Socio-spatial polarization and the (re-)distribution of deprived groups in world cities: A case study of Hong Kong. Issue 7 (9th August 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Chen, Huiwei; Ng, Mee Kam; Es, Murat; Lee, Joanna; Mak, Winnie W. S.; Tong, Yuying; Ka Ming, Wu; Zhou, Huiquan
• Is Part Of: Urban geography. Volume 39:Issue 7(2018)
• Page Start: 969
• Page End: 987
• Publication Date: 2018-08-09
• Subjects: World city -- socio-spatial polarization -- deprived group -- Hong Kong; Urban geography -- Periodicals; 307.76
• DOI: 10.1080/02723638.2017.1421392
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0272-3638

Abstract

ABSTRACT: This paper draws on theoretical discussions of world cities to analyze socio-spatial polarization and (re-)distribution of deprived groups in Hong Kong in the 2000s. Intensifying global economic restructuring processes have induced socio-economic polarization, thereby producing deprived groups although the spatial outcomes may depend on the city-specific context. When local policies do not counteract the polarization trend, a spatial manifestation of widening socio-economic gaps can be expected. Intensified pro-growth policies adopted since Hong Kong's return to Chinese rule in 1997 and during its economic recession in the early 2000s have worsened the impact of globalization-induced socio-economic and spatial restructuring. Census data from 2001 and 2011 show increasingly differentiated socio-economic profiles at the district level. The analysis offered in this study also points to a decreased socially mixed society in 2011 when the deprived groups lived in districts with less presence of the advantaged population.