Opinion

Hong Kong’s shoebox housing is a disgrace John Lee must end

The chief executive should set a bold target of eradicating the long-time problem of subdivided flats and cage homes by 2032

What he needs is to take a whole-of-government approach to resolving the issue, as Xi Jinping did to tackle poverty

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Wang Xiangwei is a senior visiting scholar (2026-27) at the Rajawali Foundation Institute for Asia, Harvard Kennedy School, and a former editor-in-chief of the South China Morning Post.

Published: 5:30am, 2 Oct 2023Updated: 3:10pm, 3 Oct 2023

What can Hong Kong do to get its mojo back? That is the question on everyone’s lips, particularly as the city’s international comeback has so far fallen short of the assertion that Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu made late last year when the city was close to reopening – “Hong Kong always bounces back, better than ever”.

It is true that the subsequent blitz to woo tourists and business talent has worked to some extent. Visitor arrivals in August reached 4.1 million, or 84 per cent of pre-pandemic levels for that month.

But pessimism looms over the city’s future, particularly among international businesses and investors in the wake of the 2019 unrest and the 2020 imposition of the national security law, whose broad scope has raised genuine concerns about the erosion of Hong Kong’s judiciary independence.

The city’s home prices fell for the fourth straight month in August, about 15 per cent down from a peak in September 2021.