The New Territories Landscape
1898-1945: A Military Buffer Zone
The New Territories were annexed by lease to British Hong Kong in 1898, for their strategic role as a buffer zone to French occupied Indochina to the north. Having no economic interest in the area, the British were content to preserve the status quo through non-interference, a contemporary equivalent “Hearts and Minds” operation. The New Territories Land Ordinance of 1905 in respect of villagers’ claims to land committed the courts to "recognize and enforce any Chinese custom or customary right affecting such land.” An example of this in practice was the return of the Kam Tin gates from Ireland in 1925. Hence village lifestyles and customs based on rice cultivation persisted to the mid 20th century (note 132). The walls continued to be of defensive value, that at Kat Hing Wai needing repair after the Japanese occupation of 1941-45, during which a number of villages were looted (note 133).
1945-1972: From Squatters to New Towns
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The population of Hong Kong has changed radically in the last 50 years (note 134). Following the Second World War, political instability in China and civil war led to large scale immigration in the 1950’s and ‘60’s, followed by an increased birth rate. Squatter settlements became widespread in the New Territories, with consequent issues of hygiene and fire risk. The well documented Shek Kip Mei fire of 1953 provoked the government to provide permanent re-housing. From a first wave in 1954, and latterly the series of New Towns within the New Territories region, this process continues today (note 135). New infrastructure and transport links, notably the MTR lines, facilitating convenient access to the centre of Hong Kong, have opened up the New Town districts to development. This has a price; the few villagers living in traditional houses we have conversed with about their homes appear to appreciate the lifestyle qualities they embody, but are uncertain about their future and feel un-empowered in the face of progressive redevelopment. Currently in the firing line are the villagers and farming land on the site of Fanling North and Kwu Tung North New Development Areas (note 136).
During this period many village moats were filled in, or “reclaimed” as it’s sometimes expressed, during the late 20th century, their spaces today concrete car parks (note 137). Where the moat has disappeared, its former outline can often be traced as an open culverted stream or drain.
Morphology of the New Territories landscape, Sha Po Tsuen. L to R from top:
(1200-1930), a paddy landscape with walled villages and indistinct river courses in floodplain.
(1930-1970) irrigated market gardening fields and fishponds replace paddy, Castle Peak Road built, village moat filled.
(1950-1990) livestock sheds, industry.
(1970-1990), new towns.
(1970-2020), small homes.
(1990-2000), river course and flood measures infrastructure.
(2000-2010), highways and MTR infrastructure.
(2010-2020), private residential development.
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Notes:
132. Notes on early 20th century derived from Lung (2005), Wesley-Smith (1973)and (1994). “Hearts and Minds”: a public relations campaign used in support of military action, recently in the Iraq war 2003-, and precedents. The Kam Tin gates, acquired by Governor Sir Henry Blake in 1899 for his property “Myrtle Grove” in Ireland and returned in May 1925, remain at Kat Hing Wai today.
133. Notes on Japanese Occupation derived from AAB List (2018)
134. Wesley-Smith (1994) notes the population of the New Territories as 84,000 in 1899, and 456,000 in 1961. The HK Census and Statistics Department (2018) gives the current figure as 3.85 million.
135. Ip (1995) lists the New Towns as Tsuen Wan, Tuen Mun, Sha Tin /Ma On Shan, Yuen Long, Fanling/ Sheung Shui, Tai Po, Junk Bay and Tin Shui Wai, citing the “Ten Years Housing Programme” of 1972 as the key government strategy development.
136. Ref SCMP/Zhao (2019).
137. Wing Lung Wai and Tai Hong Wai in the 1960’s, Kat Hing Wai in the late 1980’s, Muk Kiu Tau Tsuen in 1996. Dates from AAB List (2018). The moat at Nga Tsin Wai was filled during the Japanese Occupation 1941-45 using spoil from the newly built Kai Tak River nullah (Hase, 1999).
