About the CPD

This study explores Hong Kong’s squatter resettlement history, focusing on the often-overlooked period before the Shek Kip Mei Fire. It aims to demonstrate that direct government construction of housing was not the only method of squatter resettlement in Hong Kong. In fact, the government’s first resettlement program began in 1948, five years before the Shek Kip Mei Fire, using a site-and-services approach. This strategy involved relocating squatters to designated resettlement areas and providing basic municipal services such as water and electricity. Squatters were then allowed to build simple cottages and huts at their own expense. This study examines the emergence, planning, and control of these lesser-known cottage resettlement areas, highlighting how they became a primary squatter resettlement strategy during a period when the government maintained a policy of not using public funds to house squatters who occupied crown land illegally.

About the Speaker

Dr. Carmen TSUI

Carmen Tsui, an architect and urban historian, holds the position of Associate Professor in the Department of History at Lingnan University. Her research primarily focuses on the history of housing in China and Hong Kong, heritage conservation and management, and the development of Hong Kong’s architectural modernism. Her article on the history and planning of Mei Foo Sun Chuen, published in Planning Perspectives in 2023, received the IBP Best Article on Global Hong Kong Studies (Humanities Category) award. She is also the author of Everyday Architecture in Context: Public Markets in Hong Kong (1842–1981).