Escalator sounds death knell for small HK shops

[HONG KONG] The streets around Centre Street, in the Hong Kong neighbourhood of Sai Ying Pun, are a microcosm of the vibrant, small-business life that makes this city as colourful as it is. There are shops selling large, wobbling blocks of fresh tofu, bean sprouts and papayas. There are tiny stalls selling fish balls, pork, noodles or copy books to local schoolchildren. There are hardware stores, cheap clothing outlets and clattering car repair shops, whose shrines to the Chinese Earth God provide a colourful counterpoint to the oil-stained floors inside.

Much of this life, however, is in the process of disappearing, as a new architectural addition to Centre Street - an outdo…