Housing, planning and political will in colonial Hong Kong, 1946-1983

This thesis argues that an exercise of political will by the government was decisive to the course of public housing in colonial Hong Kong. Historians have seldom looked deeply into the local and international politics leading to the development of public housing. Not until recently did scholars start to challenge seriously the wellknown Shek Kip Mei fire of Christmas 1953 as the origin of public housing. This thesis contextualises housing history within broader political issues and challenges various historical events as watersheds in Hong Kong history, such as the Shek Kip Mei fire and the 1967 riots. The China factor greatly influenced both colonial rule and housing policies in Hong Kong by politicising the problems of refugees, squatters and indigenous people in the colony, as well as by triggering the British to link Hong Kong’s domestic policies with imperial concerns amidst the global wave of decolonisation. This thesis also shows how colonialism and laissez-faire capitalism interacted to make room for the real estate business by ensuring that public and private housing ran parallel. The act of political will by the government to choose between different housing solutions obscured the notion of public housing as social welfare over time. Offering insight into colonialism in Hong Kong, this thesis argues that the policy making of public housing was extremely complex because of imperial and colonial concerns, laissez-faire capitalism and the local people’s interest.published_or_final_versionHistoryMasterMaster of Philosoph