London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London)
1994
Ph.D.
London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London)
1994
The importance of land to the economy of Hong Kong lies in the fact that land salesare a major source of revenue to the colonial state. A continuous supply of land forprivate property development is essential for the survival of the colony's capitalisteconomy. If, for whatever reason, the supply of land is blocked, the developers, thestate and the economy of Hong Kong as a whole will suffer.The failure of the market to release land in the old urban areas for redevelopment hasforced the Hong Kong State to step in. The attempts, however, have been largelyunsuccessful due mainly to the difficulties in land acquisition and the strong resistancefrom the affected residents. In 1987 the state established the Land DevelopmentCorporation [LDC] to intervene in the urban redevelopment process.The author argues that the LDC is basically a socio-political strategy serving thefunction of political legitimation for state intervention. The LDC can be regarded asa piece of state apparatus for providing the necessary means of intervention in theurban redevelopment process in order to ensure the release of land to privatedevelopers for profit making redevelopment projects (capital accumulation). At thesame time it serves as a buffer to distance the state from being in direct conflict withthe affected communities in the urban redevelopment process.However, if the conflict is a structural one inherent in the capitalist logic ofdevelopment, the conflict will eventually be directed back to the state. The LDC willsimply add one more layer to the administrative procedure in the redevelopmentprocess.By conducting empirical studies on four of the LDC's redevelopment schemes duringthe period 1988-1992, with particular focus on the interactions between the affectedcommunities and the LDC/the state, the author examines the role of the LDC so as todemystify the social reality of urban redevelopment in Hong Kong.
Sociology
Yeung, Chi Wai.
London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London)