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The Small House Policy of 1972 and its Effects
1972
From the mid 19th century onward, wealthier villagers seeking more spacious accommodation built houses outside the walls, retaining their houses within as both storage, pigsties, cattle sheds and emergency backup (note 138). Meanwhile the family lineage population of villages decreased from the 1950’s as family members emigrated to earn better standards of living. Refugees from mainland China, and their new landlords, increasingly built illegal structures. A survey in 1972 found poor sanitation, pollution, animal-keeping, and unregulated industries. The government responded with the Small House Policy of 1972, allowing male descendents over 18 the once-in-a-lifetime right to develop houses of limited area and height. This concession was made available to all developments within 300ft (90m) of the village boundary, or within a “V” zone as defined on the local Development Zoning Plan, and within the applicants own Heung. The associated right to transfer ownership was a loophole which has led to exploitation for profit (note 139).
1980’s and 1990’s
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A lucrative market emerged in the 1980s, where villagers and developers jointly could build houses at $200,000 and sell them for five times that cost. Eventually demand for building permits led to lengthy waiting lists, to which the government in 1993 offered shortcuts if ex-industrial brownfield land was reclaimed. In 1994 the government passed an “Exemption Ordinance” enabling women to inherit land, but this was seen as an attempt to undermine villagers’ basic rights, and the patrilineal principle remains (note 140).
2000’s and 2010's
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The Small House Policy continued under the SAR, and by 2018 more than 42,000 villas had been built occupying 224 hectares of land in the New Territories (note 141). The lease of houses today is via an open property market (note 142). In response to reports of fraud involving sales of land rights to developers, and the ongoing escalation of land and house prices around the city, there are continuous calls for the Small House Policy to be abandoned (note 143).
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Crown Land
Not all the land acquired by the government for urban expansion, including new towns at Fanling and Sheung Shui, for industry, commerce and infrastructure, has been built out, and remains as vacant land. This Crown land has often been repurchased by selected individuals for the purpose of village expansion in the form of male’s house or ding wu under the Small House Policy (note 144). Villagers find themselves in an ambiguous legal position; 900 hectares of Crown land remains earmarked for villagers but undeveloped and more than 10,000 SHP applications are awaiting approval (note 145).
Small Houses. Intra-muros replacement village ancestors houses, or zu wu, traceable by family descent, at Sik Kong Wai. Extra-muros new development of Small Homes, or ding wu (literally male's house) at Kei Ling Ha Lo Wai.
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Fanling Wai, the gatehouse, left, and a scatter of traditional buildings, remain amongst a village consisting mainly of Small Houses.
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Exempted Houses
The houses are known as Small, or often Exempted, Houses, the exemption being from Buildings Department regulation applications, subject to height being no more than 27ft (8.23m), 3 storeys, roofed area no more than 700sqft (65.03m2), and various technical provisions. Balconies and specified roof structures are permitted, referred to as “green and amenity” facilities. Exemption of drainage works is derogated to the District Lands Office (note 146).
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The Exempted House, a diagram of a New Territories Exempted House dimensions, with deemed to satisfy structural details, source: Hong Kong Lands Department.
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Small House, typical plans. Each floor is a separate apartment. Domestic aircon units on sale at the local mall; air conditioning is the default solution to environmental control in Hong Kong.
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A Small House under construction in Shan Ha Tsuen, each floor level is a separate apartment.
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The Typology of Sprawl
At some stage in the development of all villages, the urgent need for housing over-rode the traditional defensive purpose, and the classic urban walled village typology broke down. The prevalent New Territories house is now a simple three storey concrete box.
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The government’s specific rules have formed formal constraints within which individuals have both occupied space ‘to the max’, and then expressed their personal taste. In simply occupying space, houses are characterised as a simple tiled concrete frame fully utilising permitted space for the minimum cost. Stylistic variations take the form of arched windows and pantiled false roofs (Spanish villa style), or glazed balconies in front of patio door assemblies (contemporary style), or simple unadorned cubes with minimal openings (no style) (note 147). Windows are accompanied by an air conditioning unit on a projecting shelf, evidence that the moderation of climate by materials and airflow has no currency here (note 148). As Ip (2010) notes, “the village house has seldom, if ever, been looked at seriously as an architectural type in Hong Kong” (note 149).
