Building colonial Hong Kong: Speculative development and segregation in the city – A book review

Abstract

Cecilia Chu, an urban historian, was surprised at her studies that unmasking the 19th-century colonial land tenure system resulted in “good government” in Hong Kong. She found the colonial governance evolved to respect traditional Confucian values of impartiality, integrity, and a commitment to the public interest. The need for Hong Kong government to be self-sufficient by Britain was the original driver for this to happen; that is, the requirement to sell public land to raise revenue from the European and Chinese Speculators essential for the development of Hong Kong. Chu’s research revealed that both events and politics over time required the government to move beyond laissez-faire economics and to become interventionist to tackle diseased slum areas and unsafe buildings and to shape new urban development to deliver healthier housing and better environments. Overseas experience of epidemics had led to a growing understanding of the relationship between health and economy in the 19th century. Populations fleeing Hong Kong during epidemics served to demonstrate that the city needed to be healthy if it was to prosper. This caused the government to adopt interventionist policies. In particular, the government intervened in its land sales strategy to reduce fiscal revenue income from sales to induce the private sector to contribute towards social provision in public health, housing and modern town planning. It also had a bearing on colonial segregation strategies to reflect different expectations of the European and native Chinese communities. Crucially, while the colonial administration remained in power, greater involvement of the Chinese elites in the bureaucracy gave legitimacy portraying Hong Kong as a “land of justice.” This demonstration of “good government” helped maintain the loyalty of the Chinese merchant elites and native Chinese population.