British's Approaches of Influencing Hong Kong's High-density Construction in 1960-1971

1. Historical Context

2. For Infrastructure: Direct or Indirect Participation in Projects

3. For Livelihood Projects: Introduction to Advanced Technologies and Systems

3.1 Description of New Technologies with the Help of Text

3.2 Reporting Built Project in the UK 3.3 Standardization of the Construction Industry System in Hong Kong

4. For Education and Dissemination of Ideas：Expansion of Institution and Criticism 4.1 Criticism of the Dynamics of Urban Construction in Hong Kong 4.2 The Involvement of British Institutions in the Routine of the Industry 5. Discussion: The Technocratic Impact of UK on Hong Kong 5.1 DSIR (The Department of Scientific and Industrial Research)

HKHS (Hong Kong Housing Society) 5.3 Boundary of the Impact 6. Conclusion

1. Historical Context

Hong Kong is a special administrative region of China, located in the southern part of mainland China, with an excellent harbor and one of the most important free trade ports in the world today. It was briefly under Japanese rule during World War II and then reverted to a British colony after the Japanese surrender until 1997 when sovereignty was transferred back to the government of the People's Republic of China. During this period, Hong Kong was under British colonial rule for a total of 150 years. [1]

This colonial history has helped Hong Kong achieve incredible economic success in a very short period of time, and has contributed to its current image as an extremely densely populated metropolis. Although economic development has been a major topic throughout itsBritish rule, Hong Kong's real period of breakneck growth began after World War II with the boom in real estate market. [2] During this period, Britain saw Hong Kong as a colony that needed to be developed and a gateway to the Asian market, thus assisted the region in the rapid construction of a large number of real estate and public housing projects.

The history of this almost unprecedented real estate development is well documented in a magazine called Hong Kong and Far East Builder . It was a trade magazine published in East Asia between 1941 and 1971, published monthly or bimonthly, in English, and circulated mainly among construction professionals, with the primary function of being a platform for

1. “How Hong Kong's Complex History Explains Its Current Crisis with China.” Culture. National Geographic, last modified January 25, 2022, https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/hong-konghistory-explain-relationship-china

2.Wong, Stan Hok-wui. “Real Estate Elite, Economic Development, and Political Conflicts in Postcolonial Hong Kong.” *China Review* 15, no. 1.

Figure 2. Evolution of covers (1961, 1965,1971)

Figure 1. Victoria Harbor view, late 1960's (Source: unkown)

information exchange within the industry.

The magazine's content is quite mixed, including reports on new projects, news stories, architectural technology, building product promotion, review articles, and a list of approved projects, presenting a "practical information handbook" image. Most of the magazine's articles are fact-based newsletters, but there are also some articles illustrating personal opinions, most of which are written by British architects and academics. During its existence, the magazine expanded in terms of the types of projects it focused on and its geographical scope, for example, in 1962 the colophon pages began to be divided into columns, and in 1965 it began to feature world news from outside East Asia.

Having now a clear view of Hong Kong’s history and status as, not only a British colony, but as well as a place of undoubtedly unique growth in density and population, we try to grasp to what extent this British impact is palpable on the HK architecture. By analyzing the ways in which this influence has been enacted, we can more clearly sort out the history Hong Kong’s urban development and use it as a sample to more thoroughly observe the migration and reproduction of Western discourses and experiences to Asia that have become more pronounced over the last century or two. This essay will therefore analyze the ways in which Britain influenced the construction of Hong Kong's high-density urban environment during the period 1960-1971 by looking at magazine texts and discussing the broader historical implications of these patterns for Hong Kong.

Figure 3. Example of contents (January 1965)

2.

For Infrastructure: Direct or Indirect Participation in Projects

Prior to World War II, Hong Kong's economic development depended on serving as a port for foreign trade with southern China. The development of local industry, on the other hand, came after World War II, when an influx of people into Hong Kong added cheap labor to the city, making foreign companies willing to set up factories in Hong Kong. Moreover, the fouryear-long Japanese occupation of Hong Kong led to the birth of a wasteland of scenes: during its occupation in the second world war, the Japanese deliberately demolished countless buildings in order to make weapons, with the ironmongery. Moreover, after the heavy bombing before the liberation, about 20% of Chinese tenements were either destroyed or severely damaged deleted buildings. In addition, the 1960s coincided with the United Nations embargo on China due to the Korean War, which brought port trade to a standstill and led to the transformation of Hong Kong into a industrialized city, in search of new economic development. [3]

