It's about Manifestation of Oneself.. The Hong Kong's Identity

10 days of field trip in Hong Kong certainly has given me a different perception of the place and open up other windows for consideration. On the whole, I'm not sure if I liked the place but definitely enjoyed the trip. 
Whilst in Hong Kong, I began analyzing the place as how I analyzed and dissected the elements in their iconography; the flag, the banknote and the stamp, in relation to public identity. Although the same method applied, the process was far more complicated as built environment has an intangible component which is not present in graphic design. 


ICONOGRAPHY = GRAPHIC ELEMENTS + SIMPLIFIED REPRESENTATION
                                                                                  - local scene
                                                                                  - portrait 
                                                                                  - symbology 
                                                                                  - emblem 


URBAN DESIGN = URBAN ELEMENTS + LIVING TISSUES (user)
                                    - history                          - culture
                                    - politics                         - behavior
                                    - geography                    - movement
                                    - infrastructure                - adaptation 
                                    - social                           - usage of built environment
                 


Thus, in addition to the urban elements which can be identified by close observation of the place, I also ponder on the following key points which may have characterized these elements as well as shaped the built environment:


1.
City's handover from the British to China with mixed feelings...
_ joy at first instance, sadness at seeing the British go
_ pride over returning to their motherland, apprehension over the future
2.
What happened over the past 10 years...
_ crippling regional financial crisis
_ bird flu, SARS
_ resignation of top officials over sundry scandals
_ the march of 0.5mil people galvanized by the opposition to a new security bill called Article 23
3.
Complex relationship...
_ Is Hong Kong a model for China or a treat?
_ Is Hong Kong changing China, or China changing Hong Kong?
_ Should Hong Kong be more Chinese or more International?
4.
Future challenges flow...
_ Who am I?
_ What do I want to be?
_ Can I be all I want to be?

IT'S ABOUT MANIFESTATION OF ONESELF... THE HONG KONG'S IDENTITY

IDENTITY Fetish: A Collective Image of Hong Kong

PART 2

1.

Political Diagram - History

2.

Political Diagram - Future

3.

Hong Kong Public Identity

4.

Iconography - The Flag

5.

Iconography - The Banknote & Stamp

6.

The Identity Autopsy

7.

Public Identity; The Flag - Proposed

8.

The Flag Protocol - Current

9.

The Flag Protocol - Proposed

10.

Public Identity; The Banknote - Proposed

11.

Public Identity; The Stamp - Proposed

IDENTITY Fetish: A Collective Image of Hong Kong

PART 1

As a former British colony and a city governed under the mantra "one country, two systems", Hong Kong is a vibrant metropolis where the Chinese and Western influences collide. Now, five years after the handover of Hong Kong to China, there is a dialectic situation happening where Hong Kong is still holding on to the British way of decision-making. The question of IDENTITY, thus I began mapping its history in the following diagrams:

Hong Kong under British sovereignty: 

Hong Kong being British, China being China, Macau being Portugal

Hong Kong during its transition period:

In the early 1980s, Ding XiaoPing initiated the idea of "One Country, Two Systems" in which China operates under the socialist system while its independent Chinese regions; HK, Macau & Taiwan, maintain their capitalist system

Hong Kong after year 1997:

An extension from the "One Country, Two Systems" idea, on 4th April 1990, Hong Kong adopted the Basic Law in which it will continue its capitalist system for the next 50 years after 1997 

Hong Kong in 50 years' time:

Hong Kong will be wholly part of China, along with the other Chinese metropolis such as Beijing and Shanghai

The morphology of Hong Kong's public IDENTITY in relation to the diagrams; 

_ _the CITY SKYLINE

_ _the FLAG

_ _the BANKNOTE

_ _the STAMP

_ _the CITY SKYLINE

1950s

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

_ _the FLAG

British

China

Hong Kong under British sovereignty:

1870–1876

1876–1910

1910–1959

Hong Kong during its transition period:

1959–1997

1959-1997 (Unofficial Red ensign for Hong Kong used prior to the Handover)

Hong Kong after year 1997:

1997- present

 _ _the BANKNOTE

Hong Kong under British sovereignty:

Hong Kong during its transition period:

Hong Kong after year 1997:

_ _the STAMP

Hong Kong under British sovereignty:

Hong Kong during its transition period:

6 February 1997, bear the inscriptions HONG KONG, so-called "Neutral Definitives"

 

Hong Kong after year 1997:

Current set released on 18 October 1999, bear the inscriptions HONG KONG, CHINA.