ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the transformation process that has brought the few polarised interests to an uncomfortable relationship based on compromise. The major wave of redevelopment happened shortly after World War II, when Hong Kong's population boomed as thousands of people escaped from the newly established Communist regime in China. The influx of Chinese refugees from the 1950s to the 1970s created an unprecedented demand for housing and employment, and the solutions were found in new social and economic programmes that led to the development of new buildings for public housing and industrial estates. The buildings along the street were not considered of architectural and historical importance, there was considerable collective attachment to them and the street because of the associated product wedding cards, a treasured part of local marriage ceremonies. A number of recommendations are made in the report, which is particularly relevant to the government's committed effort in nurturing the fledgling arranged marriage between urban conservation and development.
