Title: Who owns culture and heritage? Observations on Hong Kong's experience

Authors: Mark R. Hayllar

Addresses: Department of Public and Social Administration, City University of Hong Kong, 83 Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong

Abstract: The public value of history, culture and heritage interacts in complex ways with the private ownership of so many of the facilities which give substance to these matters. This article begins by reflecting on the processes involved in seeking to associate government, community and the market in preserving this value, and goes on to illustrate the serious difficulties encountered in several recent Hong Kong cases. One implication is that so-called public-private partnerships often involve just government-private interactions, with government failing in any meaningful way to represent |the public|.

Keywords: culture; heritage; history; public interest; market exploitation; public ownership; Hong Kong; China; public-private partnerships; PPP; public policy; public sphere; government; community; democracy; representation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPP.2010.029779

International Journal of Public Policy, 2010 Vol.5 No.1, pp.24 - 40

Published online: 02 Dec 2009 *

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