Hong Kong’s Gage Street is the starting point of a busy market area, and has little in common with the skyscrapers of nearby Central District. Shops teem with fresh produce. Some seem to have almost been here forever. Some people have lived near Gage Street for generations – in tiny flats up four or five flights of stairs. Many of the older women supplement their household budget by collecting old cardboard, cans, paper or metal for recycling. But the neighbourhood is under threat. The authorities want to knock down the old market area and demolish homes in favour of skyscrapers for residential and commercial use. The plan will improve amenities for some people - but others are less positive. Some of the buildings are quite dilapidated, but activists are asking why they cannot be improved rather than torn down. The government says it might keep some buildings for history’s sake. Kwan Moon-chui operates the Wing Wo grocery store from a 135-year-old building. His shop has run for 80 years and is one of the last of its type in the area. He has heard that only his shop’s facade will be preserved. Graham Street is the last remaining fresh food street market in Central District. Many locals and office workers shop for their vegetables, fruit and fish most days of the week. Tourists visit for an original slice of historic Hong Kong. Much of the produce found on Graham Street comes from the Chinese mainland, just over the border in Guangdong province. Many locals prefer to buy here than in the more expensive supermarkets. These streets are among the oldest in Hong Kong – many are named after British colonial governors and civil servants. This road is named after William Staveley, lieutenant governor of Hong Kong between 1848 and 1851. This food stall in Gage Street is more than 50 years old and famous for offering Hong Kong-style milk tea. The so-called "panty-hose" tea is brewed through a special cloth filter to make the mix with milk smoother. Fish is a very important part of the local Cantonese cuisine and is preferably bought fresh at the market every day. Some of the fish is from local waters but due to exhaustion of stocks more and more comes from as far away as Indonesia. The redevelopment is part of the government's urban renewal strategy to improve the living conditions of residents. But many small businesses say they will not be able to pay the resulting high rents. Pictures and words: Kees Metselaar Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/07/asia_pac_old_and_new_hong_kong/html/1.stm
^ This article reminds me of HK museum of history where you get to see HK in prehistorical up to modern time.-^_^
^been there too some years ago, was quite fun with the stamp things and free webcam pictures of yourself lol! -lol Nobody dared to play with the touch screen things except me and my sister and by answering some questions about the life in old HK you can activate the photo function and it will take pics of you and we got ourselves some funny prints haha. (oh and there weren't that many people so it was not like we were occupying that screen) But I do see the problem HK is faced now; they lack space and houses for everyone but on the other hand it's a shame do demolish all these old things that make HK authentic.
i like new hk cuz of all the new tech and all.....but i dont like how everyone has to be so darn careful on the streets.....old hk when there was a lower popn.....i guess lifestyle was less aggravated....
The new modern HK is beautiful but all the little old buildings that exisits more than 50 years are also beautiful. Those old buildings shall remain for historical matters just like a legacy for the modern life of HK.
Hong Kong is my hometown. Haven't been back for like 13 years. very excited to go back there and see.
need to compramise, if all the old buildings go, so will the history, in a few years you will be reading about old HK instead of living it!!
but a lot of those old building have diseases, which makes HK health index kinda low, but i can bet it's still much better than living in the states.....thats why im for canada =)
They can implement the same system/policies as the other places: keep the historic facade of the buildings and renovate the insides. It is going to be expensive for sure, but the beautiful facades can be left behind for a very long time with proper maintainence.
I don't think thats really a possible solution in HK, groundprices are way too expensive to stick to low rising appartments... every new building must be high enough to produce enough square meters, if u just keep the facades...u cannot build a new residential flat or something like that to earn some revenue of it so it means more and more skycrapers... and besides..there is almost no 'protection' measures available for these old classic buildings...hk list of protected buildings/monuments is really small, even that historical thing (clock building or ferry pier?) was demolished some time ago!
