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Built Heritage

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Hong Kong History

Part of the book series: Hong Kong Studies Reader Series ((HKSRS))

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Abstract

Hong Kong is known for its dense, rapidly transforming high-rise landscape, the result of colonial-era land policy that derives a substantial portion of government revenue from land sales and redevelopment. Few historic buildings remain in the old urban districts of Hong Kong Island and Kowloon, while a greater number dot the New Territories and islands, saved in part by their isolated locations. Given the absence of built heritage and its marginal geographic position, it is somewhat surprising that heritage has become an important policy interest of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government, and a matter of great interest to the general public and numerous stakeholders since the late 1990s. It is the paradoxical position of built heritage in this city that is known for valuing the new that this chapter dwells upon.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Rodney Harrison, Heritage: Critical Approaches (New York: Routledge, 2012).

  2. 2.

    J. E. Tunbridge, G. J. Ashworth, Dissonant Heritage: The Management of the Past as a Resource in Conflict (New York: J. Wiley, 1996).

  3. 3.

    Jeffrey W Cody, “Heritage as Hologram: Hong Kong after a Change in Sovereignty, 1997–2001.” in William Logan (ed.), The Disappearing “Asian” City: Protecting Asia’s Urban Heritage in a Globalizing World (New York: Oxford University Press, 2002), pp. 185–207.

  4. 4.

    Esther H. K. Yung, Edwin H. W. Chan, “Problem Issues of Public Participation in Built-Heritage Conservation: Two Controversial Cases in Hong Kong,” Habitat International 35, no. 3, (2011): 457–66; Sidney C. H. Cheung, “The Meanings of a Heritage Trail in Hong Kong,” Annals of Tourism Research 26, no. 3, (1999): 570–88; Lily Kong, Brenda S. A. Yeoh, The Politics of Landscapes in Singapore: Constructions of “Nation” (Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 2003); Ren Xuefei. “Forward to the Past: Historical Preservation in Globalizing Shanghai,” City & Community 7, no. 1, (2008): 23–43.

  5. 5.

    Gordon Mathews, Lui Tai-lok, Consuming Hong Kong (Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2001).

  6. 6.

    Tracey L.-D. Lu, “Heritage Conservation in Post-colonial Hong Kong,” International Journal of Heritage Studies 15, no. 2–3, (2009): 258–272.

  7. 7.

    Tracey L. -D. Lu, The Management of Cultural Heritage in Hong Kong (Hong Kong: Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2003).

  8. 8.

    Sidney C. H. Cheung, “Remembering through Space: The Politics of Heritage in Hong Kong,” International Journal of Heritage Studies 9, no. 1, (2003): 7–26.

  9. 9.

    Lee Ho-yin, Pre-War Tong Lau: A Hong Kong Shophouse Typology (Hong Kong: Faculty of Architecture, University of Hong Kong, 2010).

  10. 10.

    Joan Henderson, “Conserving Hong Kong’s Heritage: The Case of Queen’s Pier,” International Journal of Heritage Studies 14, no. 6, (2008): 540–554.

  11. 11.

    Cecilia Chu, “Heritage of Disappearance? Shekkipmei and Collective Memory(s) in Post-Handover Hong Kong,” Traditional Dwellings and Settlements Review 18, no. 2, (2007): 43–55.

  12. 12.

    Agnes Ku Shuk-mei, “Making Heritage in Hong Kong: A Case Study of the Central Police Station Compound,” The China Quarterly 202, (2010), pp. 381–399.

  13. 13.

    Ibid., p. 383.

  14. 14.

    Sidney C. H Cheung, “The Meanings of a Heritage Trail in Hong Kong”.

  15. 15.

    Lachlan B. Barber, “Capitalizing on Culture in Flagship Heritage Initiatives: Transforming Hong Kong’s Police Married Quarters into ‘PMQ’,” City, Culture and Society 21, (2018). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ccs.2018.09.002

  16. 16.

    Bob McKercher, Pamela S. Y. Ho, Hilary du Cros, “Relationship between Tourism and Cultural Heritage Management: Evidence from Hong Kong,” Tourism Management 26, no. 4, (2005): 539–548.

