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This paper engages with the discourse about commodification of housing in an Asian context and presents a methodology to explore shifts in the delivery of housing along the decommodification–commodification continuum. It reviews the extent to which the Hong Kong state has articulated an understanding of a continuum through its actions in the public and private housing sectors, and how it has acted developmentally in manipulating shifts along the continuum. It is found that, although Hong Kong had a large squatter population, the state controlled the commodification of squatter housing and also implemented an enormously successful and publically lucrative assisted home-ownership scheme, whose success in large part is explained by state management of the commodified nature of this tenure. The paper also reviews how the state's control of decommodified land through state ownership and leasehold alienation, and commodified housing in the private sector, led to the generation of large revenues to fund developmentalist activities. In all, unlike many other examples, the benefits of commodified housing in Hong Kong seem to have flowed in large measure from the private sector to the public sector; from this perspective, the paper offers another insight into the oft-neglected public management aspects of Hong Kong as a development case study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As in much of east Asia, the past few decades have seen extraordinary rates of house price inflation in Hong Kong. After a relatively modest downturn in the early 1980s, prices rose rapidly until the Asian financial crisis in 1997. Since then, and despite increased government efforts to stimulate the stagnant property market, prices have continued to fall and negative equity remains pervasive. Given the centrality of property investment and speculation historically for households, financial institutions and for wider government economic strategies, the state of the residential market remains of central political and policy concern. Against this background of Hong Kong's apparently declining economic fortunes and major shifts in housing policy, this paper explores aspects of wealth accumulation in the home-ownership sector. Linking to a well-established set of debates in the academic literature, the paper explores the impact of policy change and house price trajectories on different cohorts of households. For example, those cohorts who entered home-ownership in the late 1980s generally saw rapid increases in their property values fuelled by generous state-assisted home-ownership schemes and a buoyant economy. By contrast, those entering in the late 1990s have experienced a much less favourable policy and economic environment. The paper also explores the extent to which price trajectories have varied in different sectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The literature on the development of global cities suggests that Hong Kong had qualified as a global city by the early 1990s. Using data from the Population Censuses, this paper documents the extent to which the process of social polarisation accompanied Hong Kong's globalisation. As predicted by the global city literature, Hong Kong experienced during the 1990s a process of occupational polarisation and widening income inequality as a result of its transformation from an industrial colony to a producer service-driven global city. The paper outlines the gender dimension in this polarisation process, and how the forces of migration contributed to the reshaping of the social structure so that it now resembles an 'hour-glass'. The findings largely support Sassen's hypotheses regarding the social consequences of global city development, but the paper also highlights the effect of local institutional contexts in mediating the impact of global forces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the relationship between public space and cultural politics in Hong Kong. There is a tendency to assert that public space is disappearing in the city, whether through overt control of the public sphere or the commodification of landscape. While similar views have been expressed in relation to many cities around the world, in Hong Kong these concerns are difficult to disentangle from post-colonial politics. This paper therefore situates anxieties about public space within an historical geography of the Central district. This contextual strategy is deployed to frame a contemporary case study of the imaged powerful and powerless in the city: Hong Kong Land, Central leading landlord and Filipino domestic workers who gather in Central on Sundays to enjoy their day off. It is suggested that this gathering and the political rallies it hosts disrupt normative understandings of public space by introducing a transnational element that helps us to see Hong Kong's public spaces as contested. The paper concludes by pointing to the possibilities opened up by conceiving the public space of Central as a cultural landscape and as a cosmopolitan space reflective of Hong Kong's possible futures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Land and buildings form a significant portion of the national wealth in most economies, but in Singapore and Hong Kong, two small city-states where land is scarce, real estate has an important role in the functioning of the whole economy. Transnational property and development companies are important players in Singapore and Hong Kong. They form an important part of the local stock market and have enjoyed considerable growth while providing substantial revenue for governments and wealth for individuals. Because of this important role, the paper redescribes Singapore and Hong Kong as property states, not rent-seeking economies as the term rent is usually used in discussing Asian capitalism. The importance of real estate, an immobile asset, is not only surprising in a global era defined in part by the mobility of capital, but also because in Singapore and Hong Kong land is publicly owned. The paper attempts to explain the anomaly by analysing the land allocation mechanisms in Singapore and Hong Kong. In spite of their similarities, real estate markets in Singapore and Hong Kong exhibit several differences, linked in turn to different policy options for their management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper applies a Schumpeterian analysis of entrepreneurial cities to Hong Kong. It argues that the concept of entrepreneurship can be applied to cities as strategic actors, identifies various objects of urban entrepreneurship, and refers to the important role of entrepreneurial discourses, narratives and self-images. Despite its laissez-faire reputation, Hong Kong has a long history of urban entrepreneurship, but its strategies have been adapted to changing circumstances-most recently with its key role in an emerging cross-border region (Greater China) and its favourable insertion into the global economy. This has prompted a debate over the most appropriate strategies for Hong Kong, notably regarding the respective futures of manufacturing, services and the virtual economy. The concept of 'glurbanisation' as one form of the more general phenomenon of 'glocalisation' is introduced to illuminate these issues. The paper concludes by noting the increased importance of 'Siliconisation' as an accumulation strategy in east Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An important trend in housing delivery internationally has been rising rates of home-ownership. In Hong Kong, owner-occupation has expanded rapidly over the past two decades, and this is expected to continue. This paper seeks to account for trends to homeownership in Hong Kong. It is proposed that two principal factors account for rates of home-ownership internationally: the interaction and combined outcome of housing affordability and household preferences-the 'market explanation' for tenure choice; and the 'ontological explanation' of home-ownership as a preferred household tenure