[Video Essay] Public City- Alleyways

When I visited alleyways around my home, I discovered that there were a lot of small items that people left behind such as takeaway food containers, drink cups, masks, and cigarette butts. These items reminded me of the news I read earlier about workers struggling to find places to have meals and ended up eating in the alleyways during the pandemic. Seeing the connection between the items found in the alleyways and the news, I started to wonder what makes people find alleyways suitable for eating and resting. Through fieldwork, I realized that it was the privacy provided by the alleyways in this public city that made it happen during the pandemic.

(Takeaway food and drink containers in alleyways: Photos taken by Chan Chi Lam)

(Masks and cigarette butts in alleyways: Photos taken by Chan Chi Lam)

There have been lots of pandemic restrictions imposed by the Hong Kong government on public places.  Gathering restrictions, restaurant restrictions, and restrictions on wearing masks in public places are examples. Due to all these rules, there are fewer seats available in the restaurants. Moreover, taking off masks in order to have meals in other public places in Hong Kong will also be seen as violating public consensus or even laws during the pandemic. As a result, it is sometimes very hard for people, especially workers to find a place to have meals and rest during lunch breaks. Nevertheless, although being a public place, alleyways can often be used as a private space. This duality of alleyways provides workers with a private space to have meals and recharge from their works during the pandemic. 

Private can have many meanings. The private here means freedom and without intervention. Unlike other common public places such as parks and malls, alleyways do not have a specific function. Therefore, there are always not a lot of people in the alleyways as people seldom go to a public place that does not have functions. This emptiness of alleyways makes the alleyway a private space for workers to have the freedom to take off their masks and have meals without the concerns of being stared at by passerby, unlike in other common public places in Hong Kong. 

Alleyway is a public place, but also a private space. A place is a distinct location that differs itself from other places. For example, everyone will agree that toilets and bedrooms are two different places. A space is defined by things that happened in a location. For example, toilets and bedrooms can both be a reading space if people read in both of these locations. Therefore, as De Certeau, M. said,  ‘space is a practiced place’. Alleyways are originally public places. However, because more and more workers eat, relax and smoke in alleyways during the pandemic, they are turned into private spaces where people can do things that cannot be done freely in other public places. It is the workers’ behaviors in the alleyways that create the duality of alleyways of being both a public place and private space. As a result, alleyways become a private space for workers to eat and relax in the public city, Hong Kong, during the pandemic.

References:

• Anon. 2020. “Hong Kong’s Low-Income Workers Struggle to Find Clean Spaces to Have Meals.” South China Morning Post. Retrieved May 18, 2021 (https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3097371/no-city-eating-out-hong-kongs-low-income-workers-struggle).
• “De_Certeau_Michel_The_Practice_of_Everyday_Life.Pdf.”
• Anon. n.d. “Two Architects Explore the Microeconomy of Hong Kong’s Alleyways – Bloomberg.” Retrieved May 18, 2021c (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-07-15/two-architects-explore-the-microeconomy-of-hong-kong-s-alleyways).
• Anon. n.d. “據悉政府將收緊社交距離措施 包括重新收緊食肆營業限制 – YouTube.” Retrieved May 18, 2021d (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tOpJrd8VTI&list=PLKoXXVQa3yxAAoNj-XI3EtddtEv6Kjfr3&index=2609).

Background sound and music:

Chan Chi Lam 3035759064