| book details |

Hong Kong Public Housing: An Architectural and Policy History

By (author) Miles Glendinning

This book is currently unavailable. Enquire to check if we can source a used copy

| enquire |

| book description |

Hong Kong Public Housing provides the first comprehensive history of one of the most dramatic episodes in the global history of the modern built environment: the vast public housing programme sponsored by successive Hong Kong governments from the 1950s, in a quest to build up the territory into a lasting â€˜peopleâ€™s homeâ€™. And unlike many of its counterparts elsewhere, this is a programme still ongoing today â€“ a case of â€˜history in progressâ€™ â€“ as Hong Kong now boasts one of the worldâ€™s longest-lasting public housing programmes. During that time, it has been not just a mirror of the cultural and economic values of Hong Kong society but also a reflection of more nebulous, fast-changing perceptions of identity â€“ and a testament to the community-building achievements of Hongkongers over these years. This authoritative study combines architectural history with the broader social, political, and cultural aspects of housing production â€“ particularly the geo-political issues of sovereignty and decolonisation that uniquely, and fundamentally, structured the trajectory of Hong Kong public housing and territory development. Exploring the relationship between built form, ideology, and administrative governance, it shows how massive state intervention interacted at times uneasily with Hong Kongâ€™s dominant laissez-faire ethos, to help maintain the legitimacy of successive administrations during an era of â€˜auto-decolonisationâ€™, and support an interstitial society suspended between two sovereignties. Following more recent political changes, Hong Kongâ€™s public housing heritage has also become a focus of nostalgic community pride â€“ a monumental achievement of â€˜home buildingâ€™ which this book documents and celebrates for posterity.