CULTURAL DISTRICT WEST KOWLOON


White elephant or a new model for development in Hong Kong? Christopher DeWolf takes a look at the ups and downs of the $1.8bn waterfront project


L CLAD mag 2015 ISSUE 1


ast November, thousands of people thronged the Hong Kong waterfront for a festival with an unusual name: Freespace. Young people sold handicrafts and second-hand clothes along a sea-


front promenade, while families picnicked on the grass and food vendors made brisk busi- ness hawking pizza and beer. At one point, a group of people dressed in giant seagull


costumes wandered through the crowd, papi- er-mâché beaks pecking at the ground. Freespace’s focus is revealed in its name. In a city where public parks are governed by many onerous restrictions – no dog-walking, frisbee-throwing or music-playing allowed – the festival was conceived as a way to see what would happen if Hongkongers used a park as they liked. It could set an important precedent. Over the next few years, the


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