Global city, dual city?: Globalization and social polarization in Hong Kong since the 1990s

In this paper, using data generated from the population censuses, we document the process of social polarization that has accompanied the globalization of Hong Kong. By the early 1990s, Hong Kong had obviously become qualified to be regarded as global city, as suggested in the literature on global cities. Also as predicted in the literature, we have observed a process of occupational and income polarization in Hong Kong since the 1990s, as a result of the transformation of the city from an industrial colony to a producer service-driven global city. We outline the dimension of gender in this polarization process, and demonstrate how the forces of migration exacerbated the process of social differentiation, to produce a social structure that resembles an “hour glass.” While our findings clearly support Sassen’s hypotheses regarding the social consequences of the development of global cities, we have also sought to highlight the mediating effect of local institutional contexts in crystallizing the local impact of global forces.
通過再分析人口普查的資料，我們在此描述了香港社會在踏上全球化發展道路的同時，所出現的社會分化。到了1990年代，香港作為一個全球化都市，可以說是當之無愧。但也正如相關的文獻所預測，打從1990年代開始，香港從一個工業殖民地轉型為一個以服務為主導的全球化都市的過程，我們可以見到在職業結構和收入的二元化現象。我們的分析既強調這種分化過程底下的性別面向，同時也考慮到移民因素對社會結構的影響。在確定Sassen對全球化都市的社會發展形態的預測之外，我們的分析也呈現出本土制度環境在具體塑造全球化動力於地方層面的作用。 Copyright © 2004 Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies, The Chinese University of Hong Kong.