This paper investigates the features of the leasehold system of Hong Kong, which is predicated on the freedom of contract, as an institutional arrangement for urban planning that promotes sustainable development. It further develops the theory of íplanning by contractî as an alternative to...

Abstract The study of institutions and economic history was much influenced by Ronald Coase and Douglass North, in particular with Douglas North’s notion of government as an endogenous outcome of institution competition. Although Max Weber articulated a concept of government as a monopoly of...

This is a contribution to the research on the interface between urban economics and urban planning at the micro level on the one hand and economic development at the macro level on the other hand by a study of the relationship between the performance of the development application mechanism and...

Extending the ground works of Ho (1993), Baldwin (1994), Walters and Hastings (1998a, 1998b) on property management in Hong Kong, this short paper documents the context[1] of research on illegal structures, explains the incentive for building illegal structures on government land and private...

Purpose – This paper aims to provide an initial determination of the date of construction, locations and a typology of design of the pill‐boxes of the Gin Drinker's Line constructed by the colonial Hong Kong Government. Design/methodology/approach – Post‐war aerial photos taken by the...

Purpose – This paper seeks to argue that racially discriminatory zoning in Colonial Hong Kong could have been a form of protectionism driven by economic considerations. Design/methodology/approach – This paper was based on a review of the relevant ordinances, literature, and public...