Why Zhuhai and other Greater Bay Area cities are not to Hong Kong what suburban Connecticut is to New York

Hua Guo and Victor Zheng say the suggestion that Hongkongers move to the Greater Bay Area and commute to the city ignores the disparity in legal institutions, political rights and social services among cities in the region

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The lighthearted appeal to Hong Kong youth’s spirit of adventure glosses over the the difficulties they would face in relocating to the mainland, given the cross-border institutional disparities. Illustration: Craig Stephens

Published: 5:44pm, 29 May 2018Updated: 1:30pm, 12 Nov 2020

A few high-ranking government officials, business leaders and politicians recently urged the youth of Hong Kong to consider relocating to cities in the Greater Bay Area and commute to Hong Kong in the future. This proposal is close to being achievable, given the major transport infrastructure that will soon link Hong Kong and mainland China – the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge and the high-speed rail.

Given the record-high housing prices in Hong Kong and the presumed opportunities on the mainland, the transport links promise an exit to Hong Kong’s housing crisis. Frederick Ma Si-hang, chairman of the MTR, suggested that the younger generation could handle a one-hour commute between Guangzhou South and West Kowloon Terminus. He compared this with commuters taking trains to work in New York City while living in Connecticut. However, it turns out age is not the determining factor when it comes to relocation.

A survey by the Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies found around 60 per cent of respondents between 18 and 30 disagreed with the feasibility of relocating to Zhuhai after the commissioning of the bridge. All other age groups also held a negative view of the feasibility of relocation.

The lighthearted appeal to the bravery of the youth evaded questions about not only Hong Kong’s housing policies but also our capacities to bear the high cost of commuting and the strength needed to face the inconvenience of institutional disparity.

Hong Kong’s elites are advocating American-style suburbanisation in which the population lives in the suburbs and commutes to work downtown. Affordability and social stratification underlie this process.