The first post-Occupy rallies in Hong Kong, February 2015. Demotix/David Smith. All rights reserved.In 2014 Hong Kong’s tycoon-driven domestic economy topped The Economist’s crony-capitalism index, outshining even Russia and China. Over the past few decades, Hong Kong’s wealth inequality has been widening. Its Gini coefficient, an index for wealth disparity, went up from 0.45 in 1981 to 0.54 in 2011, exceeding that of China and the US. The conclusion that wealth in Hong Kong’s gleaming society lies in the hands of 'the 1 percent' is inescapable.
And nowhere is this divide more apparent than in urban space – the scarcest and therefore the most contentious resource in Hong Kong. The average living space per person is roughly 12m squared, one of the smallest in the world. Such figures do not reflect that over 170,000 people live in subdivided flats, and that mainland Chinese appetite for high-end real estate has been driving up the cost for its residents even more.
Negotiating space
Negotiating conflicting interests for space is, like in any cosmopolitan city, a delicate balancing act, but even more so in land-scarce Hong Kong. Space is a luxury. The monetary opportunity cost of not using urban space for profit-driven infrastructure and development is high, but should be considered against the social value of space. Paul Zimmerman, a district councillor famous for unfolding a yellow umbrella in support of Occupy at the China National Day reception, is the founder of DesigningHongKong, a non-profit dedicated to improving urban planning and livability. Zimmerman focuses less on the political dynamics at senior levels, but instead takes a pragmatic approach by initiating urban planning campaigns. “I really miss piazzas, large open spaces where people can meet, sit, chat and interact socially rather than running hastily between places”, he tells me.
