ABSTRACT
The analysis of Chapters 5 and 6 has shown that in Hong Kong there has been a relatively close relationship between the GDP and the GPI during much of the period under consideration, while in Singapore that close relationship lasted only from 1968 to the late 1980s. In this chapter we discuss the reasons for such differences between Hong Kong and Singapore, and introduce the concept of ‘threshold’, the point at which further economic growth results in a gradual drop of the GPI, because the social and environmental costs outweigh the economic benefits. We start with an introduction of the threshold hypothesis and look at the reasons and consequences of such threshold in other countries. We then look at the situation of Hong Kong and Singapore and compare the two city-states. 1 In particular, we discuss why Hong Kong’s GPI has not experienced such threshold.
