香港港口与城市发展

开埠之初就被定位为“自由港”的香港,是“以港兴市”的典型例子,港口的发展为香港经济的起飞和就业作出了巨大的贡献;而香港的产业发展以及与内地的区域合作,又促进了港口的繁荣,并使得香港成为国际航运中心。但目前,在金融海啸、珠三角产业转型、内地港口蓬勃发展等因素的影响下,香港港口的发展前景不容乐观。本文在回顾香港港口与城市发展关系的基础上,深入探讨了香港港口业务增长放缓的原因,并提出着力发展航运服务业,是香港航运中心转型升级、提高香港城市竞争力的重要方向。     

Post-handover identity: contested cultural bonding between China and Hong Kong

This study examines the formation of Hong Kong identity and its cultural articulation in Chinese identity in the post-handover years. Surveys of Hong Kong identity conducted between 1996 and 2016 demonstrate a set of interlinked yet contradictory findings: (i) the coexistence of both cultural pride in and resistance to cultural icons that represent the Chinese state; (ii) weakening correlations between China and Hong Kong regarding cultural affiliation; and (iii) the growing significance of cultural resistance to China by people who love Hong Kong. The survey results indicate the prevalence of an ambivalent identity in post-handover Hong Kong with regard to the coexistence of opposing attitudes toward Chinese identity. These results provide evidence of the complex cultural bonding between China and Hong Kong in the development of the China–Hong Kong relationship since the handover in 1997.     

香港战略规划要点及对上海建设卓越全球城市之借鉴

通过港澳地区调研发现,"面向未来30年的上海"发展战略研究与"香港2030+"战略规划在研究方法、规划理念、策略导向等方面存在部分趋同性.由于"香港2030+"侧重于空间规划,更多以突破城市当前和潜在发展短板为出发点,其在城市定位选择、具体策略制定等方面对"面向未来30年的上海"发展战略研究具有一定启示意义.同时,香港特区政府中央政策组、香港规划署、香港大学、澳门科技大学的专家也对上海建设卓越全球城市提出一系列建议.     

Cross-border retirement migration plan in Hong Kong middle-aged adults

The purpose of this study was to determine factors affecting cross-border retirement migration plans in Hong Kong using a life-course model as the framework. Data were based on a representative random sample of 1867 adults aged between 45 and 59, who were interviewed in person in 2001. About 6.7% of these respondents planned to migrate to Mainland China after retirement or when they become older. Those who planned to migrate to Mainland China (n=126) were more likely to be male, to be employed in white-collar occupations, to have attained higher levels of education, and to possess non-self-occupied properties, but less likely to live with adult children than those who did not plan to migrate at all (n=1699). The Government must examine and anticipate the socio-economic impact of this future retirement migration on Hong Kong and formulate measures to effectively reduce its negative consequences.     

Being Indian in post-colonial Hong Kong: Models of ethnicity,culture and language among Sindhis and Sikhs in Hong Kong

Using data from four focus groups, this paper examines the ways in which Hong Kong Sindhis and Sikhs talk about ethnic identities and their relationships to culture and language. It finds that in all the groups, a range of different ‘cultural models’ (Gee, 1999 Gee, James Paul. 1999. An Introduction to Discourse Analysis: Theory and Method, London: Routledge.  [Google Scholar]) of ethnicity, culture and language are drawn upon, with the same participants sometimes using several different models as they position themselves within the group discussions. However, the data also suggest that there may be a tendency for the two communities to foreground different models of ethnicity. Specifically, Sikh participants tend to draw more on an essentialist model of ethnicity than do the Sindhis, while the Sindhis seem to be more prepared to draw on more flexible models of the relationships between identity, culture and language.     

Social and Psychological Barriers to Private Retirement Savings in Hong Kong

Using a phone survey conducted among Hong Kong workers, we examined the association of institutional, social, and psychological factors with engagement in both private retirement savings and the total amount of savings. Alarmingly, this study demonstrates that approximately 42% of Hong Kong workers do not save privately for their retirement. We found that age, education, number of children, support from spouse and friends, social regulation, perceived financial knowledge, and financial management capacity are associated with engagement in private retirement savings. Among those who saved, age, education, perceived financial knowledge, and financial management capacity are related to the amount of savings. Measures that could increase the social support for retirement savings as well as enhance their financial knowledge and management ability should be developed and implemented so that more workers engage in private retirement savings. A promising policy option for the Hong Kong government is to offer a tax incentive to promote additional savings for old-age income protection.     

Rhythmanalysis as a tool in social analysis on ethnicity in Hong Kong

This article applies Henri Lefebvre’s concept of rhythmanalysis to an exploration of ethnicity in Hong Kong. It argues that rhythmanalysis has tended to be used in social geography, architectural research, and cultural studies and has been overlooked as a methodological tool in regard to ethnicity. An historic narrative of ethnic diversity in Hong Kong is contrasted with contemporary transformations. It is argued that rhythmanalysis presents an alternative perspective that can deepen knowledge about enduring social patterns that serve to contextualise ethnicity and ethnic relations in a given space. In conclusion, it is argued that there is a need for greater recognition of ethnic diversity in Hong Kong as a means to assert a more confident and secure local identity.     

