Accessibility to Hong Kong urban waterfront Is it fostering resilient communities?

Abstract

Resilience is a broad concept which has been widely used in numerous studies, examining various elements of the built form that relate to environmental, social, and economic resources. Open spaces became highly regarded as essential for liveable and resilient cities, at the same time intensifying urbanization challenges the appropriate provision of open spaces and consequently, exacerbates social disparities and risks. More specifically, urban waterfronts have been investigated for their potential of providing vibrant urban public spaces and building everyday resilience. However, the function of waterfront promenades in Hong Kong have been subject to commercialisation in favour of city branding and tourist attraction. This research focuses on examining three waterfront promenades in Hong Kong: Sheung Wan; Quarry Bay and Kwun Tong with the aim to study urban configuration and accessibility contribution to the vitality potential of these spaces and their contribution to everyday resilience. The results provides design indicators for better, more vibrant waterfront open space design that foster everyday resilience.