I was a researcher in a rehabilitation hospital and decided to take a leap to the design industry, practising as an interior designer for several years from now. These two careers have been a window for me to look into ageing issues, in terms of an individual, population and demographic shift, social and urban transformation. Although there are already some bottom-up "solutions" such as employing a personal domestic helper to take care of the elderly and the adaptive reuse of industrial buildings as a common practice as we know, a radical or top-down approach to this issue is still missing. While it seems that these ageing issues are problems in themselves, I can see how these issues can become a driving force for urban development, and there can even be a great potential how these issues can be addressed by each other to form a sustainable and mutually beneficial relationship.

In the master programme, the design can be an excellent opportunity for me to establish a research into the issue, with a systematic data collection and documentary of current demographics and urban information. The result of this alone is believed to be valuable as a founding ground for the study by other fellows even without the design interpretation and outcome. To quantify the result and be precise a visual archive of the elderly caring centres of all typology (for example, those m podium level vs. those in Tong Lau, tenement house) and industrial spaces (for example industrial mid-rise vs. rural warehouse) in Hong Kong are expected to be edited and published, as an asset to local documentary.

As the fellowship is part of the social resource, it is fair to invest it back on the community by addressing the social concern aforementioned. I believe my area of interest in the study can contribute to resolving this urban issue and can be worth the Fellowship therefore.