ABSTRACT

Homelessness has been a fairly marginal social issue within Hong Kong's urban contex. This chapter points sleeping rough in public spaces in the context of Hong Kong's political economy and to identify structural as well as individual hurdles to overcoming such form of homeless. It then provides a historical background of the issue and the development of homelessness assistance services. The chapter then focuses on common housing resources used by the homeless and those who have managed to overcome homelessness. A summary and some suggestions are provided in the conclusion. In 1993, the Central Coordinating Committee published a report on the current state of services (and the lack of temporary housing) for street sleepers and the lethal fire incidents in cagehome tenement buildings at the time were causing public concern. The most easily accessible forms of private housing are the unstable and substandard apartments that represent a form of homelessness.