Feb 15, 2012

8 notes

The Moving Steps of Gentrification?

The Central-Mid-levels escalators are probably one of the more famous urban oddities of Hong Kong. Climbing up the steep hills, they count as public transport and carry some 35,000 “passengers” a day.

Now, riding the escalators does give unusual views to various businesses and even apartments along the way. But at the same time, since their opening in 1993, most street corners next to the escalator have turned into serviced apartments, bars and restaurants, which I suppose is inevitable whenever an urban spot becomes vastly more accessible to the masses.

Yesterday, I went for a walk in Sai Ying Pun as well as Kennedy Town, where another sets of escalators are currently being built. I came to the site of the actual construction from a side alley, so I didn’t immediately realize that the area as a whole, was soon to be serviced with the escalator. Because, it’s really quite a charming area. You have lush urban greenery in front of the old low-rise houses: flowers, fruit trees, even small farming projects.

When I reached the construction, I didn’t realize at first what was actually going on. As I was walking down, I saw strangely familiar looking people. If their understated but sleek, dark outfits and designer glasses didn’t give them away, it was the construction workers as well as the flashy clients standing next to them: architects. It seemed that because of the escalator, renovations en masse were being carried out in the buildings next to it. And somehow, I could already see the low-key charm of the area being transformed into something more expensive, give or take a couple of years.

On my way back, I pondered this equation. On one hand, it’s always somehow saddening to see authenticity disappearing. On the other hand, to whom is the original place authentic? To academic outsiders? To the growing local hipster population? The questions became even harder to answer, as I passed by a Viennese café, situated next to an open-air upholstery shop. Neither of the establishments seemed to really hinder the existence of the other. And isn’t that what we always want, a complicated mix of uses?

On the way down, I also noticed these messages painted on the stairs, commenting the amount of electricity used by riding the escalator, in comparison with walking. I suppose, at least, a way of introducing some hard numbers to the equation.

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  1. everydayhybridity reblogged this from mikasavela and added:
    A great post by mikasavela. It...disapearance’ argument from Abbas. These special moments...
  2. mikasavela posted this
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