Linked podiums affecting street life: A case of Tuen Mun in Hong Kong

Abstract

This study examines the existing podium-tower form of mixed-use residential development in Hong Kong and reveals its effects on street lives and pedestrian movements within high-rise, high-density residential areas. The podiums accommodate shops, facilities, and modes of transportation for those living above and in the surrounding area. The Tuen Mun complex's well-linked podium spaces illustrate that the podium form maximizes internal uses below residential areas, but segregates the closely located residential space from daily commercial activities. The existing podium spaces privatize streets and plazas for residents in towers and visitors to podium-space commercial shops, not for a layperson exploring there. Although ground-level streets and plazas are public spaces where diverse urban activities occur, podiums' internal corridors and halls are semipublic areas where designated shopping activities occur. While podiums enhance the convenience and safety of common space, these internal space become less public for internal users and include more barriers such as vertical circulation from the public street. The findings are expected to contribute to public awareness of and consciousness in relation to the development of compact and composite residential environments.