The rapid development of industry requires rapid territorial expansion, which also places higher demands on road traffic infrastructure . For important matters like reclamation and such, we can clearly see an implementation of many British institutions that carry out the projects, and the preliminary studies. As well as they make all decisions about the design and do all the sociological studies on the colony. In addition, the 1960s was a particularly rapid decade in the

3. Qiuli Xue, Hong Kong Architecture 1945-2015 from Colonial to Global (Springer Singapore).

Figure 4. Migrants settlements (Source: LIFE magazine, May 1962)

development of the transportation system because the New Territories, originally a rural area in the north of Hong Kong, began to have scattered industrial strongholds from the 1960s due to changes in land ownership policy[4], which meant that the road transport network needed to cross the mountains and develop northward from the coast of Victoria Harbour, placing considerable demands on infrastructure planning. At the same time, air capacity had to be developed in tandem.

The construction of a complex transport system requires the assistance of the UK's developed experience. As a result, the UK sent experts from its government agency Road Research Laboratory to form the “Passenger Transport Survey Unit” [5] in 1964 to provide policy advice to the Hong Kong Government. The Unit publishes Technical Reports from time to time to provide detailed advice on the future development of transport in Hong Kong.

For example, The Unit published the Hong Kong Passenger Transport Survey in 1967, which explained the need for a mass transit system in Hong Kong to solve the traffic problems of the time. In 1968, The Unit published the Hong Kong Long-term Road Study, answering to HK mass transports requirements, for a system expected to serve 2.5 million passengers a day by 1986, a fundamental project, which will shape the future of Hong Kong and of its internal transportation activities. (1968.3 HK Underground Railway Proposed). During the same period, British construction companies were also responsible for some land reclamation projects in order to obtain more land area (1962.12 Hong Kong's Biggest Plan for Reclamation).

At the same time, the UK also assisted in the

4. Watson, James L. “Rural Society: Hong Kong’s New Territories.” The China Quarterly, no. 95. 5. Hong Kong Mass Transport Study. Report Prepared for the Hong Kong Government. Hong Kong: Govt. Printer, 1967.

Figure 6. Cross Harbour tunnel connection, (Source: Far East Architect, 1968 )

Figure 5. Aerial view, late 1960's (Source: unkown)

completion of the passenger terminal and parking lot at Kai Tak Airport in 1962. This important project is carried out by Ramsay, Murray Ward and White, architects in London also famous for projects in England, like the Dyson Perrins Laboratories Chemistry faculty in Oxford. This makes us believe that there is an import of, not only technical skills from the British departments and engineers, but also an import of theoretical design ideas by the input of architects at the head of the design of highly important projects in terms of functions, surface, and budget. Even though these architects are most of the time residents of Hong Kong, they are in most cases trained in England and graduated there. In addition, the types of projects the UK is involved in building are not limited to transportation systems. The issue published in April, 1963 documented UK firm’s participation in a crematorium project . The “Cape Collinson Crematorium” was responsbile by two UK firms that has experience in building the world’s largest crematorium before.

In fact, the involvement of British architectural firms in Hong Kong projects is not always direct. There are also projects where local Hong Kong architects are in charge, but receive technical support from the British side. For instance, in the article “London Research to aid HK Tunnel”(1969.11) , a laboratory test was conducted by King's college, a prestigious English university, with materials of concrete. This work helps carrying out an important Hong Kong tunnel, with a date of construction already set. Another more important project should be Queen Elizabeth Hospital built in 1964. A lot of British and American equipment was used in this project, and end up spending cost of 70 million dollar, an astronomical budget viewing from 1960s.

Figure 7. Kai Tak Airport, early 1960's (Source: Airporthistory.org)

Figure 8. Queen Elisabeth hospital (Source: Governement Records Services)

These variety of infrastructure posed a clear positive impact on Hong Kong’s average life quality and also strong sensitivity to the region’s local crisis. For instance, a governmental annual report claims in the end of 1946 that “many of the newcomers… had no knowledge of urban life and were ignorant of rudiments of sanitation. Thousands sought shelter in damaged premises with no sanitary fittings and drew their water from polluted wells” (Hong Kong Annual Report 1946, Hong Kong Government Publication Bureau (1947).) [6]In this early context, the matter of water accessibility was already important for the city. The leading companies in terms of consultancy and engineering being of British appartency, we also realize how this British influence in terms of infrastructure impacts as well the day-today living conditions of the citizens of this growing population.

