Title：“Sustainability of Urban Cultural Heritage: An Empirical Case Study of Hong Kong”
Authors Tse, Pak-yin.謝柏賢.
Issue Date 2009
Publisher The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong)
Advisors ：Lai, LWC；Lung, DPY
Degree Doctor of Philosophy
Subject Cultural property - China - Hong Kong - Conservation and restoration.
Historic preservation - China - Hong Kong.
Urban renewal - China - Hong Kong.
Dept/Program Real Estate and Construction
DOI
http://dx.doi.org/10.5353/th_b4189563【Full Text DOWNLOAD】
Abstract
Hong Kong’s built environment has undergone a radical change,driven by the growth of the economy over the last decades. The question of sustainability of urban cultural built heritage as a ‘capital’ induces a new urban criticism. As the constitution of cultural heritage resources in urban political economy have gone largely unaddressed, the underlying relations of heritage conservation and urban growth have not yet been verified. In view of “city as a growth machine” (Molotch 1976), land-based elites profit from the intensification of land use, by forming a pro-growth coalition; “the growth machine avidly supports whatever cultural institutions can play a role in building locality” (Logan and Molotch 1987, 61). The growth machine uses cultural means to legitimize growth, and thus makes growth activities seem a “public good”. The objective of this dissertation is to evaluate the Molotch’s “growth machine” thesis (1976) by examining the factors of built heritage grading system using the technique of ordinal regression- Ordered Probit Model. While this research provides a new perspective to test “growth machine” thesis for urban heritage conservation using statistical techniques, it also fills the gap by taking into account the use value and settings of heritage in question.
This study hypothesized that the heritage grading system of Hong Kong is influenced by the “legitimacy ideology” under the pro-growth urbanism. Among the hypotheses considered, the relations of internal and external (settings) factors involving architectural, management, planning,locational, cultural and socio-economic attributes were explored. The results are generally consistent with the hypotheses that the higher designated grade of a heritage represents (1) the more significant architectural and cultural conditions that are constituted; (2) the higher capability of the heritage building to channel the culture into activities that are consistent with growth goals; (3) the higher institutional legitimacy linked to its locality as public goods; and (4) the less redevelopment initiatives linked to the site.
This study has important implications that Hong Kong’s heritage designation system is turning urban cultural heritage into a “cultural institution” under differential “Settings”. The sustainability of urban cultural heritage is significantly related to the collective interests of the growth machine which claims a value-free development agenda on the premises that economic growth is good for all.
Contents
CONTENTS
DECLARATION ……………………………………………………….... i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ……………………………………………… ii
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS …………………………………………..... vii
LIST OF TABLES ……………………………………………………..... ix
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS …………………………………………… xi
Chapter
1. INTRODUCTION …………………………………………………... 1
Background
The Urban Growth of Hong Kong
Heritage Conservation System in Hong Kong
Objectives of Study
Justification of the Research
Outline of Research
2. THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF URBAN HERITAGE
CONSERVATION AND HERITAGE SUSTAINABILITY: A LITERATURE REVIEW …………………………………………..… 53
Introduction
The Political Economy of Urban Place
Urban Growth and Development Politics
Growth Machine Thesis (The City as a Growth Machine)
Pro-growth and Anti-growth Coalitions
Cultural Politics and Historical Preservation
The Political and Economic Dimensions of Heritage Conservation
The Politics of Heritage
The Economics of Heritage
The Political Economy Approach in Heritage Management
The Dynamic of Urban Cultural Heritage Sustainability
Urban Sustainability and Sustainable Growth
Heritage Sustainability and Sustainable Place-making
The Implication of “Growth Machine Thesis” to Heritage
Sustainability
The Political Economy of Cultural Heritage Conservation in Hong
Kong
Protection of Heritage: The Development Initiatives
Political Views on Heritage Governance
Government Role in Heritage Governance
Changing Proposition of Heritage in Growth Politics
The Institutional Legitimacy of Heritage Conservation System
A Dynamic View on the Hong Kong’s Cultural Built Heritage
Sustainability
Conclusion- Pro-Growth Coalitions in the Governance of Heritage
3. RESEARCH PARADIGM, HYPOTHESES AND METHODOLOGY ……………………………………………...….. 128
Research Paradigm
Grading as a Multifaceted Representation for Coalitions
Hypotheses
General Hypotheses
Empirical Hypotheses
Methodology
The Ordered Probit Model
Identifying the Explanatory Variables
Empirical Data and Their Collection
Test for the Model and the Explanatory Variables
4. FINDINGS AND INTERPARATION …………………..…….……. 156
Descriptive Statistics
Empirical Analysis
Interpretation
Coefficients Estimates
Marginal Effects after Ordered Probit Model
Predicted probabilities
Implications of Result
A Discussion of the Sustainability of Urban Cultural Heritage by the
Conservation Behavior of Growth Machine Thesis
Cultural Heritage Conservation as Urban Growth Policy
Impacts of Urban Growth on Heritage Conservation
Impacts of Heritage Conservation on Urban Growth
The Significance of Coalitions for Heritage Sustainability
Constraints and Opportunities for Sustaining Urban Cultural
Heritage
Summary
5. CONCLUSION ………………………………………………………. 212
Key Arguments and Findings
Implications for Theory and Research
Implications for Policy and Practice
Limitations of the Thesis and Empirical Tests
Contributions
Further Research
Final Words
Appendix
1. New Initiatives on Heritage Conservation (as at 11 July 2008)….….. 223
2. List of Declared Monuments in Hong Kong (as at 11 July 2008)….... 225
3. Number of Monuments Declared under Cap.53 (1976 to July 2008)... 226
4. List of Grade Historical Building as at 16 May 2008 …………...…... 227
5. Sources of Information …………………...…………………………. 250
REFERENCES ………………………………………………...………. 252
