1st Edition
Building Colonial Hong Kong Speculative Development and Segregation in the City
1. Framing Colonial Urban Development.
2. A Dual City in the Making: Accumulation and Segregation in Nineteenth-Century Victoria.
3. Combatting Nuisance: Urban Improvement and the Colonial Conundrum.
4. Remapping Forms and Norms: From ‘Insanitary Properties’ to Modern Housing.
5. Constructing Enclaves: A New Era of Suburban Development.
6. The Housing Crisis and the Making of the Modern City.
Afterword: ‘Old Hong Kong’ and the Present City.
Abbreviations and Notes on Romanization.
Bibliography.
Index.
Biography
Trained as an urban historian with a background in design and conservation, Cecilia L. Chu is an Associate Professor in the Division of Landscape Architecture at the University of Hong Kong
'This is a stellar, insight-filled, and beautifully written analysis of the built environment of one of the world’s most remarkable and still-politically-charged metropolises: ‘the fragrant harbour’ (Xianggang) or, as most know it, Hong Kong.… those with an interest in Hong Kong’s evolution – from a colonial entrepôt to a Chinese city … will learn key lessons from an extremely perceptive scholar, who writes with clarity and insight.'
Jeff Cody, The Getty Conservation Institute
'Building Colonial Hong Kong is necessary reading for scholars and students of colonial urbanization and planning … Chu’s book is of significance to a much wider audience, who will find in colonial Hong Kong provocative and disquieting similarities to many of the challenges faced by contemporary planners around the world.'
Nick R. Smith, Barnard College
'Chu’s book is a subtle and significant work in urban colonial history, exposing the speculation and self-interest that drove Hong Kong’s economy and that shaped so many lives through its physical production.'
Christopher Cowell, Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, December 2023
'The urban history of Hong Kong has been well researched, but few works to date have been as robust and lucid as Cecilia Chu’s Building Colonial Hong Kong: Speculative Development and Segregation in the City. Harnessing first-hand sources and focusing on ever-present housing issues, she vividly narrates the history of its urban territories from 1840 through to the 1930s.'
Puay Peng Ho, National University of Singapore. Fall 2024 issue of Traditional Dwellings and Settlements Review.
'Cecilia L. Chu’s book pinpoints the complexities of Hong Kong’s urban space by providing new perspectives. She thus opens a new chapter of reading and understanding of colonial urban Hong Kong…Overall, the book provides a chronological exploration of divergent discourses weaving through early colonial Hong Kong, offering a comprehensive view of urban planning. Chu integrates interdisciplinary materials in a clear manner via economics, history, and architecture, hence offering an interdisciplinary approach lacking in previous studies.'
Catherine Li Lanqing, Hong Kong Studies Vol. 4, No. 2 (Winter 2024).
