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I have done research on several user groups and history of housing in Hong Kong. However, I am confused about what kind of research I should carry on due to a few reasons.
It is clear that I am not looking at space – saving and utilizing of space regarding the problem of lack of space in an urban area as I first thought of when I was writing the survey for the sub-divided flat residents. The main reason is that is because I am looking at how people respond to an urban environment and mainly focusing on the stress of living in a crowded environment. I have carried survey on Hong Kong residents who live in apartment buildings and stress is an issue that need to be addressed. It is quite obvious when people (foreigners and tourists) come to Hong Kong, they experience an unfriendly attitude, which I believed is due to Hong Kong people experienced a lot of stress living in this environment, which leads to my question of
Another finding that I have throughout the research is that my assumption of people’s happiness living in the city is largely defined in their enclosed, private space. However, when I looked at the Kowloon Walled City, a communal and public space is really important as well. People build balconies (aka”birdcage”) and enjoy spending time on the rooftop. This also the reason why some grassroots choose to live on the rooftop instead of coffin homes or sub-divided flat.
I found out that the importance of having your own private space is that you can do whatever you want. You are shielded from the outside world, from the noises and from human contact. You are able to enjoy some peaceful alone time. However, the problem of limited land resources in an urban environment with a high population density makes people live in really tiny spaces. They feel trapped when they stay in their home, making their alone time stressful sometimes.
I am confused also because I am looking at private space in the first place but now realising that the relationship between private and public spaces in the well-being of urban residents. I also realized that conflict of the need of privacy and people’s need for public space.