Living Heritage Versus Dead Relics? Place Meanings and Boundary-Making in the Politics of Heritage in Postcolonial Hong Kong

Abstract

The conservation of heritage has emerged as an important arena for public debates over urban development and cultural politics in Hong Kong following the retrocession to China in 1997. While there has been extensive scholarly reflection on the reasons behind such development, less attention has been paid to how particular meanings, values and moral claims have been attributed to different types of heritage. This chapter will explore and compare two different heritage forms: archaelological remains that date back to pre-colonial times and were mostly accidentally discovered in major development projects; and existing historical structures that have been identified by various community groups as heritage worthy of protection. By tracing the unfolding debates over several case studies, this chapter attempts to address several questions: How do people in Hong Kong relate to “ancient” relics which they know little about? What significance do they see in these relics and how are they different from and overlap with those of other “living” heritage such the postwar “modernist” buildings that have often been portrayed as depositories of Hong Kong’s “collective memories” and become points of contention in ongoing development? How have these heritage forms been used as affective tools to project competing geopolitical imaginaries of the postcolonial city by different groups of people? The paper is based on a larger research project on emerging practices and politics of conservation in Hong Kong. It includes interviews with built environment professionals, government officials and community activists who have been involved in conservation projects in recent years.