scholarly journals Public Space Trends in Hong Kong. A view from the New Territories

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hendrik Tieben
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Public Space ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Urban Landscape ◽  
Public Spaces ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Life Styles ◽  
Political Views ◽  
International Attention ◽  
Housing Estates

Hong Kong’s vertical urban landscape, bustling street markets, and multi-layered urban spaces have attracted a range of scholars (Cuthbert and McKinnell, 1997; Smith, 2005; Frampton [et al.], 2010; Shelton [et al.], 2011). Therefore, this paper focuses on aspects of Hong Kong’s public spaces, which so far have caught less attention, but affect the majority of its residents today. The paper starts with the following observations: (1) More than half of Hong Kong’s population (52,2%) lives today in the New Territories, an area usually outside of international attention (Census 2011); (2) Here, most people live in public and private housing estates, constructed over the last 40 years; (3) Individual estates can reach a population size of entire European towns and their “public spaces” – if one can name them as such – follow strict rules and have their own spatial conditions; (4) The street patterns, which connect these estates with their surrounding are fundamentally different from those of the older urban areas on Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula. Basically, in these new developments we don’t find the bustling street markets or the complex multi-layered spatial conditions anymore, which have caught most international attention (e.g. Frampton [et al.], 2010); and, (5) through urban renewal and redevelopment these new spatial conditions are introduced also to the older urban areas. As a response, there have been a growing number of initiatives by civil society groups to recapture the original role of streets as public spaces to offer more opportunities for economic and social activities, and re-enable expressions different cultural identities, life styles, and political views.

scholarly journals Planning the Urban Waterfront Transformation, from Infrastructures to Public Space Design in a Sea-Level Rise Scenario: The European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture Case

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 218
Author(s):  
Francesca Dal Cin ◽  
Fransje Hooimeijer ◽  
Maria Matos Silva
Keyword(s):  
Public Space ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Morphological Characteristics ◽  
Public Spaces ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Space Design ◽  
Urban Waterfront ◽  
Mies Van Der Rohe ◽  
The Impact

Future sea-level rises on the urban waterfront of coastal and riverbanks cities will not be uniform. The impact of floods is exacerbated by population density in nearshore urban areas, and combined with land conversion and urbanization, the vulnerability of coastal towns and public spaces in particular is significantly increased. The empirical analysis of a selected number of waterfront projects, namely the winners of the Mies Van Der Rohe Prize, highlighted the different morphological characteristics of public spaces, in relation to the approximation to the water body: near the shoreline, in and on water. The critical reading of selected architectures related to water is open to multiple insights, allowing to shift the design attention from the building to the public space on the waterfronts. The survey makes it possible to delineate contemporary features and lay the framework for urban development in coastal or riverside areas.

Reconceptualizing the Public Spaces of New Urban Areas in Hanoi: The End or the New of Public-Making?

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Minh-Tung Tran ◽  
◽  
Tien-Hau Phan ◽  
Ngoc-Huyen Chu ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Space ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Public Spaces ◽  
The Public ◽  
Doi Moi ◽  
The World ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The City ◽  
Neighborhood Level

Public spaces are designed and managed in many different ways. In Hanoi, after the Doi moi policy in 1986, the transfer of the public spaces creation at the neighborhood-level to the private sector has prospered na-ture of public and added a large amount of public space for the city, directly impacting on citizen's daily life, creating a new trend, new concept of public spaces. This article looks forward to understanding the public spaces-making and operating in KDTMs (Khu Do Thi Moi - new urban areas) in Hanoi to answer the question of whether ‘socialization’/privatization of these public spaces will put an end to the urban public or the new means of public-making trend. Based on the comparison and literature review of studies in the world on public spaces privatization with domestic studies to see the differences in the Vietnamese context leading to differences in definitions and roles and the concept of public spaces in KDTMs of Hanoi. Through adducing and analyzing practical cases, the article also mentions the trends, the issues, the ways and the technologies of public-making and public-spaces-making in KDTMs of Hanoi. Win/loss and the relationship of the three most important influential actors in this process (municipality, KDTM owners, inhabitants/citizens) is also considered to reconceptualize the public spaces of KDTMs in Hanoi.