3.For Livelihood Projects: Introduction to Advanced Technologies and Systems

The 1960s were a time of social unrest in Hong Kong due to the instability on the mainland. The Chinese Communist Party began to demonstrate its willingness to take back Hong Kong, and the resulting ideological struggle made Hong Kong society extremely unstable. Further exacerbating social stability was the generally poor quality of housing at the time, when most

6. Hong Kong. Annual Report on Hong Kong for the Year 1946 Etc.. Hong Kong, 1947.

Figure 9. Hong Kong Annual Report (Source: Hong Kong Government Report)

Figure 10. Extract of article on construction for water accessibility

refugees were still living in makeshift houses made of tin: "The houses had no daylight, fresh air, kitchen or sanitary facilities, and a crude roof made of wood and tin. ...... five or six people were crammed into a 6 square foot boxes." [7]

The then Governor MacLehose believed that to ease the situation, the government must first solve the livelihood problems [8], so he vigorously promoted the policy of low-cost public housing, and encouraged the construction of new schools, new hospitals, and the implementation of nine-year compulsory education, trying to use the British experience to help Hong Kong quickly step into the ranks of a modern city.

In order to be able to quickly build livelihood projects that can accommodate larger populations, British construction companies are beginning to bring to Hong Kong technologies and systems that can assist in the construction of high-rise or large-span buildings. Several ways in which this vision is being implemented are reflected, directly or indirectly, in the Hong Kong and Far East Builder article.

3.1 Description of New Technologies with the Help of Text

In order to improve the quality of public housing, the magazine introduces a variety of building products from the UK. The June 1963 article "The "JACKBLOCK" system of Building: A Vertical Assembly Line" describes a revolutionary building system called "JACKBLOCK ", which was designed and developed by Richard Costain. It was first used in 1962 in a 17-story apartment building in Coventry, England. The

131–34.

7. Firth, J. R., “Housing in Hong Kong.” Ekistics 15, no. 88 (1963):

8. Qiuli Xue, Hong Kong Architecture 1945-2015 from Colonial to Global (Springer Singapore).

Figure 11. Migrants settlements (Source: LIFE magazine, May 1962)

Figure 12. Low cost housing at Kennedy (Source: Far East Architect)

technique is characterized by starting with the roof, then lifting each floor completely, and repeating the process several times to complete the construction. This method allowed the construction of high-rise buildings quickly and cheaply. Another article, "Refuse Disposal in Blocks of Flats" , published in February 1964, discusses four waste disposal technologies for apartment buildings in the UK and their respective advantages, focusing on the Garchey system, which has the highest level of user satisfaction, with the following major advantages Garbage can be disposed of inside the home and is carried away directly by water. This technology has the potential to reduce the impact of waste odors on occupants in a collection of homes.

Another technology that has been consistently documented in magazines is prefabrication, and in the December 1964 issue of Hong Kong and Far East Builder, an article entitled "Instant Housing Booms in Britain", it was suggested that the construction technique of prefabrication had achieved great success in the UK . It not only saves time and money in construction, but also minimizes the impact on the surrounding environment. In the same issue, an article titled "The Future of Hong Kong's Building Industry" also mentions that in other parts of the world, a huge technological change is transforming the construction industry, and Hong Kong people seem to be unaware of it. The application of prefabrication technology could be the conduit that brings Hong Kong in line with the international construction industry. Just six months later, the details of the technology were publicized in a magazine article entitled "Industrialised Building: Prefabricated Architecture or Architectural Prefabrication" , which detailed the construction methods and benefits of the

Figure 13. Building in construction with Jackblock system technique

Figure 14. Example of prefabricated elements (in situ cross walls in foundations)

prefabrication technology. Frank Ng, a practicing architect from ARIBA, emphasizes the precision, economy and value of prefabricated modules to workers' working conditions, and gives real-life pictures of prefabricated buildings built in Paris to clearly illustrate the application of this technology.

3.2 Reporting Built Project in the UK

In this section, we selected some articles that analyze projects built in England. The projects are well documented and the articles always explain the way they are built, with which technique of construction. They are giving a lot of details regarding the design.For instance, how technical constraints can become part of the design, the importance of lighting in the project.

Several sample articles could be observed. For instance, the 1964.6 article “’Instant Housing Boom in Britain” presented the prefabrication technique, introduced in Britain after the housing boom, and allowing shorter construction times, better organized construction sites and less workforce.

