Opinion | How Hong Kong’s redevelopment projects can be showcases of ‘organic city’ growth

The decision to bulldoze Kowloon Walled City in 1993 wasted a chance to turn the area into a cultural treasure that celebrates its history and character

Instead of more cookie-cutter shopping centres and residential towers, Hong Kong needs development that evolves from the local characteristics of each district

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Published: 8:15am, 25 Jun 2022

When asked about “organic architecture”, the general public – as well as some architects – might have the false impression it involves structures built in organic shapes or resembling natural forms such as a flower, a seashell, an icicle or an animal.

Frank Lloyd Wright, the master of organic architecture in the last century, saw it as a phenomenon in which the native character of the built structure seamlessly integrated with the environment and surrounding context. Architecture did not impose itself on nature but became part of it.

Wright’s architecture went a step further, revealing how spaces could evolve and adapt. They are considered “organic” precisely because of their ability to grow like organisms.

According to Patricia Mooney-Melvin in The Organic City, a similar concept can apply to a city as “an organism composed of interdependent neighbourhoods”. Development would be decided at the local level by social planners and organisers as the implementation of these projects often faces challenges from city leaders and politicians.

The idea of organic city growth has taken various forms since, but it has always highlighted a gap between the authorities and local communities.

Pedestrians walk along Portobello Road in the Notting Hill district of London on May 12, 2021. Photo: Bloomberg

To name a few successful examples, New York’s Meatpacking District went through a magical transformation. Its former meatpacking plants and slaughterhouses turned into a hip and trendy commercial hub with stores, art venues, restaurants and lifestyle hotels huddled around cobblestone streets.