Disclosure and Psychological Well-Being of Sexually Abused Adolescents in Hong Kong

The role of disclosure on psychological well-being of adolescents with child sexual abuse experience was investigated in a subsample of 74 disclosers among 800 adolescents recruited in the community in Hong Kong. The results supported that CSA experiences have differential impact on adolescents’ psychological well-being. Family characteristics of the disclosers accounted for only a small amount of the variance in an array of psychological well-being measures. CSA characteristics were robust predictors of disclosers’ sexual eroticism and externalizing behavioral symptoms. Disclosers’ cognitive appraisal of CSA experience and quality of parental attachment were strong predictors of their self-esteem and internalizing behavioral problems. After controlling for the aforementioned factors, negative disclosure experience still significantly predicted lower self-esteem, higher sexual anxiety, more internalizing behavior, and more severe post-traumatic stress disorder responses. Research to understand the factors that generate negative disclosure experiences is needed for developing effective intervention strategies to mitigate the negative consequences of disclosure.     

The myths and politics of housing in Hong Kong: The controversy over the demolition of the Hunghom Estate

This paper explores the post-handover surge of civic activism in Hong Kong by examining the controversy over the demolition of the Hunghom Estate—a government subsidized housing project that was sold to private developers during a recession in early 2004. In a departure from “business as usual,” the high-profile demolition was stopped 10 months later after a series of protests mobilized by environmental activists. This result was widely hailed as a triumph of corporate responsibility and environmental consciousness. By tracing the competing narratives over the course of the controversy, this paper attempts to elucidate this “success” story by revealing the inherent conflicts between different stakeholders, and how these narratives nevertheless share and sustain a number of long-held myths about Hong Kong's economy and housing market. It argues that these myths obscure the ongoing political choices of an interventionist administration, which maintains legitimacy by tightly controlling urban development and securing support from powerful economic actors. By connecting the various claims of the present case with historic discourses of the territory, the paper aims to shed light on the power relations embedded in the development policies that characterized Hong Kong over the colonial period, and which continues to shape the practices of housing in the present.     

Recent Developments in Welfare to Work in Hong Kong

Summary

The Asian financial crisis (1997) has created a social care crisis resulting in rising unemployment, poverty, income inequalities and homelessness. Although faced with dwindling public finances, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) government had been compelled to tackle these problems. However, it has been attracted to the neo-liberal recipe: changing the subvention system to a block grant, curbing social spending, and tightening eligibility for social assistance. Notably, the introduction of the Intensive Employment Assistance Projects (IEAPs), which are the first welfare to work programs in East Asia, has become a major policy tool. This paper reports on a study of the impact of the projects, one of the key pillars for welfare to work programs. The IEAPs were found to have brought about positive changes in welfare clients' motivation to work and sense of self-reliance. Social workers from both traditional and progressive NGOs have etched, in various ways, their place in the welfare to work programs and contributed to the debate on welfare reform in Hong Kong.     

The Socioeconomic Determinants of the Age at First Marriage among Women in Hong Kong

This paper analyzes the determinants of the age at first marriage among women using an integrated approach incorporating social, familial, and economic factors. Hazard analysis was applied to an original data set for Hong Kong containing 1,024 observations compiled on the basis of a household survey with respondents selected by random sampling. Our findings support the human capital hypothesis, which predicts that women with higher educational attainment and stronger career commitment tend to marry later. In addition, we find that social and family background characteristics are also important determinants of the age at first marriage, including how strongly traditional values and ties to the natal family are held by the women. This research was funded by grants from the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong and the Faculty Research Committee of the Hong Kong Baptist University, respectively. I would like to thank the editor and the anonymous reviewers of this journal for their valuable comments.     

The elephant in the room: media ownership and political participation in Hong Kong

In Hong Kong’s open and law-abiding society, applying the political principle of “one country, two systems” presents a challenge to the Chinese government, particularly regarding its efforts to control media ownership. Focusing on the structure of media ownership in Hong Kong, this paper describes the ways in which the Internet – especially social media – has empowered activists and alternative media by providing a means of avoiding censorship and social control. This paper also describes the Chinese government’s use of political power and capital to censor and shape the media landscape in Hong Kong in order to dampen public interest in politics and influence public opinion. Finally, this paper attempts to identify potential solutions to this problem.     

