Ebook: The Shek Kip Mei Myth: Squatters, Fires And Colonial Rulers in Hong Kong, 1950-1963

Alan Smart offers a new explanation of the beginnings of public housing in Hong Kong. In doing so, he sheds light on the development of Hong Kong, a society and landscape profoundly influenced by the government's role as provider of half of all housing. He dissects the processes by which a series of disasters, and inadequate responses to them, result in a sharp turn in colonial rule due to the constraints imposed by the intractability of the squatter problem and the geopolitical context. His research offers new insights into the nature of governance in colonial cities, the policy making process, and the nature of colonial society.