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Public Housing and Poverty Concentration in Urban Neighbourhoods: The Case of Hong Kong in the 1990s

Author

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  • Claudio O. Delang

    (Department of Geography and Resource Management, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Room 246, Wong Foo Yuan Building, Hong Kong, Shatin, N.T. 0000000, Hong Kong, cdelang@cuhk.edu.hk)

  • Ho Cheuk Lung

    (Department of Geography and Resource Management, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Room 246, Wong Foo Yuan Building, Hong Kong, Shatin, N.T. 0000000, Hong Kong, Ho.Cheuk.Lung@gmail.com)

Abstract

The undesirable effect of public housing on poverty concentration has been recognised by a series of studies that use census-tract-level aggregate data. This paper examines whether the poverty concentration mechanism of public housing that has been observed elsewhere also functions in Hong Kong. Hong Kong has one of the largest supplies of public housing in the world and also a distinct urban environment. After assessing the poverty rates in Hong Kong in 1991 and 2001, we build a series of regression models to examine the impact of public rental housing on poverty concentration during the 1990s. Using aggregated census tract-level data, the analysis concludes that public housing does not necessarily concentrate poverty in particular census tracts. Public policy and city planning by the Hong Kong government are found to be effective in avoiding or reducing the possible adverse effect of public housing by maintaining social heterogeneity and spatial homogeneity.

Suggested Citation

  • Claudio O. Delang & Ho Cheuk Lung, 2010. "Public Housing and Poverty Concentration in Urban Neighbourhoods: The Case of Hong Kong in the 1990s," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 47(7), pages 1391-1413, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:47:y:2010:i:7:p:1391-1413
    DOI: 10.1177/0042098009353623
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. William H. Carter & Michael H. Schill & Susan M. Wachter, 1998. "Polarisation, Public Housing and Racial Minorities in US Cities," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 35(10), pages 1889-1911, October.
    2. Warren-Rhodes, Kimberley & Koenig, Albert, 2001. "Ecosystem appropriation by Hong Kong and its implications for sustainable development," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(3), pages 347-359, December.
    3. Lance Freeman, 2003. "The impact of assisted housing developments on concentrated poverty," Housing Policy Debate, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(1-2), pages 103-141.
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    Cited by:

    1. Chau-kiu Cheung, 2013. "Morale in Relation to Caring and Social Exclusion in Society," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 113(1), pages 471-490, August.
    2. Chau-kiu Cheung & Raymond Chan & Wing-chung Ho, 2014. "Feeling Close to Fellow Citizens in Hong Kong, Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 119(1), pages 25-48, October.
    3. Alfonso Gallego-Valadés & Francisco Ródenas-Rigla & Jorge Garcés-Ferrer, 2021. "Spatial Distribution of Public Housing and Urban Socio-Spatial Inequalities: An Exploratory Analysis of the Valencia Case," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(20), pages 1-17, October.
    4. Scott William Hegerty, 2023. "Defining ‘metropolitan’ poverty: Isolation gradients in major US urban areas," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 60(10), pages 1796-1814, August.
    5. Low, Chien-Tat & Lai, Poh-Chin & Tse, Wing-Sze Cindy & Tsui, Chung-Kan & Lee, Herman & Hui, Pak-Kwan, 2013. "Exploring tuberculosis by types of housing development," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 77-83.
    6. Yuan Li & Xin Feng, 2024. "Is Poverty Concentrated in Shanghai? Spatial Patterns in Social Housing and Their Implications for Social Equality in Chinese Cities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(5), pages 1-19, February.
    7. Yingqi Guo & Shu-Sen Chang & Feng Sha & Paul S F Yip, 2018. "Poverty concentration in an affluent city: Geographic variation and correlates of neighborhood poverty rates in Hong Kong," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(2), pages 1-17, February.
    8. Fox Zhiyong Hu & Keelee Chou, 2016. "Public housing and educational attainment in Asia's global city: An empirical study of Hong Kong," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 34(8), pages 1867-1894, December.
    9. Jens Kandt & Shu-Sen Chang & Paul Yip & Ricky Burdett, 2017. "The spatial pattern of premature mortality in Hong Kong: How does it relate to public housing?," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 54(5), pages 1211-1234, April.

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