Hong Kong - Vertical Housing

The only way to go is up

(photos of 2005-2009)

To view in full-screen mode: press F11 (press again for normal mode).
To return from a link in Internet Explorer: point at top edge and close window or tab.
To return from a link in Mozilla Firefox, etc: point at top edge and press back-arrow.
Return to Table of Contents

Tight space in Hong Kong

Flat land is scarce in Hong Kong (map, Wikipedia), so housing 7 million people means going up rather than sideways. Single-family detached homes with a garden are thus extremely rare and pricey in Hong Kong.

This is illustrated with the following view looking north from Hong Kong Island's Victoria Peak (map) down toward the financial Central District of Hong Kong. The high-rise apartment buildings in the foreground are at Mid-Levels on a very steep slope, and are among the most expensive in the world, not so much because of the views (most apartments look at other apartments or the hillside), but because of the proximity to Hong Kong's financial district.

On the far side of Victoria Harbour, Kowloon offers more flat land, and therefore houses the majority of Hongkongese. Even so, the old heart of Kowloon, Mongkok (map, Wikipedia), is known for having the highest population density in the world. A fair fraction of Kowloon was built on land reclaimed from the sea -- most of the waterfront of Kowloon (and of Hong Kong Island) seen in this picture was in fact reclaimed.

Hong Kong Island

Let's view a few other examples of high-rise living on Hong Kong Island. Next we see the apartment complex called The Belcher's (map, Wikipedia). Its 6 residential towers have 61 to 63 floors, are 214 to 227m tall, and generally offer fine views of Victoria Harbour.

The next apartment complex is the modernistic Bel-Air near Cyberport in the Pok Fu Lam district (map).

Next we see the pair of high-luxury apartment buildings known as Highcliff (at left, 75 floors and 252m tall, Wikipedia) and The Summit (at right, 65 floors and 220m tall, Wikipedia) dominating the Happy Valley district (map).

The remarkable apartment building at right in the next view is mysterious in many ways (map). Located in Repulse Bay and completed in 2002, it was not yet lived in by the end of 2009. In fact, it has no other name than "129 Repulse Bay Road", although it was temporarily called "L'Hotel Repulse Bay" when it was planned to be converted to a hotel. Its complex story, involving billionaires, shady politics, astronomical prices, a top architect (perhaps), an ill-timed economic downturn, a double kidnapping, a ransom, a disappearance and a messy succession, is covered here, at least until 2006. The hotel episode was later abandoned in favor of serviced apartments, which are supposed to become available in 2010.

Kowloon

We cross Victoria Harbour into West Kowloon, entirely built on reclaimed land, to view the recent Union Square (map, Wikipedia), dominated by the International Commerce Centre, at 484m the tallest building in Hong Kong (visible at far left in the first picture above). This complex is symbolic of the modern approach to building developments in Hong Kong, as "new towns" with a series of tall commercial and/or residential buildings standing on top of a shopping mall that lies on a metro or train station. This almost forms a complete city (many such new towns also include schools nearby, although not Union Square).

The next two views show apartment buildings ringing the top of the Union Square's shopping mall, with a curved roof over the metro and airport train station, and a circle of restaurants, cafes and stage. From left to right, we first see the pair of blue-colored towers called The Cullinan (270m tall), next five identical towers belonging to the Sorrento cluster (256m), then several irregular towers forming the Waterfront cluster (142m), followed by the unmistakable Arch (231m) and the gigantic Harbour Side (255m).

The following view from outside Union Square is dominated by the Arch, with the Harbour Side barely visible on its left and the Waterfront on its right, all standing on the Elements shopping mall. The outside apartments of the Arch and the Harbour Side have prized direct views on Hong Kong's Victoria Harbour and Central District.

Farther east in Kowloon, in Hung Hom district, stands another very tall apartment building, the Harbourfront Landmark, seen next in two views (70 floors, 233m, map). It is flanked by the lower Harbourfront commercial buildings (at left) and the Harbour Plaza Hotel (middle).

A little farther north we find a 25-tower upscale residential complex called Laguna Verde (map), shown next, also located on the waterfront of Victoria Harbour. It lies just across from the old Kai Tak Airport, now closed and being redeveloped into a variety of more urban uses.

Tseung Kwan O

One of Hong Kong's largest new towns is Tseung Kwan O (map, Wikipedia), largely built on reclaimed land of the former Junk Bay to the east of Hong Kong, as seen in the southward view below. Its forest of residential towers is served by several metro stations.

The following picture shows the Residence Oasis Estate (58 floors, map), standing atop a metro station and shopping mall at Hang Hau.

Next are another view of Residence Oasis (at left) and a view of Metro Town (at right, with 67-69 floor towers) at Tiu Keng Leng (map), standing atop another metro station and shopping mall.

What views of your neighbors do you get in such towers? The next pair of vertical panoramas of Metro Town shows views from apartments at mid-height. Note the unoccupied floors that serve as fire breaks and refuges. (The twin towers at right were still under construction when the photo was taken.)

Since the two last panoramas may seem "unnatural", they are reproduced identically below, blown up to show the effect of tilting the head from looking up to looking down as you scroll the page up. (The two white rectangles at the bottom of the first panorama are trucks.)

Next are another view of Metro Town (left) from a high-level apartment, and a view of Nan Fung Plaza (right) at Hang Hau (map) as seen from an apartment of Residence Oasis.

The following facade belongs to the 53-floor Ocean Shores residential complex at Tiu Keng Leng (map). Note the well-disguised fire break and refuge floor. The ubiquitous external air conditioners are also well integrated. How would you recognize your own apartment?

Tung Chung

The new town of Tung Chung was created next to Hong Kong's new Chek Lap Kok airport in the 1990s, allowing airport employees to live near their work, and making access very easy for frequently flying residents. The next two pictures look at Tung Chung's distinctive arc of apartment buildings (map) defined by the railway and highway leading from the airport to central Hong Kong.

The next panorama shows the residential Tung Chung Crescent (map), also built as an arc, right next to a shopping mall and metro station.

Bamboo scaffolding

Bamboo is often used in China for scaffolding during construction and repairs, thanks to its remarkable strength and light weight. The next picture shows a bamboo scaffolding from inside an apartment, wrapped in characteristic green or blue netting. Wood boards are laid on the bamboo framework to let workers walk along the facades.

The last picture includes a large apartment complex under construction (on top of a metro depot) in the Shatin district, with bamboo scaffolding all around up to roof level (as of late 2009 this map showed an earlier stage of construction).