Hong Kong : city of edges : South East Kowloon development

Abstract

Many extraordinary cities are developed along the edges of water into different directions. Yet, the city of Hong Kong has been formed along narrow strips of scarce flat-land around the harbor and from reclamations of land-fills. Urban fabrics are stretched along water edges of the Victoria Harbor with distinct characters. For the rapidly developing cities, these urban fragments are elemental and essential to sustain. The objective of this thesis is to re-examine the water front urban fabrics, and their organizations, within the context of East Kowloon, including the Kai Tak Airport site. This thesis is structured through a parallel urban analysis and design proposal contrasting with the government proposal. The proposal will focus on the issues of urban plan, district characters, block types and, most importantly, utilization of water edges.