Shek Kip Mei Myth – Squatters, Fires, and Colonial Rule in Hong Kong, 1950–1963

Alan Smart is a Professor in the Department of Anthropology, University of Calgary, Canada. His previous book on Hong Kong's housing was Making Room: Squatter Clearance in Hong Kong (Hong Kong: Centre of Asian Studies, 1992).

A major contribution to our understanding of Hong Kong's social history, this very readable study of public housing is highly relevant to contemporary Hong Kong. Alan Smart writes first class history with great conviction and, based on his own experience of their living conditions, with a special sensitivity to the squatter family and its struggle for shelter. As he reconstructs in masterly fashion the transition from the squalid squatter colonies of early postwar Hong Kong to the massive public housing programmes that have transformed the living standards of so many Hong Kong families, he reveals the government's reluctant acceptance of responsibility for providing decent housing for the community. In the process, he uncovers the serious handicaps of an unelected colonial administration. Professor Smart's work is a remarkable piece of research into Hong Kong's most pressing social problem.