Terra infirma: The evolution of ground culture in Hong Kong

Abstract

This paper sets out the evolution of Hong Kong’s relationship with the ground on which it is built since the inception of its urbanization in the mid-nineteenth century. It examines how the design, construction and upgrading of slopes and retaining structures shape the city’s public spaces to this day. It casts new light on the urbanist interventions through a close study of the geotechnical expertise and commitment invested in consolidat- ing the city’s historically unstable ground. The aim of the paper is to chal- lenge the dominant Hong Kong narrative that fetishizes how land value and spatial efficiency have shaped the city’s urban spaces, by enlighten- ing the role of geotechnical risk management as a catalyst for urban recon- figuration. Seen through a landscape architectural and geographical eye, urban grounds are revealed as a single dynamic entity in which biotic and abiotic, human and natural processes are constantly at play.