Another article (1966.3, Precast Cruciform Units Frame Research Center, UK) reported a project of Research Center in UK, in which precast concrete cruciform frame elements has been used. A walled service compound has also been designed in this project to hide all the networks.

Infrastructures are also taken in example on the magazine: in the article "Britain’s Longest Elevated Highway" published in November 1970, the Britain’s longest elevated bridge, 4km long, is analyzed. A feature of this highway was that its main structure is prestressed concrete. It was of

Figure 15. Extract of article (Source: Far East Architec, December 1964)

course new at that time and only few companies were able to build it. Other articles are also presenting materials, for example the brick, that Hong Kong began to use after Britain tried it.

3.3 Standardization of the Construction Industry System in Hong Kong

In the magazine, some articles are showing the British influence on regulations. For example, a series of articles were reproducted from the “Chartered Surveyor”, official magazine of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). This organisation has been created in London in 1868 and obtained a Royal Chart from Queen Victoria in 1881.

This professional institution is international and independant. It offers a qualification and standards recognized in the real estate, construction and infrastructure markets. The article published on December 1962 named “Building and Quantity Surveying” highlighted the importance of training architects and actors of the construction to design things according to their prices and what is possible. The articles also mentioned a series of other regulation and their significance, including regulations with related to the safety in utilizing mechanical plants and the approach of managing group of architects.

We can also find a critisicm about the lack of regulations (1966.6, Improved Building Standards). Indeed, in new construction in Hong Kong at this time, there were no rules regarding construction. In 1948, Britain established an overseas service of the building research station. The work of oversea’s division is financed by

Figure 16. Elevated roundabout and flyover (Source: Far East Architect)

Figure 17. Extract of article (Source: Far East Architect, December 1962)

Britain’s ministry of overseas development and provide the establishment of rules after some investigations on the field. The regulations will thus be different according to the situation of the building, the local climate, etc. It is a big step in the construction field because it will allow better construction standards, and also more security in the buildings , for example regarding the fire risks, the emergency exits.

Other articles are dealing with the fact that Hong Kong had adopted the English Standard Method of Measurement and that it creates a lot of confusion with the local constructors, so they are trying to have a new local Standard Method of Measurement . They finally thought about the metric system, which is developing in an international level at that time. It was discussed in the parliament as early as 1818 and some industries and government agencies had metricated, or were in the process of metricating by the mid-1960s. A formal government policy to support metrication was agreed by 1965.

In Hong Kong, however, this important process of unification of units of measure was delayed. Thus, in the 1960s, a number of articles appeared in successive issues of the magazine text, presenting the importance of a unified unit system in Hong Kong in a progressive logic, and the October 1962 issue of the magazine also recorded a short story about "Hong Kong's first serving government employee to be trained in surveying in the UK", proving that the British assistance in the establishment of a sound regulation in Hong Kong was visible.

Figure 18. Standard Measurement (Source: Hong Kong and Far East builder, 1962)

Figure 19. Assistant Land Surveyor To Train in UK (Source: Hong Kong and Far East builder, 1962)

4. For Education and Dissemination of Ideas： Expansion of Institution and Criticism

Before World War II, the British colonial government's policy toward Hong Kong included little concern for the education of the Chinese other than the training of clerks and servants. Primary and secondary schools were already extremely sparse and mostly churchrun, and there was only one university, Hong Kong University. However, the rapid economic transformation since 1960 has revealed the low level of education of the population [9] . Despite the abundance of cheap labor, Hong Kong at that time lacked higher education personnel.

From the 1960s onwards, the British Hong Kong government decided to promote both basic and higher education . In the same year, RIBA included the architecture degree of the University of Hong Kong in the scope of recognition, and actively promoted the Commonwealth Association of Architects (CAA) and the Hong Kong Institute of Architects (HKIA). [10]

This series of UK-based institutions have been operating extensively in Hong Kong, and the group of scholars and practicing architects belonging to these institutions have a very high voice in the Hong Kong architectural profession. At the same time, these institutions have also begun to model local architectural trends in Hong Kong through competitions and awards from a British perspective.

9. Sweeting, Anthony, and Edward Vickers. “Language and the History of Colonial Education: The Case of Hong Kong.” Modern Asian Studies 41, no. 1.