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The Small House typology has no urbanity, that is, no attempt to define public space, no correlation with the wider context, no diversity or sense of creating a lively community. As family field plots become available, they are developed, occasionally freestanding in a field, or with one or two, or an avenue estate of ten or so, exempted houses. Often there is a gated enclosure. Usually these new houses are located randomly in ignorance of feng shui principles and the formal gridiron layout of villages, except for the prohibition zone in front of the gatehouse. There is no spatial relationship between one project and the next, no common alignments, no nodes or landmarks, the overall effect of randomised clusters and placeless-ness; true sprawl. This landscape continues to proliferate as the many market garden and industrial sheds become disused.
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Shap Pat Heung, Yuen Long, Small House sprawl; top left is the closer-packed ancient village of Shui Tsiu San Tsuen.
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Notes:
138. Notes on houses outwith derived from Hase (1999).
139. Notes on SHP derived from Lung (2005), HK Lands (2014 Small House Grant)
140. Notes on values and inheritance derived from Cody (1997).
141. Figure from SCMP (2018)
142. Conversations with colleagues in HK confirm the average NT Small House of 700sqft has 3 separate apartments, 1 on each level. For a $2m build cost (£200k/70m2=£3k/m2), the typical sale price would be $5m GF and SF, $4m for FF. ($12m profit). (GF has patio, SF has roof, FF only has balcony).
143. SCMP (2018) reports claims that a quarter of land rights deals are suspected to involve fraud; 11 villagers and a developer were jailed in 2015. A further report illustrated the typical costs: “developers usually spent about HK$7 million on building a house – HK$2.5 million of which was for the land – and could resell the house for HK$16 million.” (SCMP 4.1.2018). The SHP is also criticized as the cause of polluting marine algae resulting from septic tank surcharging around village houses (SCMP 7.8.2016).
144. Notes on repurchase of crown land derived from Chan (1998); selected by Village Representatives. Criteria include male lineage, family size, ability to pay, contribution to the village
145. Notes on SHP derived from SCMP/Lo (2019) and SCMP/Ng (2019); an example quote: “We gave up all our ancestors’ private land to co-operate with the government’s plans. They took all our land and now we’re left with nothing.”
146. Notes on SHP derived from Chan (1998), Ip (2010), HK Lands dept (2014)
147. Colleagues in HK refer to NT Small Houses as Spanish Style, but having very little to do with Spain.
148. Air conditioning is for the most part an unquestioned norm in Hong Kong. The work of Vo Trong Nghia in Vietnam suggests alternatives are viable in similar climatic conditions. The House for Trees of 2014 is of loadbearing brick and concrete with exposed concrete ceilings for thermal mass, a ventilated cavity prevents heat transfer, planting on the roofs shade the building roof and facades, the planting depth increases thermal buffereing, a high ceiling promoted ventilation and reduces demand for artificial light. Ref Williams (2014).
149. Notes on small house typologies derived from Ip (2010) and personal observation.
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A Walled Village Morphology
The traditional form of village houses continued to be built into the 1930’s. As population pressures grew, village enclosures were transformed. Those formed of house-wall types saw these replaced with more conventional residences with conventional windows and doors, and eventually many were rebuilt as close-packed rows of individual 3- and 4-storey houses replacing the original fabric. Within the walls, houses on plots formed of traditional jian bays were rebuilt on plots redefined by the outcome of Exempted House dimensions, and so traditional plots became extruded upwards. Any traditional houses remaining became sandwiched between 4-storey tenements, the lanes now overshadowed passages. Where the village was enclosed by freestanding walls, detached houses were built outside as a random patchwork of suburban development. Often this is accompanied by demolition of the wall in sections replaced by new housing on the old wall line, sometimes leaving isolated sections of wall intact, often leaving no trace of original fabric. The new house entrances would be outward-looking, relegating the internal passage to the lifeless status of back yard. These new external dwellings occupy the immediate surroundings of the enclosure as fenced private gardens. With the added internal convenience of storage, kitchens and fridges, the stores and animal houses in the perimeter wall were redundant. By these processes house-wall and freestanding-wall village typologies transformed to a similar outlook of outward-facing mid-rise close packed tenements. With less imperative for defence, moats have been filled, watchtowers abandoned, and structurally unsound walls pulled down. Often only the gatehouse and shrine remain, vital to the feng shui and social identity of the village. This morphology is by no means universal, however, and the layers of change vary from radical transformation to minimum alteration, some villages remaining well preserved and unchanged in plan (note 150).
