A Phrase Worth Using

When used to describe early Rome, the world’s first city to crack one million residents, “Megalopolitan Elephantiasis” means a total loss of human scale (Kotkin, 2005). The phrase was originally coined by Lewis Mumford (The City in History [New York: Harcourt, Brace and World, 1961], p. 237). This source also describes it as “purposeless materialism” and a “penchant for tall buildings, dense housing and mass entertainments that make life frantic and choked”.

By modern standards, Rome could hardly be accused of still having these ills. Obviously ancient Rome and modern Hong Kong have stark differences; I can’t help but think of Hong Kong when I read the above definition of “Megalopolitan Elephantiasis”. (By the way, does anyone else think this is one of the coolest phrases you’ve ever heard?)

Hong Kong most definitely has a penchant for tall buildings, unbelievably dense housing and mass entertainments in the form of horse racing, sporting venues, crazy shopping areas, a sprawling bar/club/brothel scene, not to mention the burgeoning casinos across the water in Macau. I suppose you could describe almost any of the world’s most populous cities in the same way.

Whereas ancient Romans had to deal with less developed sewage and water delivery systems and poor transportation, Hong Kong does not have these issues and in fact has a fantastic transport system. I don’t often get the feeling that my life here is “frantic and choked” when getting out to the beautiful hills and mountains around the city is only a 20 minute train ride away.

Another aspect of Hong Kong that I find particularly interesting is the amount of reclaimed land here. While Japan has revolutionized land reclamation by nearly doubling the size of metropolitan Tokyo, Hong Kong has not done so badly for itself over the years. Early on, it was the old Kai Tak Airport that was built jutting out into Victoria Harbor (actually lengthened during Japanese occupation). When airport traffic outgrew Kai Tak, a massive new island rose out of the sea near Lantau Island to become Hong Kong International Airport, one of the largest on the planet. The famous Peninsula Hotel in Kowloon was formerly directly on the waterfront, but it now separated by a six lane road, an art museum and an office building.

Most notably, reclamation in the Central and Wan Chai districts have provided several square miles of new real estate which is up there with the most valuable properties in the world. The graphic below illustrates just how much of the harbor has been encroached upon. (via Wikipedia, 1842 – Present. The final peninsula pointing into the bay is the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center, woohoo!).

Click on the image for the animation

As we speak, massive construction boats are pumping millions of tons of rock, sand and soil into the waterfront between Central and Wan Chai to create a brand new waterfront promenade.

Does Hong Kong have a wicked case of “Megalopolitan Elephantiasis”? It can be debated, but I think stronger candidates would be the exploding Shanghai or Beijing to the North.