HK URBEX 城市探險's video: HK URBEX: Exploring a huge delapitated factory

立即收睇片段，帶你們闖入這工業廢墟. There is something intriguingly and mesmerizingly captivating about industrial decay. Unlike homes and most other decrepit abandoned spaces, degenerated industrial structures seem even more abnormal and eerie in their vacant stillness, and in Hong Kong these are becoming more common as tertiary business continues to dwarf the industrial sector. The motionlessness void that takes over in the demise of an industrial environment is a sheer contradiction to the animated power these spaces would have emitted when in operation. Many of these industrial buildings (and the rotting equipment to be found within) were already alien-like in their mechanized existence, and in death they become even more eccentric. Notwithstanding corrosion, nature’s reclamation of industrialised spaces is aesthetically slower, and because of this these places often seem frozen in the state they were before desertion, with the pungent coppery smell of oil and grease often still rampant. From these residual vestiges one can feel the life that once filled these industrial environments, and in their inertness one can taste the dynamism that was once rife. Slated for demolition, this particular factory in question was once used to manufacture metal ware and it has roots which date back to 1922, when the company was first founded in Guangzhou. In 1937, the first Hong Kong branch was set up which focused on military supplies and cutlery. The first outlet ceased operation during the occupation of Hong Kong during World War II, but in 1947 a new company was incorporated to undertake ship-breaking and deep sea salvage operations for the Hong Kong Government. The activities then extended to steel, brass, aluminum rolling and brass extrusion, which this particular factory was a key part of. However, today operations have shifted offshore to cheaper locations such as Thailand, and industrial procedures have all but been paralysed in this Hong Kong outlet for many years. When the government expressed interest in turning the area into a profitable new residential town the chairman of the company agreed, stating it was not even necessary to relocate the premises, choosing to simply have the site demolished instead. In the past, urban planning was poor or non-existent in Hong Kong. Labour-intensive industries had to seek workers easily and, as a result, residential and industrial areas were often close neighbours. This is less common in today’s tertiary-dominated sector however, with places like this factory relegated to make way for residential developments, which are now way more profitable. When completed, the colossal residential project that this factory has been ousted for will comprise 13 sizeable phases and accommodate a population of 68,000 in 25,500 ‘luxury’ shoe-box flats – in other words that’s a lot of spare cash going into the rich pocket of the oligarchs and developers who run and influence Hong Kong SAR Inc. -------------------- Music is provided by Beatsuite.com Music Library Available to license from http://www.beatsuite.com