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General Information

  HONG KONGChinese (Putonghua): Xianggang, Cantonese: Heunggong
  Area: 1101 sq. km Population: 6,787,000 (95 % Chinese)
  GDP: HK$ 1,271,100 million     GDP per capita: HK$ 187,282 (= US$ 24,000)
  (all data refer to 2002, source: Census and Statistics Department)

Hong Kong was founded in 1842 as entrepôt for Britain's China trade and as a navy base. The colony grew in succesive Opium Wars from a small and mountainous island to include also the Kowloon Peninsula, the New Territories and numerous islands.
Economically, Hong Kong grew in three phases from trade entrepôt to newly industrialised economy to world city. Its industrialisation in the 1950s to 1970s was largely due to an influx of refugees, entrepreneurs and capital from Mainland China, most notably Shanghai, which induced strong economic growth, but also extreme population densities (mainly in Kowloon) and a proliferation of squatter settlements. The largest part of the territory, north of the Kowloon Hills, however, remained practically unpopulated for political reasons, one of them being its status as officially leased from China for 99 years.
The 1980s brought the third phase of Hong Kong's development, finally leading to the historical handover, agreed upon in 1984 and taking place in 1997. This phase was characterised by three major developments:
  • The colonial government adopted a more accomodating approach in dealing with Hong Kong and its predominantly Chinese population. This included the adoption of Chinese as second official language, the provision of public housing and better social services, and the founding of new towns in the New Territories.
  • Deng Xiaoping's open policies, especially the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone, provided unprecedented investment opportunities for Hong Kong entrepreneurs, causing an economic expansion, the relocation of most production and back-office activities to the Chinese Pearl River Delta Region and the start of an irreversible integration process.
  • Globalisation, tertiarisation and the changes in China have turned Hong Kong into one of the world's major global cities. It now stands out as a passenger and cargo air traffic hub, a shopping and tourism spot (increasingly also for Mainland tourists), the world's number one container port, the main gateway for exports to and from China and a base for financial and producer services, news and media, and regional headquarters.


    • Major local consequences of global city formation and integration with China:
    Global links: strengthening of travel, trade, finance, transport and communications industries
    Immigration: expatriates, foreign domestic helpers as well as wives and children from China
    Tertiarisation: financial and producer services (mainly in the CBD), de-industrialisation
    Outward processing: affecting productivity, energy/water demand, employment and land use
    Cross-border contacts: movements of people, goods, information and money, cross-border families, shopping and entertainment, beginning cross-border commuting
    Employment centralisation: loss of jobs in industrial areas but increase in the CBD
    Residential decentralisation: new towns and suburbanisation, but displacement in the CBD
    Social polarisation: immigration and jobs created mainly in low- and high-income segments.

    Major challenges for the future development of Hong Kong:
    Competition: Shanghai (more than Singapore) may take over functions from Hong Kong
    Integration: promoting closer ties, but maintaining the city's distinct character and autonomy
    Immigration: defining a sustainable immigration quota (e.g. young people, family reunions)
    Scarcity of land: balancing an expanding city with the need for nature conservation
    Environment: improving the air quality and maintaining a low car ownership rate
    Social security: aging population and weakening family ties challenge the social system
    Werner Breitung

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