BLAST from the PAST

Housing is a hot topic in Hong Kong. The annual Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey has ranked Hong Kong the most expensive housing market for nine years in a row. It is also one of the most densely populated cities in the world, with more than 7.4 million people living on 1,105sqkm of land, much of which is hills, making it unsuitable for habitation.

At the same time, another crisis faces Hong Kong—the continuing disappearance of its old buildings, as they’re torn down to make way for new developments. The Antiquities Advisory Board (AAB) has identified 1,444 buildings as deserving of varying levels of preservation, but this designation does