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While Hong Kong is an extremely wealthy city, where one in seven residents is a millionaire, the city also has one of the most unaffordable housing markets in the world. This policy review examines how the development of various housing policies since the 1950s have contributed to segregation and housing inequality. After exploring various aspects of Hong Kong's housing market, we introduce a typology of segregation, the study of which would allow a deeper understanding of the current housing situation. Building on the existing studies of micro-segregation and our recent observation, we further introduce the concept of nano-segregation. Micro- and nano-segregations take place in Hong Kong both horizontally and vertically. They manifest the severe socio-spatial inequalities that result from the aspirations expressed in the policies, and from the benefits to individuals who have gained from the changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Academic and popular debates around the movement of financial capital tied to the residential housing market in global cities such as London, tend to focus on the super-rich, wealth management and pension funds. While such debates acknowledge that these large scale capital flows influence socioeconomic structures of the destination cities, relatively little is known about how middle-class money flows across national and city boundaries, and between key intermediaries. This article aims to address these empirical and conceptual lacunae by examining the practices of middle-class Hong Kong investors, many of whom have been investing in properties worldwide since the early 1990s. Using ethnographic research and interviews carried out in Hong Kong and the UK, this article sheds light on the investment activity of two groups of middle-class investors: the wealthy middle-class and the aspiring middle-class. The article shows how a wealthy city-state like Hong Kong, with a laissez-faire economy and established international real estate sector, has enabled the outflow of capital to the global housing market. The article also highlights the ability of ethnographic studies to help us look inside processes of transnational housing investment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Competing Interests: The author declares that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.