ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the question of the extent to which the local concern groups can mobilize the residents of the two Aged Temporary Housing Areas (ATHAs), namely the Kowloon Bay and the Ping Shek THAs, to sustain their protests in the context of a political system which marginalizes minority interests and issues. In order to answer this question, it examines the social characteristics of the residents of the two ATHAs, with a specific focus on exploring the factors facilitating or inhibiting the mobilization of residents' support for the ATHA issue. Opportunities for political participation in the two ATHAs are very limited. Two features of the mobilization potential of both ATHAs need more discussion. The first is related to the fact that more residents are willing to participate in meetings than in petitions and radical action; the other concerns time constraint as a determinant of non-participation.
