Foot Traffic

Large, flashy, colourful advertisements was a part of what made Hong Kong unique. Many cities light up at night, but none had nearly as many overhead signs as Hong Kong streets did in the 1990s. Over the years, they went from plain print, to neon, to digital LED, but today they’re almost all gone. Ever since Hong Kong was returned back to China, there have been government regulations that make it harder to keep these overhanging displays, as they were seen as a hazard. Within the past few years, Chinas overstepping and government policies really began to hit hard in an effort to gentrify Hong Kong into another generic Chinese city, and a part of that meant stripping Hong Kong of any unique identity or traits.

In some ways, this picture isn’t possible to take anymore, as 99% of the signs in this photo are completely gone today.