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Previous studies have investigated the impacts of high-rise living on neighbourhood social interactions, yet this body of literature does not focus explicitly on intergenerational interactions, which are associated with distinctive benefits for older and younger generations. This qualitative study investigated how younger and older people interact in high-rise neighbourhoods, and identified the factors that hinder intergenerational interactions, through in-depth interviews with 23 young adults and 26 older people in Hong Kong. The findings revealed that the two generations rarely interact, partly due to generational differences in the use of public spaces, and partly due to socio-cultural factors, especially the pervasive culture of digital communication among younger people, and aversion to small talk in public spaces. The findings also highlighted the potential of new forms of interdependency-oriented interventions in enhancing intergenerational support, while respecting residents' desire for privacy. These findings highlight the need for culturally-sensitive interventions, in order to foster meaningful intergenerational interactions in high-rise neighbourhoods across different cultural contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The literature on cross-age interactions suggests that more communication between older and younger generations can foster mutual understanding. Existing studies on intergenerational programs focus more on the perspectives of older people, while young adults' perceptions of intergenerational interactions are less well-understood. Through 448 surveys and 23 qualitative interviews with youth in Hong Kong, this study explored what motivates youth to communicate with retirees beyond their family. The findings reveal that youth in this study had relatively superficial interactions with retirees in community settings, which is partly explained by ageism. Nevertheless, they preferred connecting with retirees who are able to offer transformational benefits that enhance personal growth, which points toward novel forms of ableism based on skill-sharing abilities. The paper concludes by considering the implications of these findings for intergenerational programs, especially the importance of uncovering the latent skills of older people, to extend the possibilities for more in-depth intergenerational interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews the emergence of community-based housing solutions in Hong Kong, including the Community Housing Movement (CHM) which was formally launched in late 2017. This phenomenon shares some of the features of community-based housing solutions in other places, such as collaboration between government, market and civil society actors to tackle housing undersupply problems. Nevertheless, there are some locally distinctive drivers behind this phenomenon. On one hand, community housing projects have been catalysed by the plight of low-income immigrant households in the private rental market, who live in poor-quality sub-divided flats. On the other hand, these projects were initiated by a local philanthropist, before being institutionalised by community organisations and attracting financial support from the government. The review concludes by emphasising the importance of going beyond the rhetoric of community housing and focusing on the root causes of affordability problems, since lower-middle income households are unlikely to benefit from current forms of community housing solutions, yet struggle with the lack of affordable homeownership opportunities in a neoliberal housing market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Opposition to planned housing projects can lead to considerable delays. Hong Kong is characterized by an executive-dominant planning system, whereby the government possesses strong planning powers, while elected district councillors play an advisory role only. Curiously, planning delays are fairly common. The above paradox is analysed in this paper through examining a major dispute over public housing development in Hong Kong. This dispute involved lengthy processes of bargaining, which were vulnerable to legitimacy challenges. Councillors acted strategically by tapping into prevailing social values to frame the legitimacy of bargaining processes. Despite discontent with these informal bargaining processes, the dispute has not evolved into more radical challenges to existing governance arrangements. The paper concludes by considering how hegemonic discourses of planning efficiency may have constrained the emergence of radical contention, which adds to broader debates about the conditions which shape the trajectories and transformative prospects of contentious urban developments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]