10. “History.” History | HKU Faculty of Architecture. Accessed June 15, 2022. https://www.arch.hku.hk/about/ history/.

Figure 21. Chinese University of Hong Kong (Source: Wikipedia, 1974)

Figure 20. University of Hong Kong (Source: Wikipedia, 1960)

4.1 Criticism of the Dynamics of Urban Construction in Hong Kong

As mentioned earlier, the series of criticalism articles written by British scholars in this journal has been almost the only subjective articles written during the journal's existence. The authors of the articles are essentially all British and are personally affiliated with various institutions, including Britain's Building Research Station, the Royal Institution of British Architects (RIBA), the Crown Lands Planning Office, and so on. In addition to these industry representatives, the academic voice is also represented by Prof. W.G. Gregory, then Head of the Department of Architecture at the University of Hong Kong and a graduate of the Architectural Association, who has written a large number of opinion pieces for the magazine, drawing on his global intellectual background to provide a number of sharp perspectives on Hong Kong's new urbanism.

Specifically, the themes of these critical essays focus on four areas: reflection on the planning scheme, advocacy of the concept of sustainability, promotion of social equity, and criticism of the education system

Among all the topics, the one that is relatively the most important and most frequently mentioned in all the articles is the reflection on the planning scheme. In its rapid pursuit of a fully functional city and a well-developed transportation system, Hong Kong has gradually suffered from urban diseases such as congestion and chaos. This situation has been exacerbated by poorly thoughtout planning and a lack of vision on the part

Figure 22. Britain's Building Research Station (Source: Diamond Geezer, 2017)

Figure 23. Royal Institute of British Architects

of government agencies. The authors of many articles urged the British Hong Kong government to update its urban development plans immediately and to implement them rigorously.

For example, the October 1963 article "Architecture in Hong Kong" raised concerns that Hong Kong was headed in a similar direction to New York: high-density buildings with inadequate light and ventilation, ugly facades, and damage to people's mental health ; the April 1964 article "Hong Kong's High Density Population Areas May Become 'Socially Intolerable and Administratively Dangerous’” also raised the importance and urgency of limiting building density and suggested that this could be achieved by limiting building heights and shade control areas.

Reflection on high-density planning schemes has also focused on aspects related to transportation systems. For example, the November 1966 article "Transportation and Urban Pattern" suggested that Hong Kong could learn from London's "ring road" model in planning its transportation system and ensure that people could stagger their trips as much as possible. The April 1967 article "Public Works Priorities May Chage" warned that the lack of parking and inadequate road capacity could exacerbate some of the city's existing problems, such as slums.

In his January 1966 review article, Prof. W. G. Gregory noted that "Man reacts to his environment: it inspires him to give of his best or to show himself his worst.” He argued that slums breed criminals, and that urban environmental improvements were imperative to the sustainable health of cities. A month later he wrote another review, "Environment: A Subject for Aesthetic Control," in which he pointed

Figure 25. The slums of Hong Kong (Source: Archival Records of Kowloon Walled City, 1963)

Figure 24. Ring Road in HongKong (Source: Wikipedia: Hong Kong in 1970s)

out the importance of establishing aesthetic control of facades in Hong Kong. In August 1963, "Scale of Building Research in Britain" , an article written by a representative of Britain's Building Research Station, directly addressed the problem of excessive use of concrete in skyscrapers in Britain. The problem of excessive use of concrete in skyscrapers began to inspire them to think of new methods of reinforced concrete construction, such as precast concrete.

Another idea that has been promoted has to do with social justice and has appeared in a number of articles on solving the problem of slums. In July 1966, Prof. W.G. Gregory argued that "the best architects should be in charge of social housing" and it is important to ease the burden of low-income groups as well as not neglecting the quality of public space . In January 1968, the magazine recorded a television debate called "Architecture in Hong Kong", in which two British architects showed that Hong Kong has a history of development similar to that of British cities such as Liverpool and Glasgow, but the result is slumming, which is inappropriate, and more energy should be spent on focusing on providing more accessible and safe public transport.

It is also worth raising the additional point that these criticisms also involve concerns about the architectural education system in Hong Kong. In June 1968, Prof. W.G. Gregory proposed reforms to the architectural education model at the University of Hong Kong, mainly related to increasing the development of high-density residential design concepts and increasing the education of Chinese craft traditions.

