Research Paper

Mong Kok is one of the most densely populated districts in the world; yet, it offers its residents almost no public green space. For the small in-between spaces it does have, the service back lanes and the official sitting-out areas are left neglected. This paper studies those two space types in the western part of the district through field observation, photography, and mapping on Google Maps and Street View. The fieldwork found that the back lanes work hard as storage, servicing, and shortcuts but fail as clean or safe places, while the pocket gardens keep greenery and rest apart, lack shade, and feel cut off from the street. In response, the paper develops two design proposals on a shared framework of blended functions and modular, vertical bamboo-scaffold construction. The first reorganises a back lane into a working ground floor with a planted promenade above, and the second revitalises a sitting-out area into a layered, communal garden. Both work with the activity already present rather than displacing it, directing the cooling and amenity benefits of green retrofits to the district’s most heat-vulnerable users.