Morphology of a Walled Village.
From top L. (1669-1940), walled village with moat, stream and footpaths through paddy fields. (1945-60), random plots redeveloped with new houses. (1960-80), more new houses mostly around perimeter, wall demolished, moat filled, squatter homes, temporary agricultural shelters and community hall. (1972-90), Small Houses, inside and outside historic village perimeter, which becomes indistinct with gap sites. (1990-2000), more Small Houses, stream culverted, gatehouse and shrine rebuilt. (2000-20), Small House estates, polder infrastructure with embanked highway and street lighting.
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Despite the many changes to the context wrought by urban development and infrastructure, a study of village maps often reveals the underlying logic of village layout; rising ground with trees and/or hills behind and a meandering (albeit culverted) stream in front.
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Persistence of Traditions
Watson+Watson (2004) identify an irony of colonial rule during the 20th century, in that by ending inter-clan warfare and nurturing the rights and practices of indigenous villagers at a time they were being eradicated elsewhere in China, the New Territories is now the only surviving home of Chinese cultural traditions with a continuity from the 19th century.
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The villages remain family property and the spiritual if not actual dwelling place of the clan. At Shun Fung Wai (Tuen Mun), a multi-clan village established in the 17th century and settled by 7 families, 5 lineages remain in the village today. Shui Tsiu San Tsuen (Shap Pat Heung) in 2004 was lived in by the 15th generation of Lams. Where most clan families have departed, they often still return to the village for festivals and ceremonies (note 151). The rituals of birth, death and marriage are sophisticated , intricately choreographed and strictly observed (note 152). Associated with these rituals are various craft-based skills in the making of musical instruments herbal teas, fire dragons, paper crafting and bamboo structures (note 153). Neighborhood grouped villages hold Da Chiu ceremonies every 10 years to seek common protection (note 154).
Feng shui remains a powerful influence and rallying point for political opposition. Repeatedly asserted by villagers anxious to preserve their sense of identity in the face of modernisation, feng shui has been invoked to halt development or negotiate compensation. There is no stated reference to feng shui in Hong Kong statute and therefore it has no status in contemporary Hong Kong law, but it continues to be protected and compensated for in the exercise of tolerant government as a form of customary law (note 155).
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Tin Hau Festival, still celebrated in many villages. The bride is carried past a village entrance gate to her wedding in a decorated sedan chair, as modelled at the Hong Kong Museum of History.
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Politics
Villages enjoy a unique social, legal and political position. Whilst the British government took control of New Territories, assuming ownership of all land as Crown Land, villagers’ entitlement to retention of leasehold was enshrined in the Treaty of Nanjing (1842), and the Block Crown Lease of 1899-1903. The indigenous village leaders formed the Heung Yee Kuk (“Kuk” for short) in 1926, a still-powerful group lobbying central government on land and property issues (note 156). A Rural Committee system of local government was established in the New Territories in the 1950’s, comprising officials elected by the villages, whose role was to make suggestions to the regional government about local issues. In 1982 the District Board system introduced the principle of election of local political leaders (note 157). These bodies remain active today.
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In the SAR, the Communist party and the Kuk have formed an unlikely alliance which maintains the Small House Policy and patriarchal transfer system more or less unchanged. Government representatives are elected by local political leaders, who in turn owe their power to village committees and the Kuk, who are therefore in a powerful position to press for continuation, and speeding-up, of this concession. The policy was enshrined in SAR Basic Law in 1987, Article 40 requiring the protection of “the lawful traditional rights and interests of the indigenous inhabitants" (note 158). In 2019, Hong Kong became consumed by demonstrations, rioting and accusations of police brutality in the wake of the government’s proposed Extradition Treaty. Will the “One Country Two Systems” Basic Law will survive 2047, and villagers rights be indefinitely maintained?
