Hovering Urban Fabric

Statement

The city of Hong Kong has a good connectivity in terms of pedestrian pathways and infrastructure. The movement of people happens predominantly above grounds and in-between buildings (by bridges) without touching the ground. Moreover there is also people flow underground. Mostly vehicular movements are on ground level with some above ground (elevated roadways) as well. The MTR runs underground. Due to land scarcity and extreme prestige value of the ground, the connectivity is well structured and efficiently planned.

The density of Hong Kong is highly dense that even though this connections are provided, it is overcrowded in most of the places. The population is on the rise. Housing shortage is always an issue in Hong Kong.

Description

This thesis addresses the problems created due to congestions and overcrowding in public areas and intersections. Even though Hong Kong has abundant land, only 40% are buildable or in urban areas whereas the rest are reserved for country parks.

How can the city grow with population on the rise and more housing needed without compromising the land? How can we distribute density as people are hesitant to move in XY axis as it makes them difficult to travel more in XY direction?

One possible solution is the concept of Biomimicry. The human body does not only grow vertically and horizontally in a 2-Dimensional axis but also in a 3-Dimensional way. This solution would be used to create a whole new hovering urban fabric above the existing city, so that the population density is spread even vertically and people need not move outside the urban areas.

Another solution could be from a smaller scale of connections between buildings either in the middle or on the roof of a building. This concept could be further expanded and as a result an urban fabric is created with connecting a cluster of buildings or towers. These connections already exists in the form of bridges but the connections which is proposed does not only serve as a bridge for connectivity but also to host many activities and also serve as a ground for the hovering city to be built upon.

The research would also find out other possible solutions.

Methodological Processes

This thesis research starts with analyzing the existing Hong Kong connectivity and to identify human interaction points on ground, above ground and below ground. Map out possible zones and solutions where hovering fabrics of city could be created without affecting the existing city like daylight, etc. Hovering city could also be created in country parks without affecting the ground level as it is raised above and hence does not cause hindrance to the green environments below.

References

Alan Boutwell and Mike Mitchell, Continuous City for 1,000,000 Human Beings, 1969.

Le Corbusier, Algiers Masterplan, 1931

Cities without ground, Jonathan D. Soloman