  17. 17.

    Desmond Sham Hok-man, “Imagining a New Urban Commons: Heritage Preservation as/and Community Movements in Hong Kong,” ARI Working Paper No. 260 (Singapore: Asia Research Institute, 2017). https://ari.nus.edu.sg/Assets/repository/files/publications/wps17_260(1).pdf

  18. 18.

    Joan Henderson, “Conserving Hong Kong’s Heritage”; Tracey L.-D. Lu, “Heritage Conservation in Post-colonial Hong Kong”.

  19. 19.

    Ng Mee Kam, et al. “Spatial Practice, Conceived Space and Lived Space: Hong Kong’s ‘Piers Saga’ through the Lefebvrian Lens,” Planning Perspectives 25, no. 4, (2010): 411–431.

  20. 20.

    Chung Him, “Heritage Conservation and the Search for a New Governing Approach in Hong Kong,” Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy 29, no. 6, (2011): 975–989.

  21. 21.

    Edmund W. Cheng, Ma Shu-Yun, “Heritage Conservation through Private Donation: The Case of Dragon Garden in Hong Kong,” International Journal of Heritage Studies, Vol. 15, No. 6, (2009): 511.

  22. 22.

    Lachlan B. Barber, “(Re)Making Heritage Policy in Hong Kong: A Relational Politics of Global Knowledge and Local Innovation,” Urban Studies 51, no. 6, (2014): 1179–1195.

  23. 23.

    Ng Mee Kam, “Sustainable Community Building in the Face of State-Led Gentrification: The Story of the Blue House Cluster in Hong Kong,” Town Planning Review, Vol. 89, No. 5, (2018): 495–512.

  24. 24.

    A Smart, “Forgotten Obstacles, Neglected Forces: Explaining the Origins of Hong Kong Public Housing, Forgotten Obstacles, Neglected Forces: Explaining the Origins of Hong Kong Public Housing,” Environment and Planning D: Society and Space 7, no. 2, (1989): 179–196.

  25. 25.

    William Meacham. The Archaeology of Hong Kong (Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2008).

  26. 26.

    SCMP. “Archaeologists Must Now Pay for Digging License,” South China Morning Post, 3 January 1976.

  27. 27.

    Margaret Spackman, “Roaches Eat Our Heritage,” South China Morning Post (Hong Kong), 20 September 1970.

  28. 28.

    Hong Kong Legislative Council, “Hansard: Official Report of Proceedings, 1971”: https://www.legco.gov.hk

  29. 29.

    Laurajane Smith, Uses of Heritage (New York: Routledge, 2006).

  30. 30.

    Government of Hong Kong, “Antiquities and Monuments Ordinance. Cap. 53. 1976”: https://www.elegislation.gov.hk/hk/cap53

  31. 31.

    Antiquities Advisory Board, “Annual Report. AAB Papers, Series HKRS,” 5, 1979, Hong Kong Public Records Office.

  32. 32.

    Hong Kong Heritage Society. n.d., “Heritage Society Information and Contact Sheet. Series HKRS590–189.”

  33. 33.

    Alexander R. Cuthbert, “Conservation and Capital Accumulation in Hong Kong,” Third World Planning Review 6, no. 1, (1984): 95.

  34. 34.

    Lui Tai-lok, “The Malling of Hong Kong,” in Gordon Mathews and Lui Tai-lok (ed.), Consuming Hong Kong (Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2001), pp. 23–45.

  35. 35.

    Ackbar Abbas, Hong Kong: Culture and the Politics of Disappearance (Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 1997), pp. 66–67.

  36. 36.

    Cecilia Chu, Kylie Uebegang, Saving Hong Kong’s Cultural Heritage (Hong Kong: Civic Exchange, 2002).

  37. 37.

    Robert Hewison, The Heritage Industry Britain in a Climate of Decline (London: Methuen, 1987).

  38. 38.

    Michael Yu, “Built Heritage Conservation Policy in Selected Places. Paper No. RP10/07–08. HKSAR LegCo Secretariat,” 31, 2008, Hong Kong: HKSAR Government.

  39. 39.

