Walk past Central Pier on a Saturday morning and you may spot half a dozen people enjoying laughter yoga. Stroll through Kowloon Park on a sunny afternoon and maybe you'll catch a sexy dance routine in full swing. Or wander along Ivy Street on a warm evening and discover a bunch of buff men bouncing off the walls in a sweaty parkour session.
Go anywhere in urban Hong Kong and you're bound to glimpse at least one fun, if not wacky, activity going on thanks to the incredible public spaces our city has to offer. Open space is like gold dust amongst our crammed downtown, so why not get out there and lap it up whenever you can't hike off to the hillside? If you need a kick up the backside, then this awesome new video from NGO
Hong Kong Public Space Initiative (HKPSI) might help.
The infectiously "happy" clip was created as part of a wider campaign to make us realise how we can make great use of our city's public spaces as a place to enjoy and interact. It calls on people to hashtag #HKPublicSpace on Instagram when they want to share their favorite moments in public spaces in Hong Kong, in the hope of showcasing all the fun we're having doing just that.
"Hong Kong has the perfect setting for social interactions given our ultra density," Karl Chan,
Founder & Co-chairperson of
HKPSI told us. "We have the most important essence of public space, a.k.a. the people! Yet, most of us might want to spend time in shopping malls and other private places instead because enjoying public space is really just not part of our thinking.
"We made this video to demonstrate the power of public space as a platform that brings 'city living' into life and we hope people would come to understand 'public spaces', such as streets and parks, are not just for us to sit/pass by/see. We can bring energy to them. It's really just a matter of will!
"We hope to inspire people to think about what activities they can do in public spaces, such as the yoga, parkour, dancing, and unicycling featured in the video. These set an example for other Hong Kongers that we can really use public spaces in many creative ways, provided that our acts do not disturb others or deprive others of the rights to the public spaces."
Well we certainly feel inspired! And with several new public spaces coming our way very soon, such as the West Kowloon Cultural District and Central Promenade, there really is no excuse for us not to get out there and enjoy them.
Now who's up for some laughter yoga?
[button color="blue" size="medium" link="https://localiiz.us4.list-manage.com/subscribe/post?u=c2964a434922598f5d8ee53ff&id=07d327a2e8" icon="" target="true"]Subscribe to receive our weekly newsletter[/button]
