The Port of Hong Kong: A Survey of its Development

Hong Kong's one great physical asset is its port. Throughout the one hundred and thirty years of the Colony's history its economy has depended to an important degree on this asset. In this book Dr T. N. Chiu describes and explains the pattern of port development in Hong Kong, where he sees the present structure of port activities as the product of a long period of economic, demographic and political developments. One of the most persistent themes is that in the laissez-faire economic environment that has prevailed in the Colony, port development is due less to internal demand than to external stimulant, which keeps changing the port's relative locational value. Development since the industrialization of the 1950S represents the culminating stage in the struggle to stay high in the emerging hierarchy of ports. The author gives a balanced estimate of what has been accomplished and evaluates the planning of specialized port development in the context of the recent technological revolution in port activities. Hong Kong's economy has in common with the trend in most developing economies a firm orientation towards overseas markets, but the more or less unique circumstance in the Colony make this book particularly welcome. It will be of interest to geographers, to all concerned with the ways in which a developing economy adjusts to changing conditions, and to those with a particular interest in the phenomenal development of Hong Kong.