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  Abstract

In monitoring changes in the use and identity of places in Hong Kong under the forces of globalisation, there is arguably no better example than what is now called “SoHo” (South of Hollywood Road). A typical Chinese neighbourhood until a few years ago, it is now Hong Kong’s first example of significant scale of gentrification processes. Chinese groceries, laundry shops and family printers are being replaced by bars and restaurants of Mexican, Nepalese and French styles – followed by western retailers and residents in newly renovated buildings. 
This paper investigates demographic, economic and spatial changes in Hong Kong over the 1990s to explain why this could happen, and why it was logical that it would happen in this particular location. Globalisation made Hong Kong a more international place, despite the return to China in 1997, and Hollywood Road lies exactly between the main concentration of residences and the main concentration of work places for the new immigrants from Western countries.
Topics discussed in this paper are the related changes in land-use and density, issues of transportation and urban renewal, and especially the socio-economic and socio-cultural impacts of the found changes. While the underlying processes are global, and the transformation of Hong Kong into a global city encompasses the whole city and its city region, the changes can be followed down to the very local scale of neighbourhoods – especially along the transect from the central business district via “SoHo” to the mostly residential mid-levels.
 

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