Record Detail

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