scholarly journals A Cultural Governance Coalition in Regeneration. A Case Study of Historical Quanzhou City

2019 ◽  
pp. 145-164
Author(s):  
Shuxiang Cai
Keyword(s):  
Public Space ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Land Reform ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Urban Governance ◽  
Central Government ◽  
Urban Landscape ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Spatial Transformation ◽  
Common Path

Compared with the gradual and long exploration processes typical of European and American countries, China experienced a period marked by extremely high-speed modernisation and urbanisation, following the Land Reform. This is exemplified by a great number of urban reconstruction projects which have changed the traditional fabric of most cities. Yet, following the trend of cultural consumption since the late 1990s, numerous integrated restoration projects for historic districts were implemented to promote tourism as a promising industry to sustain economic growth. As a consequence of growth-oriented urban entrepreneurship, public spaces in these historic urban areas have also been perceptibly privatised. To a large extent, the capital and the authority of the local government directs the future prospect of the historic urban landscape in Chinese cities. On the other hand, development-oriented urban construction stimulates a rise in awareness of the need for protection strategies to conserve historic urban fabric. On a global scale, the public sector has begun to introspect on urban governance under the spirit of entrepreneurship. The urban renewal has now been extended to urban regeneration and the previous public-private partnership has been substituted with a multi-sectoral cooperative model. In recent years, the Chinese central government has proposed the core concept of “Seeing people, Seeing things, Seeing life”, which is re-orientated towards historic-city regeneration as a way of promoting “Micro-renewal and Micro-disturbance”. Among such activities, the use of exhibitions as a strategy for simultaneous spatial transformation and activation has gradually formed a common path, encouraging many cities to regenerate historic urban areas. This article is based on on this reorientation, taking Quanzhou as an example, making a critical observation on the new form of public space it has produced, and digs into the operational mechanism behind it as well as the possibility for publicness.

Public Space, Common Space, and the Spaces In–Between: A Case Study of Philadelphia's LOVE Park

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 676-703
Author(s):  
Luke M. Cianciotto
Keyword(s):  
Public Space ◽  
General Public ◽  
Urban Landscape ◽  
Public Spaces ◽  
The Other ◽  
The Public ◽  
Common Space ◽  
The Common

This study concerns the struggle for Philadelphia's LOVE Park, which involved the general public and its functionaries on one side and skateboarders on the other. This paper argues LOVE Park was one place composed of two distinct spaces: the public space the public engendered and the common space the skateboarders produced. This case demonstrates that public and common space must be understood as distinct, for they entail different understandings of publicly accessible space. Additionally, public and common spaces often exist simultaneously as “public–common spaces,” which emphasizes how they reciprocally shape one another. This sheds light on the emergence of “anti–common public space,” which is evident in LOVE Park's 2016 redesign. This concept considers how common spaces are increasingly negated in public spaces. The introduction of common space to the study of public spaces is significant as it allows for more nuanced understandings of transformations in the urban landscape.

scholarly journals Photographing Public Spaces in Hong Kong

2019 ◽  
pp. 199-212
Author(s):  
Kevin Mak
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Public Space ◽  
Urban Space ◽  
Public Spaces ◽  
Street Life ◽  
Diverse Cultures

Photographing urban space has always been my interest, even before I entered architectural school and began my career as an architect. When I was still at school, I already enjoyed observing, through my camera, on how the complex yet limited public spaces in Hong Kong accommodated the diverse and spontaneous street life. Studying & practising in architecture further shaped my interest in exploring Hong Kong’s urban topics beyond the visuals. My approach in urban photography promotes spatial aesthetics that embrace diverse cultures in public space, and controversially suggests how we introspect our way & attitude living in contemporary cities.

scholarly journals The Problem of Densification of Large-Panel Housing Estates upon the Example of Cracow

Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 1359
Author(s):  
Eliza Szczerek
Keyword(s):  
Public Space ◽  
Free Market ◽  
Public Spaces ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Scientific Debate ◽  
Spatial Logic ◽  
Green Areas ◽  
Large Panel ◽  
New Buildings ◽  
Housing Estates

The paper focuses on the phenomenon of intense, uncontrolled densification of large-panel housing estates in Poland. Despite the fact that such housing estates as a legacy of the Modernist concept of segregation of functions are often burdened with problems, they still have considerable potential, which results predominantly from their urban advantages, such as functional and spatial logic, large amounts of open public space, and abundance of greenery. Unfortunately, this potential is being destroyed by introducing new buildings, ignoring the existing urban layout of the housing estate along with its original compositional assumptions. This type of densification results from—without limitations—the pressure exerted by developers in the free-market economy, and it often leads to problems such as the devastation of urban layouts of these housing estates, breaking the continuity of public spaces, appropriation of green areas, strengthening of monofunctionality, etc. This problem is becoming noticeable in the scientific debate, although it is still difficult to obtain reliable data illustrating the densifications of such housing estates. The goal of this paper is to present the scales and character of such densifications of the large-panel housing estates, which pose a threat of devastation of their urban layouts often considered as urban heritage. The paper proposes a method of a quantitative analysis of the housing estates with reference to the increase in the built-up area and a qualitative analysis of the character of development with reference to its distribution. This method comprises a sequence of subsequent steps with relevant criteria. In the results, it demonstrates the scale of the problem, which in many cases is already big and still growing. The resultant threat of devastation of the urban layout and its consequences are presented upon selected examples of housing estates in Cracow, Poland. This paper is a voice in a discussion devoted to the current status, but most of all to the future of large-panel housing estates, particularly in terms of their protection as valuable achievements of urban planning of the second half of the 20th century, and to stopping unfavorable tendencies of urban destruction.

scholarly journals Liminal Publics, Marginal Resistance

IDEA JOURNAL ◽  
2017 ◽  
pp. 88-101
Author(s):  
Menna Agha ◽  
Els DeVos
Keyword(s):  
Built Environment ◽  
Public Space ◽  
Public Spaces ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Spatial Justice ◽  
The Public ◽  
Liminal Spaces ◽  
Private And Public ◽  
Definition Of

In 1964, indigenous Nubians were displaced from their original land – the land between what is now Egypt and that of Sudan – to modernised settlements built by the Egyptian state. The Nubians dissatisfaction with the novel built environment translated into transgressive public spaces. One of the most common transgressions was the addition of an external bench called Mastaba. Since power relations between men and women have changed, the built environment now acts as a catalyst in the exclusion of women from formal public spaces such as conventional coffee shops and squares. Mastabas function as liminal spaces, spaces which blur the boundaries between public and private spheres. As these spaces do not suit the formal understanding of public spaces, we investigate these liminal spaces in order to reveal the spatial tactics of the marginal. We argue that the existence of these spaces raises issues of spatial justice and spatial resistance.    The behaviour of liminal public spaces varies; they have the ability to transform adjacent spaces. This research investigates the role of the Mastaba in opening up the public space for women, thereby giving them the ability to contribute to the writing of their social contract. We base our analysis on extensive fieldwork, consisting of auto-ethnographic observations and participation, informed by a feminist epistemology. We use tools of spatial analysis to explore an alternative public space offered by liminality. To question the binary notions of private and public space, we ask ourselves: where does that space start? As spatial professionals, we also wonder: can we contest the hegemonic definition of public space and contribute to spatial resistance? Drawing lessons from the case of the Mastaba, we propose contingencies for designing the liminal that serve the marginal.

scholarly journals Gating as exclusionary commoning in a post-socialist city

REGION ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-32
Author(s):  
Maja Grabkowska ◽  
Magdalena Szmytkowska
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Public Space ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
The Other ◽  
Social Disintegration ◽  
Large Housing Estates ◽  
The One ◽  
Housing Estates ◽  
Newspaper Articles

