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/.

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 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 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.

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 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 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.

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 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 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 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.