Hong Kong: Traditional markets and walkways in the sky

The Star Ferry passes in front of Hong Kong’s electric skyline

Hong Kong is a ceaselessly amazing case study in crowd management. With space at an absolute premium, central parts of the city have relegated the pedestrian environment upwards, in an effort to meet the needs of both pedestrians and the buses and taxis that monopolize the city’s roads. Pedestrian infrastructure here is a futuristic monument to efficiency.

While pedestrian overpasses are common throughout the city, the centrepiece of the system is found in the area simply referred to as “Central.” Here, the Hong Kong government has mandated new buildings be connected to the overpass system and throughout much of the central business district pedestrians come into little contact with the ground. It is Toronto’s PATH system realized in a warm climate. As with the PATH, some buildings are better at accommodating the pedestrian flow than others, and signage can be patchy. You can really only properly negotiate the system when you learn to stop looking for signs and just go with flow.

The most impressive part of the system, however, is clearly the Central-Mid-Levels Escalator. With claims at being the world’s longest escalator (at 800m in distance and 153m in overall vertical rise) the system is like a human-scale Gardiner Expressway. Opened in 1996, it takes riders from the heart of the business district into the dense residential areas on the slope above.  Carrying an estimated 55,000 people every day, the escalator is well signed and features platforms at road crossings where pedestrians can enter or exit the system. It is impossible not to associate these areas with highway interchanges.

The Central-Mid-Levels Escalator travels over the gentrified Soho district

At a break inside the system where one can descend to street level; the escalator travels downwards for a brief period during the morning rush

The areas around of the escalator system have gentrified due to the large amounts human traffic. This area has become known as Soho and is now frequented by ex-pats and populated with trendy restaurants, shops, and bars. The escalator has had such a large impact on the neighbourhood that there are concerns that plans for additional systems will destroy traditional neighbourhoods elsewhere in Hong Kong. Planners have also become concerned that a focus on overhead systems in the city ignores the fundamental importance of a pedestrian’s interaction with the urban fabric. The Hong Kong Association of Planners cautioned the government about its over-emphasis on elevating pedestrian traffic and ignorance toward the vitality of the street below.

Significant pedestrian infrastructure above is met with an unfriendly environment below

That said, the elevated system is mostly confined to the central business area, and Hong Kong contains no shortage of incredibly lively streets and markets. In traditional neighbourhoods, markets crowd onto the streets that then become impromptu pedestrian areas. Heavy automobile taxes limit personal vehicles to the very wealthy, so that side streets have very little traffic. Recently, Hong Kong has engaged in initiatives to improve the pedestrian experience including more temporary traffic closures during weekends and peak times and new streetscape to widen sidewalks and remove clutter.

Hong Kong is one of the world’s most dynamic cities, and includes glimpses into planning that show both a modernist future and a deeply traditional past.

Peak hour pedestrian closure on busy commercial streets