Figure 27. “Hong Kong's multi-layered street view, where public transportation could be scarce resource”

Figure 26. Precast Concrete in HongKong (Source: Hong Kong and Far East builder, 1964)

4.2 The Involvement of British Institutions in the Routine of the Industry

In 1968, the magazine reported on a series of activities in Hong Kong by the CAA (Commonwealth Association of Architects), a charity registered in the UK. In August, the article “CAA Lists Recognized Schools of Architecture” mentioned that CAA published a list of 54 architecture schools and promoted joint educational standards to 24 of its members. The aim is to promote exchanges and collaboration to improve architectural education across the Commonwealth, which includes schools in Hong Kong. In the October article “Essay on Architecture competition” CAA sponsored an essay competition on modern architecture. It will be open to CAA members and students, requiring a combination of local setting and judgment. The Hong Kong Institute of Architects is inviting students to submit their entries for the competition.

5. Discussion: The Technocratic Impact of UK on Hong Kong

By mentioning technocratic impact, we are trying to figure out how the British establish power and influence on the HK colony by funding elite intellectual organizations that survey and establish rules and reports . It has been explained in previous text like the establishment of “Passenger Transport Survey Unit” is influencing HK’s transportation planning scheme, but we may go deeper into some cases where more profound and long-term British

Figure 28. CAA (Commonwealth Association of Architects)

Figure 29. CAA Lists Recognized Schools of Architecture

influence on Hong Kong can be observed.

5.1 DSIR (The Department of Scientific and Industrial Research)

On June 1962, an article named “Reclaiming Wanchai Seashore Planned” reported an investigation of conducted by DSIR (The Department of Scientific and Industrial Research) in order to propose a new reclamation plan. They built a working model to help the design. In this small article, we catch a glimpse of the level of impact, as well as the diversity of the many British institutions involved in the planning of land reclamation. In this case, it is about the reclamation of a large area of more than 100 acres, on the seabed of an overly populated district named Wang Chai.

Therefore, this gives an introduction to the big web that is created by the many british organizations ruling and surveying Hong Kong’s urban growth. [11] DSIR is one of them, and was responsible for the organization, development, and encouragement of scientific and industrial research. The office was created in 1916, with the intention to fund colonial research accompanied by the formation of new state bodies for research at home, and is a department part of the Colonial Office, which can overly be defined as an organization with objectives of increasing specialization, planning and rationalization; as well as features of state organization and method identified with the idea of modernity.

A variety of research organizations were absorbed or developed by the DSIR, including substantial laboratories for specific fields of

11. Clarke, S. “A Technocratic Imperial State? The Colonial Office and Scientific Research, 1940-1960.” Twentieth Century British History 18, no. 4

Figure 30. Reclamation plan for Lai Chi Kok

Figure 31. Colonial Office, Gilbert Scott building (Source :historytoday)

activity. The National Physical Laboratory from the Royal Society in 1918, the Geological Survey and Geological Museum from the Board of Education in 1919, the Road Experimental Station from the Ministry of Transport in 1933, the Laboratory of the Government Chemist (previously the Government Chemist's Department) in 1959, and the Tropical Products Institute from the Colonial Office in the same year were among the existing institutions for which it took responsibility. What is also worth noticing is that the “Passenger Transport Survey Unit” “Road Research Laboratory” previously mentioned are also branches linked to DSIR.

The Colonial Office was able to formulate plans for the systematic introduction of research structures to the colonies because of the creation of a new Research Fund as part of the 1940 Colonial Development and Welfare Act.

We also realize from this article that the investigations for possible reclamations are not even done in Hong Kong , but where the Hydraulic Research Station is located, which is in Berkshire, England. This statement proves that the British involvement in its Hong Kong is done through experimentation on british lands, with differing characteristics than the Hong Kong ones, and also that this said involvement is also translated through the expansion of british technical and engineering skills, that are imported on the Hong Kongese soils.

In other words, the colonial development policies themselve, are also giving unprecedented role to UK’s scientific research.

Figure 32. Plover cove to be turned into a freshwater lake (Source: Far East Architec, June, 1965)

Established in 1948, the Hong Kong Housing Society (HKHS) is an independent, nongovernment, non-profit making organization first established by British officials and church donations and recognized by Hong Kong law in 1951, HKHS has access to lowcost land allocated by the government for the construction of low-cost housing estates. This agency was the first to bring in professional housing management expertise from UK in the 1950s to develop and manage rental housing estates. Their designs were generally modeled on British public housing, most of which were built with terraces and planters and had separate facilities such as kitchens and bathrooms.

