Hong Kong’s gentrification in spotlight of urban renewal lecture exploring how districts evolve
- The transformation of Wedding Card Street into pedestrianised, picture-perfect Lee Tung Street raised rents and pushed out the locals who gave area its charm
- ‘In most cases, the needs of residents or shopkeepers are not really listened to,’ says Chinese University researcher Gloria Chung
“In most cases, the needs of residents or shopkeepers are not really listened to, considered or responded to by the Urban Renewal Authority – especially when it comes to ethnic minorities,” she says. “Residents tell me they don’t really understand their rights or government policies.”
Chaung points to Lee Tung Street as an example of a thriving collection of local businesses that were pushed out by a development that raised rents and transformed the feel of an area. “Some shops tried to reopen in the new area but it was very expensive. Now the last one has closed and most of the original residents have moved away. You used to be able to go there and know it was the place to get any style of wedding card printed. But not any more.”
During the talk, Chaung, 24, will recount stories she has gathered from businesses and residents, tackling the questions of how nostalgia plays into ideas of old districts, what people’s modern relationships with their communities look like and how the government could be doing more to listen to the needs of Hongkongers as the city’s traditional industries and areas fade away.