choice, which assumes that ownership is the innately preferred tenure form. On face value, Hong Kong presents a relatively persuasive case for the ontological explanation for trends to home-ownership. Yet the findings of this paper suggest that the decision to buy appears to be systematically explicable by market factors: in the private sector, primarily by investment considerations, namely high returns to residential property investment and favourable user cost of housing capital; and, in the public sector, by a very fine-grained approach to household affordability with publicly assisted homeownership initiatives. Hong Kong demonstrates again how carefully families weigh the bundle of services associated with their tenure options. The government plans to expand home-ownership further, yet there are major systemic implications for such an expansion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using Hong Kong as a case study, the paper explores the viability of four land-valuecapture mechanisms available under public leasehold systems: initial land auctioning; contract modification; lease renewal; and, the collection of land rent. It is found that these mechanisms do not work equally well; instead, their viability depends largely on the context within which the contracting parties practise land leasing. By applying a modified transaction-costs framework to the case, it is shown that the transaction costs of allocating the land value at the initial land auction are the lowest among the four mechanisms. This explains why the Hong Kong government relies on public land auctions to capture land value. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of this finding for Hong Kong and for countries where officials are experimenting with public leasehold systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public housing programmes in Hong Kong affect half of the population directly and the other half indirectly. This paper assesses the redistributive effect of public rental housing on income distribution. It uses a subsidised-to-market rent ratio method and an imputed rent method to convert transfer-in-kind of public rental housing into equivalent monetary value. Empirical results show that the provision of public housing alleviates the income inequality problem. However, the amount of public expenditure required achieving the same improvements in Gini coefficient and other inequality measures is small relative to the actual public expenditure on housing. Policy-makers should thoroughly review the existing public housing programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the early 1980s, the debate surrounding speculative bubbles has never subsided. A key obstacle to resolving this issue is the identification problem. A bubble is usually inferred from some assumed fundamental determinants of a price. These assumptions could be oversimplified. Furthermore, there might be data measurement errors. This paper attempts to capture such errors with a latent state variable. This variable is extracted using the Kalman filter. Based on the empirical comparisons, it is found that it is possible to attribute the observed large price swings in the property market of Hong Kong during the 1980s and 1990s to a periodically collapsing rational speculative bubble. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses a probit model to evaluate a total of 1353 sets of cross-sectional development control (planning application) statistics not previously published for 3 classes of statutory residential zones in Hong Kong over a period of 24 years from 1975. As far as the selected zones are concerned, the findings refute the critical view that the Town Planning Board process in Hong Kong generates significant rent-seeking activities in favour of large developers. They also reject the official assertion that the decisions made by the Town Planning Board are independent of exogenous policy influence of government. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper interprets and develops contemporary notions of partnership in relation to Hong Kong's Land Development Corporation. It demonstrates how such agencies are likely to become overdependent on their private-sector partners or ineffective in policy delivery, unless endowed with adequate powers and resources. In this context, it suggests that the LDC's capacity to promote urban renewal was undermined particularly by the institutional requirement to assemble redevelopment sites in multiple ownership principally through negotiation. While seeking to explain this weakness in relation to the socio-cultural context of Hong Kong, it warns that, in applying the Western experience of partnership elsewhere, full account must be taken of local circumstances and constraints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hong Kong's planning control system entails a framework of statutory zoning plans and a discretionary permission process. Through examining past planning decisions on urban office development applications between 1988 and 1997, this paper explores whether this 'hybrid' system provides both certainty for development capital and flexibility in administrative control. Our study concludes that the Hong Kong system offers considerable certainty, although the decision-making criteria of the development controllers tend to deviate from the planning policy applicable to our application cases. Technical merits of the development schemes are found to be necessary, but not sufficient conditions in securing planning permissions. The rejection reasons given by the planning authority apparently disguise their real concerns. Market forces also affect planning control decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The traditional rental adjustment equation is flawed in that the equilibrium paths for the adjustment of rents and vacancy rates cannot hold simultaneously over time. This paper suggests a two-equation model of rental adjustments based on adaptive expectations rather than the single-equation model presented in the traditional literature, and provides empirical tests. Annual data from the housing market in Hong Kong during the 1980-96 period are consistent with the adjustment equation. The results also show that the rate of change of real rents is neutral with respect to inflation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The standards of Hong Kong's public housing have been widely criticised and today housing improvement is a major on-going concern. The cost of redeveloping early public housing presses hard on the territory, and the task is complicated by the fact that the households have diverse demands and preferences, amid their dissatisfaction. Although improved housing gives tenants a better living environment, the Hong Kong Housing Authority seems to have been reluctant to raise housing standards because of high costs. One way of recovering these costs is to charge higher rents-that is, to let tenants pay a greater share of the cost of public housing. But how much are households willing to pay for better housing? This paper addresses these problems by investigating the willingness to pay for housing amongst the tenants of existing early housing estates in Hong Kong, given their dissatisfaction with the current standards. First, we present the background of this study. Section two then provides an analytical framework which spells out the notion of willingness to pay in the context of demand for better housing; and specifies the willingness to pay model and its assumptions for demand analysis. Section three presents empirical evidence on satisfaction and willingness to pay for more dwelling space among tenants, and tests the relationship between willingness to pay and independent variables. Finally, the concluding part looks at the supply-side questions: if the tenants are willing to pay more, what is the housing authority's capacity to supply, having regard to the cost of provision? This final section also makes recommendations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]