Changes in the Ecological Structure of Hong Kong 1961–1971: A Comparative Analysis

Two sets of data from the 1961 and 1971 censuses of the colonial city of Hong Kong have been factor analysed by various methods that have been subjected to orthogonal and varimax rotations. Interpretations have revealed two robust factors of ‘high-income expatriate workers’ and ‘low-income blue- and white-collar workers’ in 1961. By 1971 a more diversified socioeconomic stratification of the Chinese and high-income expatriate workers had emerged. A new ‘public-housing residents’ dimension also appeared. The spatial patterns of the social areas of Hong Kong over a decade, obtained by a numerical procedure of cluster analysis, have also been compared, and the massive involuntary redistribution of population that resulted in the creation of a peripheral, government public-housing area in the previously rural—urban fringe area has been noted. These lead to some theoretical considerations of the validity of Western urban theories and concepts since the Hong Kong spatial pattern tends towards a greater degree of regularity. It is also recommended that the orthogonal and oblique rotations can complement each other to give the macro and micro variations of the urban dimensions.