Freedom and Control in Public Spaces: Quality Everyday Life in the Hong Kong Mass Transit Railway

Zhao Tianjiao (2015)

Urban rail transit (URT) systems have a history of more than 150 years and have become part of the city system and permeate citizens’ everyday lives (EDLs). In a sense, the URT space is a new form of city public space that carries people of different backgrounds. This research takes the Hong Kong MTR public space as a case study and investigates the freedom and control of public space. Based on the theoretical discussions and empirical findings, this study emphasises the importance of balancing freedom and control in constructing a MTR life. This thesis provides a systematic analysis of the MTR space in Hong Kong, which explicates MTR space's nature and informs designers and policymakers with a referential framework for designing the URT systems and public spaces of other cities. Thesis Title Author's Name Year Details The Mediating Role of Design Knowledge and its Relational Effects on Interactions with Fashion Objects against the Chinese Cultural Backdrop Harah Chon 2015 View Designers engage in various activities to shape individual experiences and perceptions in the creation of finished objects, implicating the communication of design intent as an extension of design knowledge. This thesis investigates the role of design knowledge in mediating the interactions between users and fashion objects and analyses the flow of knowledge as the transaction of meanings from the perspectives of design theory and theory of design practice. The study conducts a series of pilot interviews with young Chinese designers in Shanghai, which investigates how local designers respond to change and re-evaluate their practices to align with users' needs within their local fashion communities. Their experiences were analysed to map how design practices generate knowledge of design and influence the creation of meanings. This research follows a constructivist epistemology of knowledge, taking sensory experiences into account to produce real interpretations. The fashion movement triggers social interactions to become a socially constructed phenomenon embedded with cultural meanings.