台港澳地区青年组织开展民众工作比较研究

青年组织是青年群体活动、成长和发展的集体,也是培育社会资本的重要平台与形式。当代政党和非政党组织的一个共性特征和普遍做法是通过青年组织开展民众工作,广泛吸纳青年社会精英,务实政党民意基础,完成政治社会化过程。通过对台港澳地区相关青年组织的考察,梳理其开展民众工作的具体理念和路径,有益于探寻青年组织深入社会、服务社会的内在规律,对我国其他地区同类型青年组织的发展起到一定的借鉴作用。     

Assisted homeownership, investment and their roles in private property price dynamics in Hong Kong

Hong Kong not only has one of the most institutionally-involved housing markets, but also one of the most developed stock markets in the world. In the meantime, the function of real estate has become increasingly important, yet increasingly vague at the same time. This paper attempts to explore the significant factors in the price adjustments of residential properties. It is found that while most market fundamentals are not significant in explaining property price movements, the roles of investment concerns and of government policy changes in assisted homeownership (HOS) are much more critical in this regard. On the one hand, real estate prices are driven more by investor demand, rather than by user demand; and residential properties are used to hedge against price risks in the stock market, instead of against inflation. On the other hand, while the upgrading hypothesis is confirmed in this study, the situation of Hong Kong turns out to be a bit different from the Singapore experience. As the production of HOS flats is suspended until further notice, the resale HOS market has managed to pull a fraction of homebuyers from the private sector. This particular finding shows that the government’s decision to suspend HOS flat production and sale in Fall 2002 has not accomplished what was intended to achieve. Instead, this leads to several implications, which are then discussed.     

Food,Memories, and Identities in Hong Kong

This article adopts a processual and relational approach to study food remembrance and investigates how different ways of appropriating food reveal the politics of identities in Hong Kong. It examines how food memories reveal relationships between the past and the present, reflect epochal transformation, and mark changing identities of various groups of people through new ways of appropriations. It takes the case study of pancai, a special banquet food for the villagers in the New Territories of Hong Kong, to examine the relationships between food and identities. This article investigates how pancai is remembered, popularized, and reinvented with different variations and embodies shifting meanings for the New Territories inhabitants as well as other Hong Kong people in changing socioeconomic and political environments. Pancai has been imbued with multiple layers of significance, involving linkages between local and national, emigration and Chineseness, urbanization and rural heritage, as well as decolonization and identity politics. As identities are by nature negotiable, situational, and fluidic, pancai's multiple layers of meanings correspond to different levels of identities—identities of the New Territories inhabitants, the rest of the Hong Kong people, and the mainland Chinese.     

Sick building syndrome and perceived indoor environmental quality: A survey of apartment buildings in Hong Kong

The outbreak of a highly communicable disease, SARS, in Asia in 2003 has revealed the health risk of living in a high-density environment. To show the important connection between human health and environmental quality, this study surveys the prevalence of sick building syndrome (SBS) among apartment residents and their evaluation of indoor environmental quality (IEQ). Based on a sample of 748 households living in Hong Kong, two interesting findings are revealed: (1) nasal discomfort was the commonest home-related SBS symptom despite the absence of any central ventilation system in apartment buildings; (2) noise, rather than ventilation, was the major IEQ problem perceived by residents. Our statistical analysis further showed that residents with SBS symptoms were less satisfied with their IEQ than those without. That is, despite a positive evaluation of specific IEQ criteria with respect to the building residents lived in, if they reported feeling SBS related symptoms, the overall IEQ evaluation of their building could still be negative. This perception bias gives rise to a sample selection problem in measuring perceived IEQ, which has implications on housing management practices and the formulation of a healthy housing policy.     

Changing Needs and Changing Service Delivery for Long-Term Care in Hong Kong

Summary

Both the need for and delivery of long-term care in Hong Kong are shaped by the interaction of the traditional and modern. Rapid social change is affecting traditional family structures and roles in care of the elderly, resulting in increased demand for formal care, which to date has been provided mainly by way of residential care. This growth of demand will escalate with rapid population aging in coming decades. In response to this burgeoning demand, current planning is seeking to reshape the established service system and tackle problems in service delivery in ways that will address the bias towards residential care and improve quality of care.     

The evolutionary dynamics of postcolonial Englishes: A Hong Kong case study

Schneider's ( 2007 ) ground‐breaking Dynamic Model is widely regarded as the most comprehensive and coherent theory to account for the evolution of postcolonial Englishes, but has yet to be validated by evidence from detailed historical research. This article seeks to bridge this gap by presenting an empirically‐grounded case study of the evolution of Hong Kong English based on the four parameters in Schneider's ( 2007 ) framework, viz. sociopolitical background, identity constructions, sociolinguistic conditions, and linguistic effects. Whereas previous applications of the framework have relied on synchronic data, this study draws on sets of primary data spanning 170 years. These diachronic datasets make it possible to demarcate distinct phases in the use of English in society and the evolution of its community of users. The study casts doubt on the accuracy of Schneider's account of the evolution of Hong Kong English and, more generally, the applicability of the Dynamic Model to Outer Circle contexts.     

影响高密度城市的城市更新因素——以香港为例

香港高密度城市发展模式闻名于世。这种模式的形成或是由于城市新的发展需要,或是由于城市更新,后者是目前香港政府为提高公众居住条件和建成环境质量所使用的主要手段。本文聚焦城市更新,旨在突出当前香港城市改造实践中的不足,并从文献中筛选出影响城市设计的主要考虑因素,阐析它们如何能够从各方面支持本地社区发展。笔者通过问卷调查及后期资料分析,搜集和评估了香港专业设计人士与市民的意见,提炼出提升城市更新项目可持续性的关键设计因素。但愿本文的结论能为香港的开发商、城市设计者以及政府官员在日后的可持续城市更新项目中带来启示。