The current Hong Kong academic community widely recognizes the importance of HKHS in introducing British technology to Hong Kong, and this influence covers a much longer time period than just the 1960s. in the case of prefabrication, for example, a scholar published a paper in 2015 claiming that HKHS was a pioneer in introducing prefabricated technology from the UK to mass-produced housing in Hong Kong [12] , and that from the 1980s onwards, a large number of Prefabricated Components were used in the construction of public housing, which achieved great results in controlling costs and construction time [13]

An important low-cost housing project built by HKHS is also mentioned in the Hong Kong and Far East Builder: Kwun Lung Lau estate (1968.4 Low-Cost Housing At Kennedy Town) . Each apartment in this project was equipped with a separate balcony, kitchen and toilet. It

5.2 HKHS (Hong Kong Housing Society)

12. Raymond W M Wong, Jane J L Hao, and Christabel M F Ho, “Prefabricated Building Construction Systems Adopted in Hong Kong,” The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, (2015): 4-5.

13. Raymond Wong, “Potential Utilisation of Prefabrication Yards and Prefabricated Components in HK,” Construction Industry Council (November 2018): 03.

Figure 33. Hong Kong Housing Society (HKHS)

Figure 34. Kwun Lung Lau estate (Source:Far East Architec, April 1968)

is also believed to be the first project in Hong Kong to use an all-plastic soil and waste system. This was designed in consultation with a British firm and supplied from the U.K. HKHS has been responsible for many similar assemblage housing projects that still represent Hong Kong today, and these high-rise homes, over half a century old, have been well maintained and have maintained a very high value in the real estate market.

5.3 Boundary of the Impact

We have also observed some evidence that there is a limit to this technocratic impact. The British and Hong Kong governments have maintained a focus on fostering a new generation of local architects in Hong Kong. For example, although many reclamation, infrastructure planning projects led by British architects have been introduced, few British architects have been observed to directly lead the construction of residential, school and other types of property or public buildings. The September 1968 issue of the magazine recorded the arrival of the first Hong Kong Local Officer as Commissioner for Housing. Although this local is born in Taiwan, and was awarded a British Council scholarship, indicating British involvement is still underlined, we could still argue UK 's presence is not always wrapped up tight.

For example, although almost all of the subjective criticism in this magazine is written by British authors, the architectural debate reported in Janurary 1968's article "Architecture in Hong Kong" also features a dialogue between British and Asian architects. In this dialogue, the British architects Haffner and Fitch first questioned the slums in Hong Kong's urban development

Figure 35. the First Hong Kong Local Officer as Commissioner for Housing (Source:Far East Builder, September 1968)

Figure 36. Four architects' discussion on three-dimensional traffic (Source:Far East Builder, January 1968)

from their British perspective, arguing that Hong Kong should learn from British cities, but the two Asian architects Wong and Kinoshita explained more specific details of Hong Kong's urban space and talked about some Asian or Chinese living traditions, for example Wong argued in his part: "We must remember that Chinese people by tradition and habit like to live close to one another, but not this close. future planning of Hong Kong could do a great deal of good if we could redevelop our existing areas, not in a lineal fashion but in a cellular fashion. " Similar conversations, in a sense, constitute a kind of re-commentary on the "British voice".

6. Conclusion

This essay draws on the documentary record of the trade journal Hong Kong and Far East Builder from 1960-1971 in an attempt to uncover the consistent textual evidence of British influence on the high-density construction process in its colony of Hong Kong.

These records show that Britain, as a colonial power, had a tendency to use a variety of means to intervene in the construction activities of Hong Kong at that time. The means of British intervention varied greatly based on different types of purposes. When the issue involved major infrastructure construction, we can often observe British architects as part of the design team, if not the leader, intervening directly in the project. When it comes to the construction of livelihood projects, local architects in Hong Kong will have more autonomy, but will still receive various kinds of guidance and criticism

Figure 37. Development status of Hong Kong(Source:Far East Builder, January 1968)

from the British side. At the same time, the UK also tries to establish a clearer voice in Hong Kong's architectural industry, as shown by the high level of control over critical articles.

It is reasonable to assume that even though the British colonial relationship with Hong Kong has ended in 1997, this technocratic British influence on Hong Kong is still implicitly shaping the city's image and even the direction of its planning and development , from another perspective, Hong Kong's path to developing its own architectural style has already begun and has a long future.

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