Urban oasis : the central market redevelopment of Hong Kong

Abstract

In the ultra-urban centers of today, "nature" has become a precious resource that often gets sacrificed in the name of progress and development. The presence of nature has become increasingly elusive in the concrete jungle of present-day metropolises. And in the contemporary urban center of Hong Kong, where development is extensive and population is saturated, this displacement of nature cannot be spared. Looking high above, the Victoria Peak reveals itself in a distance between the crowded towers hugging the hillside; patches of sky are held up by the pinnacles of the numerous skyscrapers; intermittent rays of sunlight penetrates the close-knitted cracks between buildings. Under the pressure of development, the nature of Hong Kong struggles to manifest itself in increasingly fleeting glimpses. As the engine of progress churns on, the repression of nature intensifies in the urban center of Hong Kong. Humanity within its inhabitants is suppressed under more and more layers of desenSitizing urban artificiality. Testing my belief that urbanity does not necessarily precludes nature, my thesis proposes to recover the balance in the contemporary urban life. My thesis investigates the collection, distillation and intensification of the elusive natural forces in today's Hong Kong and using architecture phenomena to raise the awareness of these forces in the minds of its occupants. In my project, I attempt to reveal the "urban nature" of Hong Kong, proposing a humanistic urbanism for the city as an alternative