We all grew up in our own local community. The physical environment, communal facilities as well as social interaction with our neighbours in the community affected our well-being, and helped shape our personal and intellectual development. The post-war period in the last century was very tough for Hong Kongers, especially so for new immigrants from Mainland China. A lot of them could only afford to live in primitive and dangerous hillside squatters. After the outbreak of the serious fire in the Shek Kip Mei squatter areas in 1953, the Hong Kong Government started large public housing programmes in the 1950s.
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The first generation of public housing only provided basic shelters without private bathrooms and kitchens, let alone communal facilities like markets and nurseries. Ar Dr Donald Liao, the former Secretary for Housing as well as HKIA Gold Medalist 2023, saw the need for decent public housing with self-contained units for good privacy as well as communal facilities, for the well-being of grassroots level. His contributions in formulating new planning and architectural design approaches for public housing like Wah Fu Estate, as well as social housing policy such as Home Ownership Scheme was instrumental to the creation of a harmonious society with good social mobility in Hong Kong in subsequent decades.We also belong to other communities in different stages of our lives. Schools and universities are communities for students with clear physical boundaries and identities, while nature lovers and hikers have their own communities in the countryside and geological parks with ambiguous boundaries. Throughout the years, architects work hard in exploring innovative architectural design for schools, university campuses, museums, theatres, the waterfront, open spaces, playgrounds, pavilions, piers as well as revitalization of heritage buildings and abandoned seaside barging areas into cultural venues and waterfront promenades, in which different communities can find suitable venues for their social activities. Outstanding achievements of HKIA members are demonstrated in the award-winning projects of the HKIA Annual Awards in past years, some of which are also reported in this journal.
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Simply putting our signature designs in the urban fabric is not adequate. Incorporating expectations and aspirations from end-users in the architectural design are equally important. Analysing and crystallising highly diversified public views is a big challenge to architects. Participatory design process has therefore become a worldwide trend, to solicit diversified views of the communities in an interactive manner. Some local cases are reported in this Journal.
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On behalf of Hong Kong Institute of Architects, I would like to express my warmest congratulations to the editorial team, the Publication Committee, writers and participants of the Symposium on Community, for their visions, insightful analysis and diligence in working on this Journal.