Housing is a big issue in Hong Kong.
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Notes:
150. Notes on 20th century changes derived from Ip (1995), Chan (2006), Degan (2015), Ho (2009),and personal observation
151. Notes on contemporary clans derived from AAB List (2018)
152. For more detail see Watson+Watson (2004).
153. Notes on culture derived from HK Intangible Cultural Heritage Office (2018)
154. AAB List (2018), eg the villages of Kam Tin.
155. Notes on contemporary use of feng shui derived from Wesley-Smith (1994), Liu (2003). The HK Department of Justice e-legislation (2018) makes no reference to feng shui.
156. Notes on Kuk derived from Cody (1997)
157. Notes on local government derived from Liu (2003)
158. Notes on SHP issues derived from The Economist (2017)
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Conservation and its Limitations
The Village: survival, abandonment, redevelopment and museum piece
The survival of the villages at all today must be seen as providential. As Hong Kong expanded in the 1960’s and 70’s with the development of the New Territories, the government took steps to “maintain and respect (the villages) lifestyle, culture and heritage” (note 159), an expedient for avoiding the cost and administration difficulties of relocating villagers, with no particular notion of preservation (note 160). With no functional purpose in mind, Hong Kong planners of the 1970’s promoted the villages for tourism, a form of commodification often met with widespread opposition. Tsang Tai Uk (Sha Tin) was earmarked as a tourist destination in initial plans for Sha Tin; the villagers resisted, and their village remains, open to the occasional wanderer but otherwise a legitimate habitation (note 161).
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These aspirations for tourism appear exaggerated today. Wesley-Smith (1973) describes Kat Hing Wai as “a major tourist attraction”, with “parked tourist buses... and orderly rows of Japanese camera-clickers”. Sullivan (1972) also describes Kat Hing Wai as “placed on the tourist circuit and souvenir stands are set up outside the entrance.” In two visits to Kat Hing Wai I have seen no tourist other than myself. Note however the date of these references; perhaps this tourist economy was eventually seen as less lucrative than the Small House Policy, which in turn has rendered the villages less picturesque to the tourist seeking a faux romantic image of ancient ways of life.
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Kuk Po Lo Wai, abandoned. The author met a character from Shenzhen here who had crossed Starling Inlet to view the village as a prospect for purchase and development.
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Entire villages in rural locations are sometimes abandoned, a pattern repeated throughout China, rural decline accompanied by acquisition of land for development (note 162). Lai Chi Wo (Sha Tau Kok), a Hakka village enclave, was abandoned during the 1960’s as villagers left for urban Hong Kong or overseas. The village is now reviving following a programme led by HKU involving descendants and an artistic community, but this remains the exception and is treated with apathy by the Kuk (note 163).
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Sam Tung Uk (Tsuen Wan, walled) and Law Uk (Chai Wan, not walled), remain as museum objects, kitted out with period artefacts. They offer an excellent insight into the spatial character of traditional houses and their grouping, but are no longer a village community, being isolated from their social and cultural roots. Chu (2002) notes there is no current mechanism to protect villages against property development, nor any mechanism to compensate villagers from development shortfall in the event of preservation, there is no government organisation dedicated to conservation policy in regard to villages, there is no long term heritage conservation policy for Hong Kong, and there are no initiatives to allow public participation in heritage. Chu suggests preservation coupled with allowances for economically viable interventions, such as museums, hostels and village-themed retail, all of which would seem to confirm the continued fixation with tourism use for heritage buildings prevalent in Hong Kong.
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Lai Cho Wo, a tenuous existence as artists residence venue. A one-jian house with front courtyard is in the process of collapse.
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The AMO has not thus far succeeded in ensuring the continuity of villages as examples of urban context (note 164). Government agencies rather see speculation as an opportunity on several levels; in 1992 the Lands Development Corporation advocated redevelopment of Nga Tsin Wai: "because existing living conditions in the village, which comprises one and two storey stone structures, are far from satisfactory with inadequate sanitation facilities" (note 165).
