Catchwater colonialism: reshaping Hong Kong's hydrology, infrastructure, metabolism and landscape, 1937-1968
This article explores the development of hydrological infrastructure in colonial Hong Kong between the late 1930s and the late 1960s. Utilizing archival sources in Hong Kong and London, it shows how this infrastructure fundamentally reshaped Hong Kong's geography. By way of concrete catchwaters...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
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2024
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/179491 |
| _version_ | 1811688034139111424 |
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| author | Greatrex, Jack Edward Mok, Florence |
| author_facet | Greatrex, Jack Edward Mok, Florence |
| author_sort | Greatrex, Jack Edward |
| collection | NTU |
| description | This article explores the development of hydrological infrastructure in colonial Hong Kong between the late 1930s and the late 1960s. Utilizing archival sources in Hong Kong and London, it shows how this infrastructure fundamentally reshaped Hong Kong's geography. By way of concrete catchwaters and metal pipes, both 'green' and 'urban' Hong Kong became counter-intuitively interconnected. This interconnection created both unintended consequences and novel opportunities for colonial governance, driving forward natural conservation, state intervention into rural society and the development of new carceral institutions. Exploring these developments provides pivotal insight into the urban history of Hong Kong, with implications for global studies of historical urban political ecology. |
| first_indexed | 2024-10-01T05:25:47Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | ntu-10356/179491 |
| institution | Nanyang Technological University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-10-01T05:25:47Z |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | ntu-10356/1794912024-08-10T16:59:21Z Catchwater colonialism: reshaping Hong Kong's hydrology, infrastructure, metabolism and landscape, 1937-1968 Greatrex, Jack Edward Mok, Florence Arts and Humanities Colonial Hong Kong Hydrological infrastructure This article explores the development of hydrological infrastructure in colonial Hong Kong between the late 1930s and the late 1960s. Utilizing archival sources in Hong Kong and London, it shows how this infrastructure fundamentally reshaped Hong Kong's geography. By way of concrete catchwaters and metal pipes, both 'green' and 'urban' Hong Kong became counter-intuitively interconnected. This interconnection created both unintended consequences and novel opportunities for colonial governance, driving forward natural conservation, state intervention into rural society and the development of new carceral institutions. Exploring these developments provides pivotal insight into the urban history of Hong Kong, with implications for global studies of historical urban political ecology. Nanyang Technological University Published version This research was supported by NAP-SUG grant (03INS001207C420), provided by Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. 2024-08-05T04:36:10Z 2024-08-05T04:36:10Z 2024 Journal Article Greatrex, J. E. & Mok, F. (2024). Catchwater colonialism: reshaping Hong Kong's hydrology, infrastructure, metabolism and landscape, 1937-1968. Urban History, 1-18. https://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0963926823000731 0963-9268 https://hdl.handle.net/10356/179491 10.1017/S0963926823000731 2-s2.0-85190539366 1 18 en 03INS001207C420 Urban History © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press. This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original article is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained prior to any commercial use. application/pdf |
| spellingShingle | Arts and Humanities Colonial Hong Kong Hydrological infrastructure Greatrex, Jack Edward Mok, Florence Catchwater colonialism: reshaping Hong Kong's hydrology, infrastructure, metabolism and landscape, 1937-1968 |
| title | Catchwater colonialism: reshaping Hong Kong's hydrology, infrastructure, metabolism and landscape, 1937-1968 |
| title_full | Catchwater colonialism: reshaping Hong Kong's hydrology, infrastructure, metabolism and landscape, 1937-1968 |
| title_fullStr | Catchwater colonialism: reshaping Hong Kong's hydrology, infrastructure, metabolism and landscape, 1937-1968 |
| title_full_unstemmed | Catchwater colonialism: reshaping Hong Kong's hydrology, infrastructure, metabolism and landscape, 1937-1968 |
| title_short | Catchwater colonialism: reshaping Hong Kong's hydrology, infrastructure, metabolism and landscape, 1937-1968 |
| title_sort | catchwater colonialism reshaping hong kong s hydrology infrastructure metabolism and landscape 1937 1968 |
| topic | Arts and Humanities Colonial Hong Kong Hydrological infrastructure |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/179491 |
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