The city and the state: Historical reflections on Hong Kong's identity in transition, 1997 and beyond

Abstract

Although Hong Kong will return to Chinese sovereignty on 1 July 1997, its reintegration into China's system of cities will take place over a 50-year period summed up by the slogan, 'one country, two systems'. In order to understand the process of reintegration and the controversy that has surrounded the introduction of democratic reforms by Britain's last governor, we will examine the diachronic frameworks in which the development of urban municipal government was thwarted in Hong Kong under colonial rule, as well as the evolution of municipal governance in urban China prior to 1949; both serve as a formative stage from which urban identity was derived in Hong Kong. Whatever the demonstrable integrity of the People's Republic of China's commitment that Hong Kong will remain 'unchanged' for 50 years, it is the models and urban experiences of their past that shapes the strategy towards Hong Kong. © 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.