TY - JOUR
T1 - Spatial practice, conceived space and lived space
T2 - Hong Kong's 'Piers saga' through the Lefebvrian lens
AU - Ng, Mee Kam
AU - TANG, Wing Shing
AU - Lee, Joanna
AU - Leung, Darwin
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors would like to thank the anonymous referees for their insightful and constructive comments. The funding support of the RGC Competitive Earmarked Research Grant (HKU 7462/06J) is gratefully acknowledged.
PY - 2010
Y1 - 2010
N2 - By applying the Lefebvrian lens, this paper tries to understand why unlike previous similar cases, the latest removal of the Star Ferry and Queen's Pier was so controversial. To Lefebvre, embedded in 'spatial practices' that 'secrete' a place are two contradicting spaces: 'conceived spaces' produced by planners to create exchange values and 'lived spaces' appropriated by citizens for use values. Applying Lefebvre's framework to examine the 'Piers saga', it is found that the pre-Second World War (WWII) piers were 'conceived' by spatial practices of a colonial and racially segregated trading enclave. The public space in the commercial heart that housed the previous generations of piers was not accessible to the Chinese community, thus denying them opportunities to appropriate them and turn them into 'lived' spaces. It was only after WWII when the Government carried out further reclamation to meet the needs of an industrializing economy that inclusive public spaces were conceived in the commercial heart, enabling the general public to 'appropriate' them as 'lived' space. When the Government planned to remove this very first 'lived' space in the political and economic heart of the city to conceive further reclamation for the restructuring economy, the more enlightened citizens were determined to defend it.
AB - By applying the Lefebvrian lens, this paper tries to understand why unlike previous similar cases, the latest removal of the Star Ferry and Queen's Pier was so controversial. To Lefebvre, embedded in 'spatial practices' that 'secrete' a place are two contradicting spaces: 'conceived spaces' produced by planners to create exchange values and 'lived spaces' appropriated by citizens for use values. Applying Lefebvre's framework to examine the 'Piers saga', it is found that the pre-Second World War (WWII) piers were 'conceived' by spatial practices of a colonial and racially segregated trading enclave. The public space in the commercial heart that housed the previous generations of piers was not accessible to the Chinese community, thus denying them opportunities to appropriate them and turn them into 'lived' spaces. It was only after WWII when the Government carried out further reclamation to meet the needs of an industrializing economy that inclusive public spaces were conceived in the commercial heart, enabling the general public to 'appropriate' them as 'lived' space. When the Government planned to remove this very first 'lived' space in the political and economic heart of the city to conceive further reclamation for the restructuring economy, the more enlightened citizens were determined to defend it.
KW - Colonial spatial planning practice
KW - Harbour reclamation
KW - Hong Kong
KW - Lefebvre
KW - Urban planning and civil society
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=77956828054&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/02665433.2010.505060
DO - 10.1080/02665433.2010.505060
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 20857601
AN - SCOPUS:77956828054
SN - 0266-5433
VL - 25
SP - 411
EP - 431
JO - Planning Perspectives
JF - Planning Perspectives
IS - 4
ER -