The Making of Hong Kong

Reviews / Votes

"A much-needed succinct history of Hong Kong's three-dimensional urban form... For designers working on projects in Hong Kong, The Making of Hong Kong may well be the one essential text." - Journal of Urban History

"..a well marshalled, sharp account of Hong Kong's urban growth that poses worthy lines for future investigation." -Australian Design Review

"Engagingly written and organised in a highly legible manner, this book provides a vastly informative guide to the distinctive morphology of Hong Kong (covering a range of topics, from geological features to post-World War II economic shifts in the territory). Praise must be given to the plethora of images and diagrams used, which enrich the text and convey the authors' familiarity and expertise with the Hong Kong urban environment. It is perhaps in the Addendum that the strength of this book comes through, with the authors offering a glimpse of how being aware of 'volumetric' principles in design can potentially contribute to rejuvenating old neighbourhoods (e.g. Mong Kok) or positing a new form of environmentally sensitive living (e.g. the Kwu Tung 'Naturbia') in Hong Kong. Authored from the perspective of urban planners and architects, this book will be of value to anyone who wishes to garner a better understanding of the compact qualities of Asian urbanity or is interested in the creative spatial innovations that can occur in island cities where land is a finite resource." - Sonia Lam-Knott, School of Anthropology & Museum Ethnography, University of Oxford, Urban Island Studies