Reading the Hong Kong Signscape
Here in North America, the past three decades have witnessed increasing control and restrictions over commercial signs. To get a sense of how things used to be, you could look at a photo of pretty much any city in the 1940s and 50s and you’ll see a cornucopia of signs competing with each other for attention. Or you could go to Hong Kong. There, on just about every commercial street, hundreds of signs advertising local shops jostle for the most eye-catching position. Hong Kong is unique even among Asian cities, largely because many of its signs extend horizontally over the street. In many older neighbourhoods, the signscape is so intense that it can hard to see the sky.
Apparently, Hong Kong’s government is keen on clearing out many of these signs, but for the time being, most streets remain as cluttered as ever. The amount of written information conveyed on a single block is astounding; if you were to read every sign during a 20-minute walk, you’d probably be taking in enough Chinese characters and English words to fill a small book.
Consider the above scene, found on Parkes Street in Yau Ma Tei, an old neighbourhood on the Kowloon peninsula. On the top left, the red-on-blue neon sign advertises a seafood restaurant; smaller characters attached below, like an afterthought, mention that it is open 24 hours. To the left, a backlit white sign with red and green characters announces a “neighbourhood-style” restaurant serving Chiuchow cuisine. Right below, a bilingual turquoise sign reads, “Pakistan Halal Food.” A bit further down the street, the sign with yellow characters on a red background is for an arcade; the vertical yellow-on-blue neon sign behind it is for a mahjong parlour. In the distance, a backlit white-on-red sign advertises a congee restaurant.
On the right you’ll see a few civic messages. Banners affixed to the street’s lampposts tell passersby to “Support building a cleaner society” by not littering or spitting. The function of the white tile building on the right is announced bilingually: “Parkes Street Refuse Collection Centre.”
Tags: Hong Kong, Signs
untidiness in a city « urban-ism says:
[...] Kong’s streetscapes are cluttered by streetsigns, clothes drying on balconies, air conditioners dripping water onto pedestrians passing by below; it [...]
September 17th, 2007 at 9:49 pm
Patrick Donovan says:
The signs keep Hong Kong looking distinctive. They may even do something to stop the wind barrelling down those streets. I say keep them–there are plenty of attractive green spaces all over the city for those who want a bit of sky…
September 19th, 2007 at 11:39 am