ABSTRACT

The chapter examines the politics of urban development in Hong Kong, presenting the city as an incarnation of the logic of neoliberal urbanism, largely implemented by a plethora of heterogeneous private forces with little or no control from the government. It explores the conceptual underpinnings of smart urbanism, focusing on its core ideas and promises, framing the following empirical analysis through the notion of Frankenstein urbanism. The chapter also examines how Hong Kong's smart-city agenda is rolled out over a fragmented urban-political milieu which leads to the production of a number of heterogeneous smart interventions. It is evident that the merging of smart and neoliberalism urbanism poses significant sustainability challenges. While sustainable urban development seeks holism and equilibrium among different (but potentially mutually reinforcing) environmental, social and economic forces, neoliberalism favours elites and prioritises only those activities that can be monetised.