Abstract
A concentration of diversity of people and activities for better social interaction among residents of the neighbourhood is considered to be valid for sustainable urban development. This paper, however, shows the findings to suggest that when diversity of people and activities are concentrated inside buildings, contrary effect is resulted. Ethnic minority (EM) occupants in mixed-use building (MxB) in Wanchai, Hong Kong were interviewed in two surveys, by questionnaires and hearing interviews. It is found out that various MxB common area layouts reduce interaction behaviour among occupants. In addition, the presence of various usages within building and high turnover rate of EM occupants hinders neighbour interaction among existing occupants with EM occupants. And it is also found out that EM occupants tends to have multiethnic interaction outside MxB.