The removal of an ancient village on the grounds that its servicing is not up to date ignores the idea that a community is not just about its physical structures, but also its associations and ancestral relations with the past, intangible assets connecting the past with the present, the diversity of landscape in the urban context, and any potential for heritage tourism. It also ignores the fact that “inadequate sanitary facilities” can usually be remedied by straightforward technical solutions.
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Nga Tsin Wai. Amid protests, the last occupants were evicted and the village demolished in 2016 to make way for two residential towers, but redevelopment stalled almost immediately with the discovery of significant archaeological remains. The government development agency (URA) latest design response is to stack the towers above “Conservation Park”, a ludicrous recreation of the village below.
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Monuments and Listed Buildings
The Antiquities and Monuments Ordinance enacted in 1971 came into effect in 1976, with the Antiquities and Monuments Office (AMO) charged with its implementation, now operating under the Development Bureau. Protection of historic buildings is either as Declared Monuments or through a listing system, Grades I (outstanding merit) to III (some merit). Development plans are expected to make reference to historic buildings in planning land use and facilities, and the AMO are a statutory consultee. Whilst there is statutory protection for monuments, graded buildings are not protected and can be demolished at will by owners. Incentives are limited, with no tax concessions for heritage conservation, and no government funding for conservation of privately-owned graded historic buildings. There is limited public participation in the planning system in respect of conservation, with no mechanism for the public to request designation of a historic building as a monument (note 166). The AAB has listed 1444 buildings as being of historic interest, adding a further 336 to the list current at August 2018. Whilst for each listed building appraisal there is a “Group Value” criterion, this is invariably stated in terms of proximity to other listed buildings, not in terms of spaces or urban form.
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Grant aid has been available since 2008 through the “Revitalising Historic Buildings through Partnership Scheme” administered by the Development Bureau, in which grants are awarded in return for public access. This scheme has been controversial, owners seeking to limit public access, officials seeking to limit grant aid where access might be denied.
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Ancestral and Study Halls, Temples and Heritage Trails
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Traditionally, ancestral and study halls and temples would be repaired and renovated by the dominant lineage, their village guard collecting contributions perhaps under threat (note 167). Today, when identified as being of historical or cultural interest, funding and guidance is given by the Hong Kong government. The effect of these interventions, however, is often to diminish the functional role of the buildings as religious sites, in favour of opening them to the public as museums. Religious buildings are often grouped in “Heritage Trails” as a cultural resource for the tourist industry (note 168). This has not resolved the issue that monument-led conservation fails to protect context. Button (2002), visiting the Ping Shan Heritage Trail, reported it to be: "littered with rubble, abandoned mattresses, furniture and carpets... a potholed road, a dusty car park, shipping containers and piles of concrete pipes... tins of cooking oil, bikes, buckets, and what looked like an upended barbecue set." This in contrast to the official promotion of a “signature attraction that should not be missed.” Listed buildings themselves are not treated with care: a new To Ancestral Hall at Tuen Tsz Wai (Tuen Mun) was built in 1971, following which the original early 18th century building became a rattan and fibre factory, suffering a fire in the 1980’s and being vacant since 1998 is now described as dilapidated (note 169).
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Vacant and abandoned houses at Tung Kok Wai and San Uk Tsai, votive texts added to doorway jambs and head.
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Houses
As individual buildings, village houses are unlikely to be preserved, as they possess none of the monumental qualities defined by the AMO grading system. Owners of traditional houses (if found) are reluctant to agree to listing, as they would lose the opportunity to redevelop the site (note 170). Reporting from Kat Hing Wai, Ng (2013) noted the enclosing wall was Grade I listed, but unwanted by the villagers as it hampered development, the gatehouse, shrine and corner towers were also listed, and the moat had been filled in, with one side reduced to a drain 1m wide. Village houses were not graded, so most of the 150 were modern, with only 21 grey brick houses remaining, 5 of which had collapsed; the AMO had not listed these buildings because “there was no such suggestion during public consultation.” Ng concludes that the AMO still has no strategy for preserving privately owned buildings (note 171).
