Hong Kong’s Housing Game: Four Giants vs. Seven Million Commons
Jane Li*
Abstract: Hong Kong’s economic wealth relies disproportionately on the prosperity of her real estate market. Four property conglomerates dominate the market. Together, these “Hongs” or conglomerates, have extensive power and control over the economy. Yet, the vast majority of citizens work some of the longest hours to pay off extraordinarily high mortgages. This article examines the basic structure of the Hong Kong economy and addresses the attendant problems of economic fairness and justice.
There is no other city like Hong Kong. Her economic wealth relies disproportionately on the prosperity of her real estate market. There is no other city like Hong Kong. On one hand her citizens enjoy high levels of economic freedom, on the other hand, they suffer from a gigantic gulf between rich and poor, with a Gini coefficient of 0.475[1]. The richest man in Asia lives in Hong Kong, but the desperately poor have their homes in “cages”. There are big names engraved on the landmarks of the city, but there are seven million other people working some of the longest hours in the world[2] their entire lives, to pay off their mortgages on small apartments, if they are lucky enough to afford one. When freedom does not come with fairness, and when the dream of home ownership results in virtual enslavement of the working class, we need to ask why.
I. The Origin of Land Scarcity
From the 1960s, propelled by a strong stock market, an increasing number of businesses came to Hong Kong and bought real estate. Foreign investors and some local businesses that engaged in manufacturing or shipping turned their
* Jane Li is a J.D. candidate at the University of Kansas, School of Law (2013). She received her L.L.B from China University of Political Science and Law (2009).
