Introduction

Hong Kong defies simple solutions. The official slogan ‘Asia's World City’ suggests a bland and artificial peace with its complex history: junk boats floating serenely past skyscrapers. In fact, Hong Kong's transition from British colony to global city is characterized by rougher waters. ‘Asia's World City’ has the right idea: it is precisely Hong Kong's relationship to the rest of the world that defines its character and its qualities today, from its unique political and cultural institutions to its continued economic rise. Hong Kong, in contrast to post-colonial cities such as New Delhi, Penang, or Jakarta, is able to achieve cosmopolitan or extra-national status as a world city because of its ability to forge and maintain strong links between local and global populations. It is in the nature of ‘Asia’, ‘World’, and ‘City’ that the smooth and homogeneous marketing tool diverges from a segmented and heterogeneous reality. Exchange systems in Hong Kong force difficult balances at every level, as Tsung-yi Michelle Huang explores in her chapter in this book, which investigates both the historical forces and the cultural effects of Hong Kong's post-1997 regional integration with Mainland China. Borders between cultures and economies and the systems for connecting them figure largely in Hong Kong's formulation of itself as a global city. How do such systems for connection manifest themselves in built form? The answer may help explicate some of the more turbulent urbanism behind the city's post-colonial marketing campaign.