Israeli-Canadian architect Moshe Safdie laments unfriendly Hong Kong architecture

When Israeli-Canadian architect Moshe Safdie first came to Hong Kong 30 to 40 years ago, he found open streets, markets and fewer skyscrapers.

Now, he says, the city is hemmed in by tower blocks that dominate spaces that were once public - and are now only accessible to the few.

"You don't feel the water," Safdie said, sitting in the lounge of the harbourfront Four Seasons Hotel in Central. "There's water everywhere, but how many of these buildings around you actually make use of the fact, other than the view?"

The 75-year-old architect was in town for a talk at the Asia Society on Thursday on what he calls "humanising the mega-scale" - or how architects and planners can bring back culture, climate, geography and a sense of belonging to big projects in dense urban areas.

"Nowadays, people pay more attention to the shape, the geometry, the spectacle on the skyline, and pay very little attention to the things I'm talking about," he said.

Safdie's visit comes at a time when these issues feature prominently in the public discourse, as Hong Kong struggles to balance modernity with liveability and cultural identity.

"Every city as dense as Hong Kong, as intense, will have stress. Our job is to reduce it," said Safdie, who is known for incorporating a humane design philosophy into big projects.