Stefan Al, professor of urban design at the University of Pennsylvania, presents a third collection discussing a facet of China’s urban development. In 2012, he focused on southern China’s factory towns, and in 2014 he wrote about urban villages in the same region. This new publication is concerned with commercial centres, especially in the case of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. As the title indicates, Hong Kong is often seen as the quintessential urban object of commercial cent..

Douay, Nicolas

English

OpenEdition

 
China Perspectives 
2017/3 | 2017
Varia
Stefan Al (ed.), Mall City, Hong Kong’s Dreamworlds of
Consumption,
Hong Kong, Hong Kong University Press, 2016, 234 p.
Nicolas Douay
Electronic version
URL: http://journals.openedition.org/chinaperspectives/7431
DOI: 10.4000/chinaperspectives.7431
ISSN: 1996-4617
Publisher
Centre d'étude français sur la Chine contemporaine
Printed version
Date of publication: 1 September 2017
Number of pages: 67-68
ISSN: 2070-3449
 
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Perspectives [Online], 2017/3 | 2017, Online since 01 September 2017, connection on 21 December
2020. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/chinaperspectives/7431  ; DOI : https://doi.org/10.4000/
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Stefan Al (ed.), Mall City, Hong Kong’s
Dreamworlds of Consumption,
Hong Kong, Hong Kong University Press, 2016, 234 p.
Nicolas Douay
1 Stefan Al, professor of urban design at the
University  of  Pennsylvania,  presents  a
third  collection  discussing  a  facet  of
China’s  urban  development.  In  2012,  he
focused  on  southern  China’s  factory
towns, and in 2014 he wrote about urban
villages  in  the  same  region.  This  new
publication is concerned with commercial
centres, especially in the case of the Hong
Kong  Special  Administrative  Region.  As
the  title  indicates,  Hong  Kong  is  often
seen as the quintessential urban object of
commercial  centres,  often labelled “mall
city.”  These  numerous  malls  are  thus
“dreamworlds  of  consumption”  marking
space in Hong Kong as a part of its social
life.
2 Hong Kong holds the world record for the
highest commercial density, with one mall
per  square  mile  or  5,606  square  metres
per square kilometre. Only Singapore comes somewhere close with 4,023 square metres
per square kilometre, while Holland is at a very distant third with 52 square metres.
Hong Kong is thus often held up as Asia’s Shopping Paradise, trade taking pride of place
in the economy. The sector employs one in four people (compared with one in nine in
New  York)  and  supports  a  property  sector  in  quasi-permanent  growth,  with
commercial rents being among the world’s highest.
Stefan Al (ed.), Mall City, Hong Kong’s Dreamworlds of Consumption,
China Perspectives, 2017/3 | 2017
1
3 Malls are not the only urban objects symbolising Hong Kong. Skyscrapers – 1,309 of
them – stand out: double the number in New York. In most instances, towers and malls
go  together,  their  development  being concomitant.  In  residential  areas  of  the  New
Territories,  malls are clubbed with towers and mass transit stations. On Hong Kong
Island and in Kowloon they’re often found under office blocks and hotels. In this cross-
fertilisation, the mall offers several entrees, with buildings that could serve as private
podiums to  skyscrapers.  The  latter  impart  to  the  malls  a  quasi-iconic  visibility  for
residents, who are also potential clients. The book is thus concerned with this urban
object associating commercial, residential, and office activities in an ecosystem called
“Mall-Oriented Complex” or “mall city.” The mall has thus emerged as the basic unit of
urban development, where Hong Kong residents may live, work, consume, and seek
entertainment, all next to a mass transit station. These Mall-Oriented Complexes thus
highlight  the  power  of  consumption  culture  in  Hong  Kong  society,  as  well  as  the
complexity of relations between the public and private spheres, especially from the
point of view of public spaces.
4 The  book  is  organised  in  two  parts.  It  is  backed  by  a  superb  layout  of  numerous
photographs, maps, and especially 3-D drawings that help the reader better appreciate
the dimensions of buildings, their designs, and their urban integration.
5 Part I presents a series of essays dealing with different disciplines and examining how
the  malls  have  become  what  they  are  today,  what  they  represent  for  Hong  Kong
residents, and what can be learned from their development. 
6 Starting off, Barrie Shelton explains Hong Kong’s predisposition to becoming a “mall
city,”  using a  historic  approach  that  helps  advance  different  urban  typologies
associated with density and diversity.
