The literature on the development of global cities suggests that Hong Kong had qualified as a global city by the early 1990s. Using data from the Population Censuses, this paper documents the extent to which the process of social polarisation accompanied Hong Kong's globalisation. As predicted by the global city literature, Hong Kong experienced during the 1990s a process of occupational polarisation and widening income inequality as a result of its transformation from an industrial colony to a producer service-driven global city. The paper outlines the gender dimension in this polarisation process, and how the forces of migration contributed to the reshaping of the social structure so that it now resembles an 'hour-glass'. The findings largely support Sassen's hypotheses regarding the social consequences of global city development, but the paper also highlights the effect of local institutional contexts in mediating the impact of global forces.

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This paper reports on the emergence of the middle class in contemporary Hong Kong First, it gives the historical background of the rise of the middle class in the 1970s. This historical background is important to our understanding of Hong Kong's middle class because it highlights its symbolic significance—the realization of the so‐called Hong Kong dream—in the context of the local society. It is also relevant to our understanding of the shaping of its political outlook. The second section explores why the middle class stayed away from politics when the future of Hong Kong and democratization were the main topics in the political agenda of the 1980s and 1990s. Finally, the paper rounds up its discussion by reporting on the new grievances of the middle class amid the economic downturn after the Asian Financial Crisis.

The so-called “MacLehose era” has been fondly remembered as a period marking the turning point in colonial rule in Hong Kong and its socioeconomic development in the postwar decades. This article, however, argues that it was London’s initiatives summarized in the document Hong Kong Planning Paper that accounted for the acceleration of social reforms in the 1970s. Contrary to popular perception, MacLehose, who was beholden to local constraints, appeared to be a reluctant reformer. His inclination to defend his vision of the colony’s interests brought him into heated exchanges and debates with British officials who were driven by different political calculations and strategic concerns back home. The altercations uncovered in this article reveal that the colony’s perimeter for action is certainly defined by the position of the sovereign; yet, the outcome of the process was hardly preordained. Beneath the facade of subservience and accommodation, colonial administrators had stubbornly defended their vision of local interests and tried to implement the reforms at their own pace. They appeared not to be swayed by the asymmetry of power in constitutional terms.