Skywalking in Hong Kong: Disrupting flows in the consumerist wonderland

Abstract

Hong Kong, a global city continuously expanding vertically and multiplying the opportunities for profit generation skywards. Networks of skywalks connect this vast shoppingscape, defining a directory of consumption that constantly shifts the experience and understanding of the city. This paper explores how the ‘consumerist wonderland’ of Hong Kong, with its fragmented identity and glorified perception of consumption, has produced an urban, spatial situation that has seamlessly circulated the flow of consumption, yet been unintentionally subverted by a passively accepted foreign force. This surprising urban guerrilla inserts a recurring, un-commoditized event that breaks the assumption of continuous consumption. Their domestication of these skywalks dedicated to consumer spending and absolute convenience, propose an alternative form of civic engagement in the contemporary urban shoppingscape. Additionally, this paper will assist in extrapolating the parallels and reciprocity between the occupations of the elevated walkways and the urban terrain of Hong Kong.