Chinese means nected the Tin Hau Temple (天后宮) village) and parks. The streets/blocks and the Banyan (榕樹頭), the tradi- are usually formatted for more than tional social grounds, with the coast. 100 years and are mainly located in Tin Hau Temple was where to wor- the Hong Kong and Kowloon District. ship the goddess of fishermen; and the The streets/blocks usually refer to the Banyan (always forms a small square area along one street or around several or plaza) and the streets were the tra- streets. The spatial composition of the ditional public spaces, where Chinese streets/blocks has a tendency toward people communicate, celebrate, ex- mixture of Cantonese styled shop hous- change, exercise and gathering in the es and modern buildings with elevator; past; and the area around the Banyan and the main streets are parallel to the were full of shops and houses. These coastline due to land reclamation and as a whole formed a streets/block, or morphology while the connecting steps community. Yet now, the Banyan is a between street blocks are vertical from park; and public buildings such as the coastline to hilltops. The land use of parking tower divide the Tin Hau Tem- the streets/blocks is usually mix-used; ple and the streets. Only the Temple and normally, one cannot distinguish Street left as the true space for public one block from another as the “urban life ‘cause the existence of night market. centre. There are unusually public liv- The night market street is about 15 me- ing spaces, such as markets and school, ter’s wide with stall-keepers and Can- URBAN LANDSCAPE STUDIES ISSUE 1.0 EUPHORIGENIC LANDSCAPES PAGE 26

tonese styled shop houses besides; and which are the flagships of Hong Kong’s the sighs flying over one’s head. There luxury housing and the ideal model for is usually one-man’s corridor left to Chinese hillside development. move around at night. However, every- one here is busy at bargain, eating and Though in Chinese called “tsuen/ hanging out with friends, and nobody 邨”with the idea of village, the estates really cares about this limited corridor. are the real estate development units The natural setting of traditional streets with the idea of bringing forward com- is to let people walk slowly, stay longer munities. They are in Hong Kong usual- and exchange. ly clusters of 16-30 floor buildings with some functional green. Only some pro- Except traditional Cantonese streets/ jects target to middle to wealthy people, blocks such as the Temple Street Area, like the Kowloon Garden City or the there are also some modern or Brit- Fairview Garden, is built into clusters ish colonize styled streets/blocks. One of villas. Both of these two types, with of them is the Happy Valley Area. The their original garden city idea or radi- centre of the Happy Valley is the Happy ant city idea from Le Corbusier, their Valley Racecourse; and it is sitting fac- ground and outdoor levels should be ing the ocean with the hill backup. The the area to provide urban recreation Happy Valley is not only with isolated and life, the intermediate layer. Yet in setting that bring peace to the area; but order to save spaces and cost, most of also with an easy contact to the main the ground and outdoor levels of public commercial area of the Hong Kong housing estates are with greens to look island. It is different from the tradi- at and with mushroom like cooked food tional streets/blocks in particular, that stalls as public restaurants. In addition, while the traditional Cantonese streets/ for the private sectors that looking the blocks are usually mix-used and with maxima land profit, their estates are intensive street activities after dark, usually with walled community garden the Happy Valley Area is quiet at night and with first and ground floor shops or and mostly for housing except some traffic services. Even more, those shops British-styled main streets. Close to and supermarkets in different estates the Racecourse set majority Cantonese are usually with the same names. To styled shop houses and modern build- work, communicate and be harmoni- ings with elevator; away on the hills ous with surrounding everyday land- are housing estates and private villas, scapes is the battle between the design URBAN LANDSCAPE STUDIES ISSUE 1.0 EUPHORIGENIC LANDSCAPES PAGE 27 and management concepts between de- The parks and community gardens of velopers, management agencies, archi- estates are another intermediate layer to tects and landscape architects. support and linking the layers of governance and private life. There is little One reason for this situation is that the consciousness about parks and com- emphases for convenience and fengshui munity gardens in traditional Chinese （風水）in Hong Konger’s dwelling society. Take the Temple Street Area for culture is much more important than example. In previous time, the living the needs for nature or greenery. The and urban activities happened in the other reason is that the lack of build- places like on the streets, in the tem- ing land resources leads to build to ple plaza and under “The Tree”(usually maximum. Nevertheless, there is the Banyan in this region). The public development model such as the Mai Po greenery like parks and walled commu- natural reserve and Tin Shui Wai. The nity gardens was introduced to the re- wetland and aqua farms become the gion to ease the overcrowded, dirty and beautiful landscape to look at and to set disordered conditions of living spaces up the housing estate. Together they are in Chinese communities in 19 century. not only the miniature of urban Hong In the rise of parks and walled com- Kong with the modern life style and its munity gardens, a series of user regu- antithetic countryside splendour, but lations was announced to maintain its also the classic scene for trading posters. cleanness and tranquillity. Unlike the Although the Hong Kong Wetland Park vivid nature in the streets and on the connects the Mai Po natural reserve and plaza, these public greeneries are rec- Tin Shui Wai; together the skyscrapers’ reational and leisurely; and are the out- cluster that was built right to the bound- door buffer zone to crowded dwellings. ary and the six-lane Wetland Park Road Compared this attitude to what the new make the opposition between traditional immigrates from China are trying to aqua farming landscape structure and adapted from traditional use of public modern functional landscape structures spaces (streets and plazas) to these pub- more obvious. With the fragmented lic greeneries, the reason behind the so- landscape tissues and the spaces that op- cial conflicts happened while the user posite to mix-use tradition, the isolated regulations of public spaces in Hong housing estate become the soil of social Kong are getting more and more open, problems and the theme of “the Way We is quite clear. Are ” by Ann Hui. URBAN LANDSCAPE STUDIES ISSUE 1.0 EUPHORIGENIC LANDSCAPES PAGE 28