7 In the second essay, David Grahame Shane retraces the historic evolution of Hong Kong
malls,  noting  the  international  influences,  starting  with  major  nineteenth  century
European shops and then the Japanese shops located above railway stations and the
advent of hybrid mega-structures in the contemporary period. 
8 Tung-Yiu Stan Lai focuses on the vertical dimension of the malls, from the podiums
that  form  the  bases  to  the  towers.  He  explores  the  various  challenges  they  pose,
especially relying on the case of Langham Place in Mongkok. 
9 Carolyn Cartier explores the impact of these new developments on the localities’ urban
and social structures. She explains how they have become actors in the gentrification
process, leading to increases in rents and transforming public, industrial, and heritage
spaces into those devoted essentially to consumption, which are out of sync with the
popular localities that preceded these developments. 
10 Against the grain of these gentrifying phenomena, Gordon Matthews presents the case
of  Chungking Mansions: the  building  incarnates  the  globalisation  process,  with  a
concentration of  traders  and clients  from South Asia  and Africa,  who go  there  for
inexpensive restaurants, guest houses, mobile phones, and other electronic goods. 
11 Cecilia L. Chu deals with the quite prevalent view of malls being commercial spaces that
reduce local communitarian life. She brings out the diversity of activities taking place
in these spaces (billiards, bowling, skating, fountains, etc.) and points to instances of
new  cities  whose  residents  have  developed  a  feeling  of  belonging  to  the  malls.  Of
course, recent evolutions such as an exponential growth in less accessible commerce
have led to complaints from residents who oppose these changes.
Stefan Al (ed.), Mall City, Hong Kong’s Dreamworlds of Consumption,
China Perspectives, 2017/3 | 2017
2
12 In the last essay, Jonathan D. Solomon considers the malls’ “anti-urban” reputation. He
compares two recently developed “mall city” structures that are quite similar at first
glance: Union Square, with its Elements, which despite being connected to the airport
link metro line has little local interaction; and the International Finance Centre (IFC),
which he deems a global village connected to all modes of transport, and which benefits
from numerous local interactions, notably with links to elevated walkways. 
13 Part II presents a catalogue of malls. It starts off with a discussion of key concepts such
as atriums, corridors, vertical movements (lifts and especially escalators), and activities
other than consumption, each illustrated with a great supporting cast of photographs.
This  part  ends  with  cartographic  and  graphic  representations  in  map  and  section
format of some of the city’s major malls. 
14 Next  a  typology  of  malls  is  presented  through  some  iconic  examples.  Chungking
Mansions  represents the  “residential/commercial”  type,  and  the  “Mall/residential”
type is exemplified by the Golden Shopping Centre, Tuen Mun Town Plaza, Lok Fu Plaza
and Citywalk. The third type is the “Mall/bureau,” represented by Sino Centre, Argyle
Centre, Shun Tak Centre, and Times Square. Finally there is the hybrid type – Harbour
City, Cityplaza, Pacific Place, IFC, Elements, Megabox, and Langham Place. 
15 Hong Kong’s malls make for a unique case (only Singapore’s being comparable) and are
quite  removed  from  the  traditional  representation  of  Western  malls,  especially
American, that are associated with urban sprawl and the city’s mono-functionality. At a
time  when  many  American  and  more  generally  Western  malls  are  facing  financial
difficulties,  Hong  Kong’s  experience  helps  trace  some  challenges  facing  these
contemporary  urban  objects  by  offering  a  marked  counterpoint  through  an  urban
strategy marrying high density, accessibility to transport hubs, and diversity of urban
functions. This book will delight specialist scholars as well as current and future town
planners, who would find in it matters for reflection and comparison on the evolution
of key elements in the urban development of Hong Kong and beyond. Those interested
more in Hong Kong and China than in the making of cities will find in the book keys to
understanding the city spaces and sociabilities associated with them and to examining
a model that is a major source of inspiration for urban development in mainland China.
AUTHOR
NICOLAS DOUAY
Nicolas Douay is associate professor of urban planning at the Université Paris Diderot
(nicolas.douay@gmail.com).
Stefan Al (ed.), Mall City, Hong Kong’s Dreamworlds of Consumption,
China Perspectives, 2017/3 | 2017
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