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Contesting brandscapes in Hong Kong: Exploring youth activist experiences of the contemporary consumerist landscape

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  • Sonia Lam-Knott

Abstract

Since the 2000s, Hong Kong has become inundated with retail centres, such that the territory is now known as ‘Mall City’, a condition now problematised by youth activists in the city. This article is interested in why these youths take issue with this form of urban development. By tracing the emergence of the contemporary consumerist landscape from the colonial era to the present, it is shown that the current manifestation and characteristics of Hong Kong’s brandscapes are the product of unequal power dynamics between the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government, estate developers and the Hong Kong citizenry in shaping the city. By bringing youth activist voices to the forefront through the use of ethnographic data, the discussion then examines youth activist accounts detailing the experiential dimensions of living in this consumerist landscape, noting the feelings of alienation and exploitation circulating within the vernacular domains of Hong Kong society. The article concludes by reviewing the different ways these youths have attempted to reconfigure their relationship with this brandscape, and thus challenge the control the HKSAR government and estate developers have over Hong Kong urban space.

Suggested Citation

  • Sonia Lam-Knott, 2020. "Contesting brandscapes in Hong Kong: Exploring youth activist experiences of the contemporary consumerist landscape," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 57(5), pages 1087-1104, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:57:y:2020:i:5:p:1087-1104
    DOI: 10.1177/0042098019829413
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Ming Sing, 2009. "The Quality of Life in Hong Kong," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 92(2), pages 295-335, June.
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    3. Wing-Shing Tang, 2017. "Beyond Gentrification: Hegemonic Redevelopment in Hong Kong," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(3), pages 487-499, May.
    4. Xin Zhao & Russell W. Belk, 2008. "Politicizing Consumer Culture: Advertising's Appropriation of Political Ideology in China's Social Transition," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 35(2), pages 231-244, June.
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