Table 2 New driver of the characteristics the multi-level of public space form in Hong Kong.

Density

Providing ground and upper level access routes through their podium blocks in order to profit from the footfall diverted from the truly public street. Private developers increased building rights on a plot, in exchange for supplementing the public space and footpath network in Hong Kong by offering public access through these podium spaces

Topography

Elevated walkways and pedestrian bridge, and the supplementary routes through privately managed open spaces, together with pavement widening onto the building plot, offer a relief from this and have hence become one of the defining characteristics of form of public urban space in Hong Kong. Importantly, these routes also support a wide variety of commercial activities and hence contribute to the city’s economic vitality

Socio-economic institutions

Public space should be valued and regulated in a way that enhances commercial activity, and there is a least a tactic assumption that the social life of the city takes second place to its economic life