Exhibit Title Occupy the Sliver – The Exploration of Future Youth Housing in Hong Kong
Theme Title Density 2.0
Exhibition Title City Smarts – Density 2.0
Exhibition Venue H6 CONET, 99 Queen’s Road Central, Central
Soaring property prices in the past few years have given Hong Kong the rank No. 1 of “Most Unaffordable Housing” in the world for the seventh straight year. One group being mostly affected is young people who have just started making their own living. Buying home is mere fantasy for them; even renting a place to live is too expensive. Lots of them want to untie the apron strings and live independently but cannot do so. Many live in their parents’ homes into their thirties.
In 2012 the HKSAR government has launched the Youth Hostel Scheme which plans to convert industrial buildings into youth hostels. Is converting industrial buildings or finding remote sites for affordable youth housing the only possible solution? What kind of housing should Hong Kong young people have in future?
“Occupy the Sliver” is an alternative mission for the exploration of future youth housing in Hong Kong. Instead of converting the old and searching in remoteness, this mission seeks for the possibility of injecting youth housing program into the left-over spaces of the city center. From 2015 to 2017, various sliver sites smaller than 1000 m2in Mid Levels, Prince Edward and Causeway bay were given to 33 students as the testing grounds. The challenge is twofold: on one hand how to squeeze housing units into the highly congested context and connect them with the sophisticated urban infrastructure; on the other hand how to dedicate communal spaces in between housing units for an intimate connection with the outside world.