The book aims to provide an account of Hong Kong's contemporary social and spatial structure. in particular it explores issues of community, neighbourhood and social division. This discussion is set within a broader debate about so-called global cities and the ways in which their social and spatial contours are being distinctively shaped by their interactions with a more global economy. This wider debate highlights processes of social polarization, sharper fissions between rich and poor and enclaves of privilege (eg. gated communities) and exclusion (ghettos). Whilst these processes are argued to be pervasive they are particularly marked in the leading world cities through factors such as their distinct labour markets, the large number of professional and internationally mobile employees, high cost housing and substantial service sectors of typically low paid workers. to what extent does Hong Kong conform to this image? What is distinct and different about Hong Kong and why? The book will show that Hong Kong's policy and political history, its essentially mono-cultural environment and its unique topography and built form have produced a rather different social milieu and one in which social tensions and spatial contrasts apparently not so evident as in other major cities. in exploring these issues the book will also engage with a number of other topical debates in urban policy, social policy and sociology.

What does community mean these days? Do people think of themselves as neighbourly and have a sense of local belonging in the midst of this dominant discourse of globalisation and more diffuse social networks? What can we learn from Hong Kong as regards social and environmental sustainability? The concluding chapter will reflect on Hong Kong's changing position within the world and regional economy and what effects these changes are likely to have on Hong Kong's urban life. The book aims to fuse locally based research on Hong Kong neighbourhoods with more macro level urban political economy. It will provide therefore a more comprehensive and up to date account of social and behavioural change in what is one of the most widely recognized urban landscapes in the world.