One of the Centre’s missions is to nurture a new generation of Hong Kong historians.
An Early Career Scholar Network was created under the Hong Kong History Centre in June 2023. It is intended to help create a community of Hong Kong historians and offer a platform for face-to-face interaction and academic exchange among young scholars. Research students and fresh doctoral graduates working on socioeconomic, political and cultural history of Hong Kong and its global relevance are welcomed. We usually meet thrice a year (February, June and October) with participants taking turn to present their works in each meeting. Financial support is provided for our network members attending these sessions.
Please write to Prof. Ray Yep, Research Director of Hong Kong History Centre, at rekmy@bristol.ac.uk, if you are interested in joining this Network.
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In this post, we would like to introduce Junwei Li, a member of the Network.
Junwei Li is a PhD student in The Chinese University of Hong Kong. In the note written by him below, he shares with us his reflections on his academic journey and current doctoral project, tentatively titled “Colonial Governance and High Density Management in Hong Kong’s Housing and Planning Agenda (1950s–60s).” .
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Similar to many people from Mainland China, my initial impression of Hong Kong was shaped mainly through Hong Kong movies. When I made the city walk in the old districts, the intense visual impact of the dense high-rise buildings constantly stimulated my visual nerves. This unique urban landscape fascinates me and raises a new question: how exactly did the concept of high-density development come about? This “origins” question has always intrigued me, driven by an inner impulse to question the existing “successful, grand but vague” narratives around high density—much like the elusive impressions created by Hong Kong movies that are concretely present yet difficult to fully perceive. My curiosity about high-density issues and dissatisfaction with existing explanations prompted me to study the development of high-density buildings in Hong Kong.
However, focusing solely on Hong Kong’s local story is monotonous and isolated. placing its development within a global context reveals a more nuanced and compelling story. Unlike U.K, which rebuilt through Keynesian models of state intervention after World War II, Hong Kong charted a distinct path characterized by free-market principles that emerged during the socio-economic transformations of the 1950s and 1960s. The socio-economic developments of the 1950s and 1960s provided an ideological foundation for the narrative of free-market success in Hong Kong. It is this interplay between international context and local development that transforms the landscape of high-density housing into a window through which we can better understand the complexities and historical depth of the Hong Kong story. It is based on the study of history that we can better expect the future of Hong Kong.
My doctoral project is tentatively titled “Colonial Governance and High Density Management in Hong Kong’s Housing and Planning Agenda (1950s–60s).” This research primarily focuses on the role of colonial government, market forces, legal framework, and the dynamics of urbanization in Hong Kong. Specifically, this study seeks to shed light on the complex relationship between government and private developers in the land economy, and to explore how colonial governments constructed discourse, systematized and institutionalized it through legal practice. The origin of plot ratio and implementation of zoning, intertwining with property speculation will be discussed. This interplay is evident not only in the process of housing densification but also in colonial urban planning. Simultaneously, the study also explores the shaping of knowledge in colonial practice and the transfer and localization of experience in the international. Furthermore, it investigates the governance rationale, techniques of the colonial government, and its relationship with free-market principles.
Hong Kong, the Pearl of the Orient, is distinguished by its unique role as a convergence point for East and West historical, political, and social narratives. As a visiting student coming from The Chinese University of Hong Kong, I feel honoured to be part of Hong Kong History Research Centre at the University of Bristol and to engage in dialogue at this academic community. I hope my research will attract like-minded scholars to collaborate and contribute to the academic study of Hong Kong.
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和許多來自中國大陸的人一樣，我對香港的初步印象主要是透過香港電影塑造的。當我在香港的舊區進行電影朝聖時，密集的高樓所帶來的強烈視覺衝擊不斷刺激著我的視覺神經。這種獨特的城市景觀讓我深深著迷，同時也引發了一個新的疑問：這個高密度究竟是如何形成的？這個「起源」問題一直讓我感到有待探索，因為總有一種內在的衝動驅使我去質疑現有那些「成功、宏大但模糊」的高密度敘事——它們就像香港電影所營造出的迷離印象，具體存在卻難以明確感知。對高密度問題的好奇和對既有解釋的祛魅促使我開始研究香港高密度樓宇的發展。
然而，僅僅關注香港的發展故事顯得單調且孤立。如果將香港的發展動態置於全球範圍內進行比較，我們會發現許多有趣之處。正當歐洲在二戰廢墟中重建，凱因斯主義為國家干預提供了理論基礎時，香港卻走上了截然不同的發展道路。同時，1950年代至1960年代的經濟社會發展為香港自由市場的成功敘事奠定了意識形態基礎。這種國際環境與本地發展的交織，使得高密度住房景觀成為一個可以窺視的窗口，讓我們重新理解香港故事的複雜性和歷史性。基於對歷史的研究，我們才能更期待香港的未來。
我的博士課題暫定為《香港住房與規劃議程中的殖民治理與高密度管理（1950-60年代）》。研究主要探討政府角色、市場驅動、法律角色以及香港城市化發展的動態。具體而言，這項研究試圖揭示政府與私人開發商在土地經濟中的複雜關係，並探索殖民政府如何建構話語，透過法律實踐將其體系化與制度化。本研究將討論地積比率的起源、分區的實施，以及它們如何與房地產投機活動交織在一起。這種關係不僅體現在住房密集化過程中，也反映在殖民地城市規劃中。同時，研究也探討了知識在殖民實踐中的塑造和經驗在國際上的更轉移和在地化。此外，它進一步研究了殖民政府的施政理性，管理術與自由市場原則的關聯。
香港，作為「東方之珠」，因其作為東亞與西方歷史、政治和社會敘事匯聚點的角色而與眾不同。身為來自香港中文大學的訪問學生，我很榮幸能成為布里斯託大學香港歷史研究中心的一員，並與這個學術團體展開對話。我希望我的研究能吸引志同道合的學者合作，為香港的學術研究做出貢獻。