No One Single Formula, Different Pathways to Trust Building: Lessons from Japan and Hong Kong

Community making relies on the trust and engagement between different stakeholders in the community. Nonetheless, community makers, often new to a community, are always perceived as “outsiders” by the local residents, shop owners or other stakeholders. Therefore, trust building is the cornerstone of every community project. 

On 27 June, 2025, our team was delighted to hear from Noriko Deno from Studio-L, Roger Wu from DX Design Hub (the Hub) and Stephanie Kwong from SVhk about their experience of fostering trust and building relationships with stakeholders. 

Relationships Nurtured through A Spectrum of Engagement - From Deep Immersion to Casual Connections 

Despite facing similar challenges of ageing population and attracting the next generation to stay behind, Studio-L and SVhk chose a vastly different approach in engaging the local community of Bungotakada City and Sham Shui Po, yet equally successful in trust building.  

Studio-L recruited four young men to move into an empty and dilapidated shop space. Rather than running a business, these “new residents” only job is to be there, to be seen by the residents. With limited budget and skills, they seek help from everyone in the neighbourhood to renovate the shop space and turn it into a community hub, strengthening the ties through day-to-day conversations, becoming part of the neighbourhood.  Through observing the unspoken local “rules” and participating in traditional festivals, they slowly dissolved their “outsider” label and became part of the community’s fabric. 

In the bustling district of Sham Shui Po, deeply immersing and moving in the community might be difficult. SVhk thus opted for a more casual approach, focusing on nurturing friendship through informal chit-chats, establishing partnerships with local NGOs, businesses and organisations, leveraging their specialties to create shared memories for the local residents. The Playfull Festival is a good example, through partnering with bakeries and leather crafts stores to  provide fun and family-friendly activities for the local residents. Offering Playfull as a platform, local stores now aren't just a business - they become a shared experience curator for the community. 

Mobilise Community Assets, both Tangible and Intangible 

Both Studio-L and SVhk projects largely depend on the collaborative energy between the community makers and the local stakeholders. Studio-L relies on the interactions between the four young men and the local residents, while SVhk expands its local network through talking to local shop owners. 

It is also important not to overlook the role of tangible assets. The Hub is a 5-storey building newly renovated in October 2024, with brand new facilities such as an immersive projection gear and well-designed exhibition space. Through offering these resources for free or at a lower price to the public, these assets not only serve the community’s needs but also ensure its integration to the livelihood of the community. 

A successful project will eventually use both tangible and intangible assets: through leveraging the physical resources, encouraging community engagement and fostering a self-sustaining ecosystem. Even when the project initiator had moved elsewhere – Studio-L handed the project over to the store owners and they had indeed achieved a generation change as they visited the high street after 12 years last year. 

No Apply-to-all Formula, but Genuinity Always Works 

While their methods differed, there is one universal truth that applies to all three projects: trust is built upon authentic, long-term interactions between makers and the neighbourhood. No matter what role makers choose to play –  a participant that immerse into the community, a catalyst that accelerates collaboration between local stakeholders, or an enabler that provides resources for the community to thrive, the foundation to trust building remains the same: spending time and effort to listen deeply, understanding needs and commit to co-existing with the neighbourhood.