Network Structure and Agenda Stasis: The Rise of the Heritage Conservation Agenda in Hong Kong (1980-1997).

Traditionally, town planning in Hong Kong serves the primary task of promoting economic growth. This strategy and the philosophy behind it had come under attack since the 1970s for failing to afford sufficient protection to the city's heritage, but decision-makers did not address this perceived "deficiency" until the 1990s when, having ignored calls for heritage preservation for decades, they suddenly felt not only compelled to listen to the conservationists, but also to make new laws in favour of the conservationist agenda. Before a major institutional change in 1991, bound together by dense, interlocking ties, the dominant consensus was highly resistant to alternative agendas throughout the 1980s. Rapid unravelling of this structure in the 1990s substantially weakened its capacity to withstand such challenges and, in fact, created opportunities for advocates to bring down the "monopoly" of growth-oriented thinking in town planning. The case study shows that network structure has an instrumental role in deciding how alternative views are received in policy communities. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]