Like Singapore, Hong Kong can try to go beyond liveable to become lovable

Singapore and Hong Kong suffer from the same problem – we’re just not lovable enough. We may be viewed as ultra-modern metropolises that are the gateways to Asia. Perhaps even glitzy and glamorous.

Architects work with measurable, quantifiable and gradable standards. Calls for iconic or green buildings are typically met with plans for taller structures or carbon footprint calculations.

Design should address some of the most urgent issues in our everyday lives. Inclusion, connection and attachment affect all of us and should top the agenda for governments, societies and even businesses. In finding new and better ways to live sustainably, could architects and designers create spaces that embody these values?

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How do tourists transform Hong Kong’s most Instagrammable locations?

In 2020 and 2021, the DesignSingapore Council conducted a study for The Loveable Singapore Project Report. The findings were distilled into a list of six intangible attributes that mattered most to people – agency, attachment, attraction, connection, freedom and inclusion.

The report put front and centre the community’s voices and reflections on the spaces they live, work and play in. It shifted the mindset of architects and planners, challenging them to go beyond design briefs and consider society’s needs and wants.

Getting to the bottom of that often starts with asking the right questions. Singapore sought to do just that at the Venice Architecture Biennale last year.

“When is Enough, Enough? The Performance of Measurement” was the title of the exhibition at the Singapore pavilion, where participants answered questions to help determine whether they felt any agency, attachment, attraction, connection, freedom or inclusion in spaces and buildings.

Harne