While Abbas introduced the invisible city and generic city in the reading, I was hooked on the concept of Generic city, a strangely interesting and vague term to me. A city with something of anything, but also nothing: No characteristic, no history, identity nor iconic shape. The movie clip shown in the tutorial from The Bourne Ultimatum (2007) clearly justified the idea. We cannot identify which city or countries the characters were in. Just a normal and crowded station.
Hong Kong as an international city is also generic to some extent. Think about any Central Business District of the developed countries, you will find Hong Kong no difference form the CBDs: Skyscrapers with the same facade, hustle and bustle around the street, busy white collar everywhere, big brand names in the identical malls, just to list some. This is the result of globalization and McDonaldization of the firms.
However, this is not the end of the story. In the video clip from In the Mood for Love (2000), we cannot see any Hong Kong specific element, but Mood is so Hong Kong, the corridors, the language, the people feels Hong Kong. Every cities got the same shape, yet shining in their specific way. In the era of glocalization, maybe generic cities are finding their way to retain their sparks of local culture in the global stage.
Shan Law 3035566352
In fact, the two examples you give show that a city can be both generic and specific depends on the lens you use to see it. As a citizen who is inspired by the concepts of a Generic City, how would you further your observation and action towards the city?