Publication Type
Journal Article
Version
publishedVersion
Publication Date
2-2025
Abstract
This article explores the development of hydrological infrastructure in colonial Hong Kong between the late 1930s and the late 1960s. Utilizing archival sources in Hong Kong and London, it shows how this infrastructure fundamentally reshaped Hong Kong’s geography. By way of concrete catchwaters and metal pipes, both ‘green’ and ‘urban’ Hong Kong became counter-intuitively interconnected. This interconnection created both unintended consequences and novel opportunities for colonial governance, driving forward natural conservation, state intervention into rural society and the development of new carceral institutions. Exploring these developments provides pivotal insight into the urban history of Hong Kong, with implications for global studies of historical urban political ecology.
Discipline
Asian History | Urban Studies and Planning
Research Areas
Integrative Research Areas
Publication
Urban History
Volume
52
Issue
1
First Page
175
Last Page
192
ISSN
0963-9268
Identifier
10.1017/S0963926823000731
Publisher
Cambridge University Press
Citation
GREATREX, Jack and MOK, Florence.
Catchwater colonialism: Reshaping Hong Kong’s hydrology, infrastructure, metabolism and landscape, 1937–1968. (2025). Urban History. 52, (1), 175-192.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/cis_research/422
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Additional URL
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0963926823000731