New-build gated condominiums at the periphery of a post-socialist city are a well-studiedphenomenon. However, in Poland, recent years have seen an expansion of residential gating into oldinner-city neighbourhoods and socialist large housing estates. The resulting fragmentation andprivatisation of public space have raised much controversy and debate on appropriation of urbancommon good. This paper presents outcomes of a research on the changing discourse of gating inGdańsk, based on a discourse analysis of newspaper articles and interviews with key urbanstakeholders. On the one hand, gating is seen as an anti-commoning practice criticised for its elitistcharacter and undesirable socio-spatial consequences. On the other, a narrative of exclusionarycommons has emerged to justify the need of gating in specific cases. Considering the varyingmotivations and types of gating in different urban areas, the authors have attempted a classification,relating gating practices to commoning strategies and their justification in localities typicallycharacterised by atomistic individualism and social disintegration.

scholarly journals O Mais Querido Brazil - The Most Beloved of Brazil

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Branislav Tosic
Keyword(s):  
Urban Areas ◽  
Landscape Architecture ◽  
Urban Landscape ◽  
Public Spaces ◽  
Urban Setting ◽  
Design Strategies ◽  
Key Factors ◽  
The People ◽  
Fixed Design ◽  
The Many

<p><b>Since the early stages of stadium design, landscape architecture has frequently been overlooked, with the space surrounding these structures relegated to providing parking and accessways. In other words, rather than give consideration to creating aesthetically appealing spaces, the tendency has instead been to create sterile and unappealing concrete jungles, that pay little or no attention to how the users might experience the space as they move through it. This effectively means that potentially attractive public spaces are not being utilised, which is increasingly problematic as urban areas become ever more densely populated. </b></p><p>This issue will be considered by proposing a series of ideas that could be used in the development of a new stadium for the Brazilian football club Flamengo. This club, which is one of the biggest and most popular in South America, currently has its home at the </p><p>Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro. As a result of the privatisation of the previously publicly-owned stadium, Flamengo has decided that it would prefer to develop a new stadium on an entirely new site in Rio. </p><p>The fundamental aim of this research thesis is to demonstrate how landscape architecture can be used to inform the development of stadiums in such a way that the sites surroundings stadiums can become attractive and functional spaces in their own right, that will appeal to a diverse demographic. In other words, rather than being no more than a carpark and accessway, attractive only to those attending an event at the stadium, the surrounding site should be a place that people would wish to visit for itself. To achieve this, the design must take into account a number of key factors, including where the stadium is situated with respect to the surrounding urban landscape, as well as how the stadium relates to the people who will be the primary users. The intention is to create a space surrounding the stadium that is wholly integrated, both physically and socially, with both the adjacent community and the club’s supporters who will travel there to make use of the many resources on offer at the stadium. Issues that are particular to this site, such as how best to turn a previously industrial site into one that is attractive and ecologically viable are also addressed as part of this thesis. </p><p>This design-led research will show how landscape architecture can administer key elements to stadium design, through connection to the urban fabric and fan experience. Exploiting these elements with evidence through the use of adaptive, flexible and also fixed design strategies of sustainability, resilient and regenerative landscape solutions will be achieved between the existing urban setting and Flamengo’s new home.</p>

scholarly journals Public spaces in the structure of a multifunctional complex: current trends in organization

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 5-12
Author(s):  
A. F. Eremeeva ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Public Space ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Public Spaces ◽  
Environmental Friendliness ◽  
The Public ◽  
Current Trends ◽  
Space Organization ◽  
Functional Features ◽  
Cultural Functions ◽  
Active Localization

The article considers the forms of architectural and planning organization of urban areas that provide active localization of various socio-cultural functions. Attention is focused on the nature of the system connections of these multifunctional complexes, the interaction of open and closed spaces. There are specified four basic structures (namely, dispersed, linear, perimeter, and mixed ones), their compositional and functional features are analyzed. Materials of the international practice of formation of new and reconstruction of existing facilities are highlighted. Modern trends in the public space organization are identified, namely, multi-functionality, transformability, interactivity, and environmental friendliness.

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