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Illegal Building
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Illegal building remains rife in Hong Kong. Unauthorised structures may comprise rooftop extensions and balcony or jetty extensions, and will typically ignore, cover up or compromise service installations of the property and its neighbours. These service lines are often complex and buried in the structure of an adjoining property, a situation which the unauthorised alteration can only exacerbate. Houses constructed under the Small House Policy are frequently subdivided. An attempt by the civil service in 2011 to crack down on illegal extensions to village houses was met with effigies of the Secretary for Development Carrie Lam being burnt by rural groups (note 172).
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Collapsing houses at Shui Tsiu San Tsuen and Shan Ha Tsuen.
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The Ownership Problem
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Ancestral and study halls, shrines and gatehouses are owned jointly by the clan, who will be happy to receive grants and maintain the buildings. For the village houses, Chan (2000) notes a prevalence of absentee landlords leading to a general state of poor repair and maintenance, and that: "the general awareness of the necessity and legal liability to maintain their properties by owners was very low." Ownership attribution is problematic. Through a system of “Tso Tong”, a village house would be managed by an individual representative (Tso) on behalf of multiple branches of a family, who usually cannot be traced. As an owner’s consent is required for a building to be listed, or to have monument status, or to receive grant aid, or to be altered or repaired in any way, the village houses deteriorate. There is no equivalent power of compulsory purchase to place a building in good hands (note 173).
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The Hong Kong government has a system of Repair Orders and Directions it can issue to owners in cases of neglect. Section 26A of the Buildings Ordinance refers: "Where, on inspection, the Building Authority finds any dilapidation or defect in a building he may by order in writing served on the owner of such building require—such remedial work as he considers to be necessary or expedient... and... the Building Authority may recover the cost of such work or investigation from that owner." Clearly if the owner cannot be found such notices are ineffective, and in any event may be too late for good maintenance and a proper system of daily care. Further, the villages are perceived as private enclaves, and so any risk is not to the public, and any collapses that do happen are not reported by villagers who do not want council intervention (note 174). There is no current system of compulsory purchase in Hong Kong, any state intervention being expected to pay the market rate.
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Ruined houses at Ho Sheung Hung Nam Pin Wai and Sun Fung Wai, where a house-ghost remains on the gable wall.
There remain no impediments today to individual property speculation in villages, walled or otherwise. Knapp (2000), referring to heritage protection, describes an “ongoing public apathy in Hong Kong”. A three month public consultation programme on heritage conservation in 2004 received just 150 responses (note 175). Often therefore the gatehouse and shrine are all that remains, listed structures of cultural significance but increasingly disconnected from their relevant context.
At Tan Chuk Hang Lo Wai, the gatehouse survives, but the houses and wall immediately right have gone, and the second row is abandoned and collapsing.
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A Philosophy of Restoration
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Since the mid 19th century, in particular the work of John Ruskin and William Morris, the ageing process or patina of time is seen as a positive attribute of historic buildings: "There was yet in the old some life, some mysterious suggestion of what it had been, and of what it had lost; some sweetness in the gentle lines which rain and sun had wrought. There can be none in the brute hardness of the new carving" (note 176). UK conservation best practice extends this idea, so for instance an infected timber member will be de-frassed, and a new section spliced-in, even perhaps leaving traces of former decay if these pose no further threat to structural integrity. The result we see as adding to the historic interest and timeline of both the structural component and the building as a whole, an “honest” repair in that it reveals the contrast between old and new work. So this philosophy of conservation favours repair over restoration.