Compared to traditional streets/blocks In the New Territories, the landscape modern estates and recreational green tissues that are the relics of pastimes in the high-density development areas, and that are still explicit and func- landscape tissues of the intermediate tional at present are the separation and layer, in the low-density development functional lines of the “fields,” such as area and outskirts of the high-density irrigation channels, field banks and development areas, are of wider pe- productive roads; upon these tissues, riod and bigger difference in social and the function of the field might be trans- economic functions. For instance, the formed, but the separations still exist. agricultural landscape tissues as walled There are small-scale peasant land- villages, rice fields/upland field, and the scape tissues that featured by terraced wetland structured by mangroves, gei croplands on the hills and rice fields wei, and shrimp ponds; and the indus- on the plane; on the other side, by the trial landscape such as undesigned or river mouth of Shan Pui River (Yuen unplanned container fields. Long River) are the landscape tissues of wetlands that are formed by scattered The walled villages like the streets/ mangroves, gei wei, shrimp ponds. blocks in the high-density develop- These are what the granary of Hong ment areas are traditional settlement in Kong left today. Agriculture and fishery the region; but the walled villages are are shrinking in Hong Kong. Except built early before the British came and the large and functional agricultural with inhabitants of the same clan or of and fishery tissues in the areas of the Hakka people. The key elements of the Frontier Closed Area and the Mai Po walled village as the intermediate layer natural reserve, the productive spaces are the defence wall, the middle axis for rise and fresh vegetables and fruits as public spaces, the ancestral hall, the have been squeezed into broken and fengshui trees, the well and the paral- scattered pieces lying on the hillsides or lel lanes in front of terraced houses. At enclosed by motorways. present, some walled villages are pre- In fact, though the landscape tissues of served as living heritages; but most of “fields”（田） exist, more than 60% them lose their characters while most of the croplands lost their functions. of the village houses were converted In particular those croplands along into small houses; and some leave only motorways, they have almost all trans- the names and the boundaries through formed into Container yards, scrap modern development. yards and other open storage areas that URBAN LANDSCAPE STUDIES ISSUE 1.0 EUPHORIGENIC LANDSCAPES PAGE 29 fix the Hong Kong’s character of inter- Hong Konger’s living style and the spac- national logistics centre. The reason es derived from the layer of governance; that the landscape tissues of “fields” thus rise the cultural landscapes such as could be preserved or transformed is the streets/blocks. On the other hand, because that land status of these crop- due to the role as land storage and lands in planning does not change. boundary, and the related regulations They are still agricultural lands. Their of country parks, the development in functional change from agricultural the New Territories is limited to several production to industrial storage is due concentric-circled new towns. Yet the to the land users/owners adaption to agricultural landscape and greenery of social economical change instead of the New Territories are not treasured master plan of governance. In this case, and extended. The layer of governance the economic power of the layer of gov- views the New Territories only as func- ernance overwhelms. tional but not living landscapes. The confrontation and fragmentation phe- CONCLUSION nomena of landscape are clear in the The transformation from agricultural New Territories. to industrial landscape happening in the low-density development area and Stepping over the homogenous habi- outskirts of the high-density devel- tat and international governance, the opment areas represent the attitudes existence of the streets and the blocks toward future resources and environ- supported the Siyizhuxing (食衣住 mental sustainability of those in power, 行; Eating, Clothing, Living and Mov- the public and interest groups in Hong ing) and Economic Development in the Kong. The relationships between living Hong Kong and Kowloon District. The style, public greenery, estates and the rooting floating city shows one Hong streets/blocks emerges the gap between Konger’ street life culture. Yet, the local culture and modern development countryside dream by the British colo- when trying to achieve quantity and ny and the layer of governance is break- functions at once; in other words, how ing down. At the rise of Hong Kong local culture was altered by modern and Shenzhen alliance, the power of the development. Time, clusters of differ- urban agglomeration has been staged ent people, and partial experiment and in the New Territories; and is going to development give Hong Kong the op- perform even faster than ever (China’s portunity to have interaction between national policy is usually for a period URBAN LANDSCAPE STUDIES ISSUE 1.0 EUPHORIGENIC LANDSCAPES PAGE 30

of five years) with modern urban planning and more centralized governance tools. Although the key issue of next phase plans is “low-carbon and low- density,” one does not know if the real content is to continuing its quantitative and development-orientated new towns and estates that bring forward the new urban habitat aesthetic of combination of ecology, wetlands and housing estates with numerous homogene- ous container-like dwellings or not. It might be that the euphoria of Hong Konger towards development orienta- tion could change to the real concern of living quality and environment; and they might reconsider the relationship of time, living quality and urban planning, and bring forward the unique modern walled villages and mix-use agricultural and industrial landscapes through overlapping and connecting landscape tissues. Perhaps the answer lies in five years.

ENDNOTES 1 From Marvels of a Floating City and Other Stories, by Xi Xi (translated by Eva Hung), Renditions Paperbacks, 1997