The changing "rural" setting of Hong Kong's new territories in the 20th Century

Lung Ping - Yee, David, Lee, Ho-Yin and Chow, Tsz-Yue Enphemia (2005) The changing "rural" setting of Hong Kong's new territories in the 20th Century. In: 15th ICOMOS General Assembly and International Symposium: ‘Monuments and sites in their setting - conserving cultural heritage in changing townscapes and landscapes’, 17 – 21 oct 2005, Xi'an, China. [Conference or Workshop Item]

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Abstract (in English)

In 1972, the so called “Small House Policy” was introduced to the northern part of Hong Kong known as the New Territories, which was leased by the British from China for 99 years in 1898. It was designed to meet the contradictory aims of preserving the “rural” setting of the New Territories and satisfying the rural population’s demand for property development. One of the consequences of the policy was the transformation of the “rural” setting into a “suburb”-like setting of free-standing, reinforced-concrete village houses built to a standard size and height. However, for all the misgivings attributed to the Small House Policy, there has never been any discussion on what is meant by the “rural” setting of the New Territories. It seems that the understanding of the word is based on the imagery of an agrarian Cantonese village environment at the commencement of the lease of the land. It can therefore be argued that the notion of a static, time-specific “rural” setting in the context of the New Territories is a nostalgic illusion that can neither be preserved nor sustained. Perhaps the meaning of the word can be better defined in the dynamic context of socio-economic and socio-politic changes experienced by China and Britain, with Hong Kong caught in between, during the 20th century, which thus provides a reassessment of the Small House Policy.

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
Authors:	Authors Email Lung Ping - Yee, David UNSPECIFIED Lee, Ho-Yin hoyin@hku.hk Chow, Tsz-Yue Enphemia UNSPECIFIED
Languages:	English
Keywords:	rural areas; setting; urbanization; Small House Policy; industrialization; economic aspects
Subjects:	D.URBANISM > 03. Town and country planning E.CONSERVATION AND RESTORATION > 09. Social and economic aspects of conservation
Name of monument, town, site, museum:	Hong Kong
ICOMOS Special Collection:	Scientific Symposium (ICOMOS General Assemblies)
ICOMOS Special Collection Volume:	2005, 15th
Depositing User:	Jose Garcia
Date Deposited:	30 Oct 2010 11:38
Last Modified:	26 Jul 2023 13:36
References:	1. Hayes, James, ‘The Nature of Village Life’, in From Village to City: Studies in the Traditional Roots of Hong Kong Society, ed. David Faure, James Hayes and Alan Birch, 55-72, Hong Kong: Centre of Asian Studies, The University of Hong Kong, 1984. 2. Hopkinson, Lisa and Mandy Lao Man Lei. Rethinking the Small House Policy. Hong Kong: Civic Exchange, 2003. 3. Jones, G. W. E. “Rural Housing in Hong Kong.” Chap. in Housing in Hong Kong: A Multi-Disciplinary Study. Hong Kong: Heinemann Educational Books, 1978. 4. Lau, Y.W. (劉潤和), 《新界簡史》[A brief history of the New Territories], Hong Kong: Joint Publishing, 1999. 5. Lee, Ho Yin and Lynne DiStefano. A Tale of Two Villages: The Story of Changing Village Life in the New Territories. Hong Kong: Oxford University Press, 2002. 6. Liu C. K. (劉存寬), 《租借新界》[Lease of the New Territories], Hong Kong: Joint Publishing, 1995. 7. Lockhart, J. H. Stewart, ‘Extracts from the Lockhart Report on the New Territory, 8 October, 1898, from Great Britain’, published on the Website http://hkuhist2.hku.hk/firstyear/Sinn/sinnE04-2.htm, extracted from Colonial Office Document (Hong Kong), CO 129/289, 8 Oct. 1898. 8. ________, ‘Report on the New Territory at Hong Kong’ (report presented to the Houses of Parliament, Nov. 1900), London: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, 1900. 9. Hong Kong SAR Planning Department. Planning Department Annual Report 2005. Hong Kong, published on the Website http://www.pland.gov.hk/press/publication/ar_05/english/territorial.htm. Viewed on 2 Sep 2005. 10. Sinclair, Kevin, ‘The Lucrative Lie Built on “Native Son” Foundations’, Sunday Morning Post, 19 September 1999, 2. 11. ________, ‘Rotten Roots of Village Polls’, South China Morning Post, 7 February 2001, 13. 12. ________, ‘NT’s Old Village System Rotten to the Core’, South China Morning Post, 23 October 2000, 17. 13. U. K. Colonial Office Records, Series CO 129/289: Lockhart Report on the New Territories, 8 October, 1898, from Great Britain, October 1898. 14. Welsh, Frank, A History of Hong Kong, London: Harper Collins Publishers, 1993. 15. Yau, T. (邱東), 《新界風物与民情》[Scenes and lives of the New Territories], Hong Kong: Joint Publishing, 1992.
URI:	https://openarchive.icomos.org/id/eprint/293

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