Abstract
Hong Kong experienced many unexpected crises before 1970. The government was kept busy extinguishing fires and keeping the peace. Although people kept odd jobs that secured roofs over their heads, they lived from hand to mouth. In the wave of property upgrades in the 1970s, the colonial buildings of the 19th century were ruthlessly demolished as society looked on apathetically.
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Notes
- 1.
In September 1976, the British government changed the position of Colonial Secretariat to Government Secretariat and that of Colonial Secretary to Chief Secretary; see (Cheng 1977). Moreover, Lui (2012) describes society and people’s attitudes towards the colonial government. The Admiralty barracks were mostly demolished in the 1970s, see Chap. 7.
- 2.
Protection of the Harbour (Amendment) Bill 1997 (Minutes) 10 Feb 98, Legislative Council document (Legco.gov.hk 2015).
- 3.
- 4.
The debate on buildable land in Hong Kong will usually include voices from many different groups, for example, government planning department, local citizen and politicians. See report from Ta Kung Pao, Feb 2015 (Cheung 2015).
- 5.
For more information about the Star Ferry Pier, see (Zh.wikipedia.org 2015).
- 6.
For more information about the Queen’s Pier demolition, see information from Ming Pao Daily News and Singtao Daily, July 30—August 1, 2007. E.g. (Lai 2007).
- 7.
For a classification and list of heritage buildings, see the webpage of the Antiquity and Monument Office, (Amo.gov.hk 2015) The Antiquities Advisory Board was established by government-appointed citizens. The Advisory Board voted on heritage building grades and monument confirmations. “Heritage buildings” were sometimes chosen over the course of debate. Civil organizations occupied Queen’s Pier before its demolition. The Antiquities Advisory Board held an emergency meeting to designate Queen’s Pier as a Grade I heritage structure, causing further debate. See Mingpao Daily News and South China Morning Post, March 25–27, July 28-August 2, 2007. E.g. (Parwani 2007).
- 8.
For a description of Tsim Sha Tsui, see (Zheng and Tong 2000).
- 9.
For a description of Dr. Sun Yat-sen Museum, see (Xue 2007).
- 10.
For a description of Lui Seng Chun, see the webpage of the AMO, (Antiquities and Monuments Office 2015).
- 11.
For a description of the public housing in Shek Kip Mei, see (Xue 2006).
- 12.
For a description of the Kadoorie Life Science Building at Hong Kong University, see (Civcal.media.hku.hk 2015).
- 13.
As stated in the text, despite the abundance of slogans and awarded “green projects,” the development of green architecture has not yet matured. As such, we positioned the topic together with preservation in this chapter rather than relegating it to a new chapter.
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Xue, C.Q.L. (2016). Finding the Roots and Preserving Our Well-being. In: Hong Kong Architecture 1945-2015. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-1004-0_9
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