Excluding the disadvantaged : housing inequalities in Hong Kong

Abstract

As the governments of most developed countries do, the Hong Kong government recommodifies public housing, claiming that the policy more effectively and efficiently meets people's housing needs. The claim has been largely unchallenged. This paper argues that the policy does not benefit everyone and that the interests of many disadvantaged groups, such as the elderly, lone-parent families, women and new immigrants, are sacrificed. Much of the exclusion and deprivation is camouflaged by so-called cultural values and common practice, such as familialism and Confucianism. This paper shows that housing policy, interweaving with dominant cultural values, social discourse and social practice, is depriving many disadvantaged groups of the housing resources they badly need.