A case study of Wing Lee Street
The case that I would like to draw from my own experience to study is the case of Wing Lee Street (永利街). Not only that I had been physically there to Wing Lee Street as field observation, I had also paid attention to the full development of the cancellation of the redevelopment plan of Wing Lee Street. And of course, I also had watched the important film Echoes of the Rainbow filmed at this street that had indeed changed the fate of the whole street. In my opinion, I think Wing Lee Street is absolutely a good case for studying both street culture as well as the re-adaptation of space.
To briefly introduce Wing Lee Street, it is a terrace located in the southern part of Sheung Wan. Wing Lee Street runs parallel …show more content…
There are of course high historical and cultural values lying with Wing Lee Street, and Wing Lee Street is definitely worth preserving. However, when compared to the case of Lee Tung Street or the former Marine Police Headquarters, it did not make sense for the government to spare Wing Lee Street from the wrecking ball but not the previous two, from the aspects historical values to cultural values, and from architectural features to public opposition. It would be hard to explain such policy inconsistency except the explanation of such decision is based on subjective evaluation and the public opinion sparked by the award-winning movie shot on Wing Lee Street. Nevertheless, through the local movie Echoes of the Rainbow directed by Alex Law Kai-Yui, some new mental outlook and meaning are given to Wing Lee Street, for example a nostalgic feeling, as well as a collective feeling of a familiar place. The movie was originally about the collective memories of the old days that echoes the first of Hong Kong people mentioned in the book “Four Generations of Hong Kong” by Prof. Lui Tai-lok. The first generation witnessed the development of society from the liberation of Hong Kong to the industrialization, they also witnessed the process of the improvement of people’s daily living and transformation to a well-off society (Lui, 2007). The movie …show more content…
Such example had explained that tenements as ordinary as those on Wing Lee Street may even be worthier of conservation because of all the collective memories and the marks of that the first generation had left in those kinds of historic (but ordinary) buildings. It is the practices of everyday life that construct its values and importance. Moreover, the concept of the whole community may also be the reason that the government decided to preserve the whole street “from head to toe”. Walter Benjamin has described streets as domestic interior. Space is the carrier of life. Life context, cultural heritage, regional economy, all these different aspects are linked up closely and create a unique street scenery. Very often when government or the Urban Renewal Authority (URA) consider about redevelopment of an area, they would put tangible considerations such as technical issues or economic benefits as more important factor. For example, for Wing Lee Street’s case, there could be lots of different ways if it was only to maintain the unique “terrace” ambience of the street. However, there would be no better way than preserving the whole street if the government could further think of preserving the intangible side of such collective memory of Hong Kong
The case that I would like to draw from my own experience to study is the case of Wing Lee Street (永利街). Not only that I had been physically there to Wing Lee Street as field observation, I had also paid attention to the full development of the cancellation of the redevelopment plan of Wing Lee Street. And of course, I also had watched the important film Echoes of the Rainbow filmed at this street that had indeed changed the fate of the whole street. In my opinion, I think Wing Lee Street is absolutely a good case for studying both street culture as well as the re-adaptation of space.
To briefly introduce Wing Lee Street, it is a terrace located in the southern part of Sheung Wan. Wing Lee Street runs parallel …show more content…
There are of course high historical and cultural values lying with Wing Lee Street, and Wing Lee Street is definitely worth preserving. However, when compared to the case of Lee Tung Street or the former Marine Police Headquarters, it did not make sense for the government to spare Wing Lee Street from the wrecking ball but not the previous two, from the aspects historical values to cultural values, and from architectural features to public opposition. It would be hard to explain such policy inconsistency except the explanation of such decision is based on subjective evaluation and the public opinion sparked by the award-winning movie shot on Wing Lee Street. Nevertheless, through the local movie Echoes of the Rainbow directed by Alex Law Kai-Yui, some new mental outlook and meaning are given to Wing Lee Street, for example a nostalgic feeling, as well as a collective feeling of a familiar place. The movie was originally about the collective memories of the old days that echoes the first of Hong Kong people mentioned in the book “Four Generations of Hong Kong” by Prof. Lui Tai-lok. The first generation witnessed the development of society from the liberation of Hong Kong to the industrialization, they also witnessed the process of the improvement of people’s daily living and transformation to a well-off society (Lui, 2007). The movie …show more content…
Such example had explained that tenements as ordinary as those on Wing Lee Street may even be worthier of conservation because of all the collective memories and the marks of that the first generation had left in those kinds of historic (but ordinary) buildings. It is the practices of everyday life that construct its values and importance. Moreover, the concept of the whole community may also be the reason that the government decided to preserve the whole street “from head to toe”. Walter Benjamin has described streets as domestic interior. Space is the carrier of life. Life context, cultural heritage, regional economy, all these different aspects are linked up closely and create a unique street scenery. Very often when government or the Urban Renewal Authority (URA) consider about redevelopment of an area, they would put tangible considerations such as technical issues or economic benefits as more important factor. For example, for Wing Lee Street’s case, there could be lots of different ways if it was only to maintain the unique “terrace” ambience of the street. However, there would be no better way than preserving the whole street if the government could further think of preserving the intangible side of such collective memory of Hong Kong