The second coming of Sham Shui Po: revelation or revolt at gentrification?

This spring, when French street artist Space Invader was looking for friendly walls to mount his tile-based art, he found an enthusiastic response in a place far from the galleries and graffiti of Sheung Wan: Sham Shui Po.

"The reception was really good," says Lauren Every-Wortman, a curator at the Hong Kong Contemporary Art Foundation, which sponsored Space Invader's most recent trip to Hong Kong.

Stanley Siu Kwok-kin was one of those who invited the street artist to work on his building's facade. "It's the biggest piece he's done in Hong Kong so far," he says. Siu recently moved the art gallery he runs with two friends, 100 Square Feet, to a first-floor space above the teeming Apliu Street market. "I sent him a picture of the exterior and he said, 'Wow'. He liked Apliu Street."

Space Invader isn't the only one enthusiastic about Sham Shui Po. Many Hongkongers will tell you it's a good place to pick up electronics parts (and second-hand goods) - but be sure to watch your bag.

In the past few years, however, a new generation of creative entrepreneurs have found the working-class neighbourhood to be a haven of low rents and friendly neighbours.

That's especially true in the textile district south of Nam Cheong Street, where many wholesalers have been forced out of business as the small-scale industries and manufacturers that they supplied left for cheaper pastures. Some holdouts have been replaced by new businesses run by young designers who are banding together to help promote the neighbourhood in a newsletter and on social media.

"This whole fabric district is turning into something special," says Michael Tam Kam-kwong, the owner of Cafe Sausalito, a coffee shop that opened in the heart of the fabric district last November. "You can really feel it's almost a second coming."