Chalana and Hou - 2016 - Chapter 1 Untangling the “Messy” Asian City

Chungking Mansions

Film Setting: Opening scene from Wong Kar Wai’s Chungking Express (1994) depicts chaotic urban surroundings.
Location: Chungking Mansions, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, a 17-story building infamous in the 1980s-1990s for crime and illegal activity, known as an "urban jungle."
Visual Atmosphere: Dimly lit corridors, crowded with diverse strangers suggesting a labyrinthine urban experience; blending public and private spaces.
Current State: While retaining its chaotic reputation, recent improvements have led to more organized spaces with illuminated directories and shops categorized for easier navigation.

Merchandise & Customers: Shops cater primarily to African and South Asian traders; restaurants designed to facilitate movement.
Guesthouses: Still operate in upper floors but are generally well-lit with clearer signage compared to the film's portrayal.
Modern Developments: A minimall named after the film attracts tourists but is disconnected from the older building, illustrating an evolution in clientele and market focus.

Urban Landscape: Chungking Mansions exemplifies messy urban fabric seen in many Asian cities characterized by the interplay of order, disorder, formal, and informal sectors.
Global Urban Examples: Similar conditions exist in cities like Mumbai (vendors on sidewalks) and Taipei (formalized markets coexisting with unauthorized vendors).
Cultural Implications: These urban environments reflect diverse social dynamics, often misunderstood as chaotic but functional and responsive to local needs.

Hidden Orders: Despite the apparent chaos, there are internal orders and hierarchies vital for sustaining urban life, particularly for marginalized populations.
Informality in Planning: Recognizes that informal practices help city dwellers navigate and sustain their livelihoods, counteracting conventional urban planning practices.

Urban Redevelopment: Many cities pursue large-scale redevelopments, often displacing residents and erasing traditional neighborhoods, e.g., Beijing's inner-city residents and Mumbai's slum demolitions.
Exclusionary Practices: Current urban policies in several cities tend to marginalize informal economies, prioritizing sanitized depictions to attract global capital.

Rethinking Urban Planning: Understanding the significance of messiness in Asian urban contexts can provide insights for more inclusive urban development practices.
Future Investigation: The discourse around Messy Urbanism calls for deeper exploration of the complex relationships existing within urban landscapes, aiming to reconcile organized planning with the lived realities of urban dwellers.