ABSTRACT
As British colonial rule in Hong Kong waned, a plan was drawn up for the future of the city as an interconnected global metropolis. A US$ 20-billion public works project, the Airport Core Program, was implemented to ensure global confidence in the city as it transitioned to Chinese rule. The project, typically described in terms of the ten major infrastructure projects that connected the city to global networks, also resulted in the proliferation of a typology particularly adept at integrating these networks into the local context. A unique spatial product of Hong Kong's postcolonial globalization, these malls represent a mature form of a typology influenced by the city's unique constraints. This paper demonstrates how podium shopping malls form links between Hong Kong's global and local infrastructures, underpinning its transition from colonial city to global metropolis.
