City of Skywalks: Exploring Hong Kong’s Public Space and Power of Discourse from Footbridges

Abstract

As a public space and building, the footbridge is not just a physical concrete building but also carries people’s life experiences and beliefs. In Hong Kong, however, footbridges are a joint product of the government and property developers to control people and drive consumption. Taking the footbridge as an example, this article explores the relationship between public space and the power of discourse. The article first discusses how the government and property developers manipulate footbridges as a social control tool. This article draws on case studies of the use of public space during and after Hong Kong’s social movements in 2019 to discuss how people tried to regain their power of discourse in urban space, and how the government and the bourgeoisie suppressed such attempts. This paper argues that footbridges serve as marginal spaces, and demonstrate power and control by providing a space for people to discuss public affairs and be used to demonstrate power and control, especially in social movements. The footbridges traditionally used are challenged in a social event at the same time, brought under the gaze of planning and management from authorities, on the meaning of public space, the footbridges are narrowed or even prohibited in Hong Kong.