City as a process is quite interesting to consider. The process of a city expanding in its own way, let it be under governmental regulation, resulting in neat, organized infrastructure or under private direction, which yields a significantly more diverse and in a way, messy layout of the city. Hong Kong is one of the few cities around the world that embodies both processes. In historic regions such as the HK islands, we see traces of the free-form developments that occurred during colonial times, while more regimented development can be found in new towns such as Shatin, Tuen Mun and the like. This blend of architecture styles is part of what gives Hong Kong its unique vibe, alongside its east and west merger.
With this in mind, it is imperative that we do our best to conserve some of these, albeit less efficient infrastructure. We’ve all seen in films the perfectly organized, symmetrical cities, but is that what we want for Hong Kong? I think not.
Li Ming Chak (David) 3035785570
It is unclear that which of the text(s) you are responding you since there are no cited references / ideas in the entire response. Your statements on city development in the colonial times and new towns in your comparison are rather unfounded and problematic. First, New Towns are introduced in the 50s when Hong Kong was still a colony to accommodate the population boom. Second, Yoos and James also noted “Hong Kong’s Colony Outline Plan in 1969 described a more complete vision [of the elevated pedestrian network] : a multilevel city with elevated public spaces connecting housing, businesses, offices, and parking in a single megastructure elevated above a mass transit line.” (Yoos and James 2016, 11). The development approach could be different due of different agendas, scales etc. but it is not the question of free-form vs. regimented development or east and west merger. The history of city planning is very complex and can hardly be reduced to one sentence. You may wish to reflect further upon the multilevel city quoted above with regards to New Town development, the example of Shatin and Tuen Mun would be good examples to illustrate the ideas of having the mall as the civic centre, the elevated network which separates the pedestrians from traffic etc.