    F. Y. Hu, “Macau Sheds Light on Heritage Site Concern,” South China Morning Post, 29 November 2007.

  40. 40.

    Ren Xuefei, “Forward to the Past: Historical Preservation in Globalizing Shanghai”.

  41. 41.

    Ibid., p. 31.

  42. 42.

    Peggy Teo, Brenda S. A. Yeoh, “Remaking Local Heritage for Tourism,” Annals of Tourism Research 24, no. 1, (1997): 192–213; T.C. Chang, Peggy Teo, “The Shophouse Hotel: Vernacular Heritage in a Creative City,” Urban Studies 46, no. 2, (2009): 341–367.

  43. 43.

    Ng Mee Kam, et al. “Spatial Practice, Conceived Space and Lived Space”.

  44. 44.

    Lachlan B. Barber, “Capitalizing on Culture in Flagship Heritage Initiatives”.

  45. 45.

    Tracey L.-D. Lu, “Empowerment, Transformation and the Construction of ‘Urban Heritage’ in Post-Colonial Hong Kong,” International Journal of Heritage Studies 22, no. 4, (2016): 325–335.

  46. 46.

    Ng Mee Kam, “Sustainable Community Building in the Face of State-Led Gentrification”.

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  10. Chu, Cecilia and Uebegang, Kylie. Saving Hong Kong’s Cultural Heritage. Hong Kong: Civic Exchange, 2002.

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  12. Cody, Jeffrey W. “Heritage as Hologram: Hong Kong after a Change in Sovereignty, 1997–2001.” in William Logan (ed.), The Disappearing “Asian” City: Protecting Asia’s Urban Heritage in a Globalizing World. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.

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    Google Scholar 

  19. Hong Kong Legislative Council. “Hansard: Official Report of Proceedings, 1971”: https://www.legco.gov.hk

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  23. Lee, Ho-yin. Pre-War Tong Lau: A Hong Kong Shophouse Typology. Hong Kong: Faculty of Architecture, University of Hong Kong, 2010.

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  24. Lu, Tracey L.-D. The Management of Cultural Heritage in Hong Kong. Hong Kong: Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2003.

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  27. Lui, Tai-lok. “The Malling of Hong Kong,” in Gordon Mathews and Lui Tai-lok (ed.), Consuming Hong Kong. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2001, pp. 23–45.

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  29. McKercher, Bob, Ho, Pamela S. Y. and Hilary du Cros. “Relationship between Tourism and Cultural Heritage Management: Evidence from Hong Kong”, Tourism Management, Vol. 26, No. 4, (2005), pp. 539–548.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Meacham, William. The Archaeology of Hong Kong. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2008.

    Google Scholar 

  31. Ng, Mee Kam. “Sustainable Community Building in the Face of State-Led Gentrification: The Story of the Blue House Cluster in Hong Kong,” Town Planning Review, Vol. 89, No. 5, (2018), pp. 495–512.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Ng, Mee Kam, Tang, Wing Shing, Lee, Joanna and Leung, Darwin. “Spatial Practice, Conceived Space and Lived Space: Hong Kong’s ‘Piers Saga’ through the Lefebvrian Lens,” Planning Perspectives, Vol. 25, No. 4, (2010), pp. 411–431.

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    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. SCMP. “Archaeologists Must Now Pay for Digging License,” South China Morning Post, January 3, 1976.

    Google Scholar 

  35. Sham, Desmond Hok-Man. “Imagining a New Urban Commons: Heritage Preservation as/and Community Movements in Hong Kong,” ARI Working Paper No. 260, (Singapore: Asia Research Institute, 2017). https://ari.nus.edu.sg/Assets/repository/files/publications/wps17_260(1).pdf

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    Google Scholar 

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon, Hong Kong

    Lachlan B. Barber

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of History, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon, Hong Kong

    Man-Kong Wong

  2. Department of History, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon, Hong Kong

    Chi-Man Kwong

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Barber, L.B. (2022). Built Heritage. In: Wong, MK., Kwong, CM. (eds) Hong Kong History. Hong Kong Studies Reader Series. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-2806-1_5

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