In Hong Kong there appears to be a philosophy which favours renewal by rebuilding over sensitive repair. So gatehouses and shrines have frequently recently been rebuilt, and what exists is a modern interpretation rather than genuine survival. Missing parts have been reconstructed from limited evidence on site, or based on surviving examples elsewhere (note 177). The ancestral hall of Ng Tung Chai (Tai Po) was “renovated” in 1945, 1980’s and 2001, with a concrete roof, but is still described as having “built heritage value”, and the gatehouse and corner towers of Fanling Wai (Fanling) are described as “of considerable heritage value” despite being rebuilt in 1986 (note 178). Whilst this may produce an architecture that is in keeping with traditional buildings, it serves to confuse a reading of historic buildings which relies on the distinction between genuine material and new intervention, and risks unimaginative repetition of traditional architectural form.
Langley Gatehouse, UK, the drawing and practice of conservative repair. The corner towers of Fanling Wai were built in 1986.
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The AMO and conservation practitioners attempt to preserve the fabric as much as possible where permitted by the owner, but note that villagers and their community representatives value new fabric higher than old, with an emphasis on intangible cultural heritage over that of the fabric itself, a process intensified by inter-clan rivalry. And so historic fabric is removed or made to look new. AMO cite the importance of The Nara Document on Authenticity (1994, Japan) to this attitude to conservation, and that it can lead to an assumption of renewal every 20 years or so (note 179).
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A note might be added here about the role of feng shui in conservation practice. Whilst ancestral heritage is venerated, one feng shui belief is that things that are old bring bad luck, and so the materiality of the past might therefore be seen as possessing an evil spirit or bad chi.
Notes:
159. Quoted in Cody (1997).
160. The first conservation area in the UK was at Stamford, Lincolnshire, designated in 1967 under the Civic Amenities Act.
161. Notes on 1970’s planning derived from Cody (1997).
162. Over 1 million villages in China abandoned since 2000.
163. Notes on Lai Chi Wo derived from Singh (2016). Ou Ning’s Bishan Project, an ambitious plan to prompt a rural revival based on artistic endeavour, was shut down by the Chinese government in 2016 for reasons of political incorrectness, and is now a gentrified tourist village. See Wainwright (2014).
164. Chu (2002) cites the example of Nga Tsin Wai, in response to elders and politicians efforts to preserve the village it was declared by the AMO as possessing no “monumental quality”. Yu (2008) notes that of the 84 declared monuments, 66 were individual buildings, 18 were rock carvings, forts and archaeological sites.
165. LDC quoted in Chu (2002)
166. Notes on planning participation derived from Yu (2008), who details the legal framework and incentives.
167. Notes on halls derived from Watson+Watson (2004).
168. Notes on monuments derived from Liu (2003)
169. Notes on Tuen Tsz Wai derived from AAB List (2018)
170. Notes on listing from personal interview, Ang (2019).
171. The AAB Listing for the two remaining traditional houses in Tin Sam Tsuen (Pat Heung) states that: "authenticity has been affected unfortunately by alterations and additions such as modern replacement windows, additional rooftop structures, metal security gates, a steel structure in front of the building, and rendering and painting externally spoiling the grey-green brick walls and symmetry of the facade."
172. Notes on illegal building derived from Chan (2000), The Economist (2017). The Economist notes a small house can be up to 2100sqft, whereas a developer micro-home is typically 215sqft. The same Carrie Lam is currently (August, 2019) Chief Executive of Hong Kong, and finds herself again on the wrong side of public opinion in the wake of the Extradition Treaty affair.
173. Notes on ownership from personal interviews, Ng (2019) and Ang (2019).
174. Notes on Repair Orders derived from Section 26A and from personal interviews, Ng (2019) and Ang (2019).
175. Notes on apathy derived from Yu (2008). SCMP/Chan (2016) adds, “Until 10 or 15 years ago, Hong Kong’s built heritage attracted relatively little attention outside small circles of historians and enthusiasts.”
176. Ruskin, J. (1849). The Lamp of Memory, in The Seven Lamps of Architecture.
177. Notes on renovations derived from Ho (2008)
178. Notes on Ng Tung Chai derived from AAB List (2018)
179. Notes on conservation practice from personal interview, Ng (2019) and Ang (2019). The Nara Document on Authenticity broadens the definition of integrity beyond material fabric to include cultural processes (see esp clause 13). As interpreted the perpetuation of cultural tradition takes precedence.
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