published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Work

published_or_final_version / Urban Planning / Master / Master of Science in Urban Planning

Poverty is not solely a prominent issue in developing countries but also in economically advanced cities. Viewing in the context of Hong Kong, the high degree of income disparity reflected by Overall Gini Coefficient Index has revealed the poverty situation behind the image of prosperity. Vulnerable groups are untouched by the development process, and living under substandard conditions especially considering the multidisciplinary characteristics of poverty. In order to address the issues of urban poverty, the Chief Executive has acclaimed in the Policy Address 2014 the necessity of poverty alleviation, care for the elderly and support for the disadvantaged. Yet, community development on poverty alleviation cannot depend on the financial and resource assistance from the Government only. The inbuilt resources, skills and abilities of a community also need to be taken into account. This study has sought to identify a method that can better understand and evaluate community assets towards poverty reduction for vulnerable groups. Thus, after the literature review, it has been found that SLAs could be introduced to understand the subsistent circumstances and priorities of the poor –assets they actually own to make a living and problems that they face in the utilization of assets. Sham Shui Po would be invoked as a case study to conduct SLA due to the rather severe poverty situation, and the multifarious characteristics in the community. The overall poverty situation in Sham Shui Po has continued to deteriorate due to the increasing poverty rate and widening poverty gap. Three groups have been targeted as priority poverty groups, namely, elderly, new-arrivals and unemployment. The vulnerability context of these impoverished groups in the large landscape of Sham Shui Po has then been analyzed as the trends of increasing urban population especially aging groups, aggravated economic pressures on poverty groups and shocks of disempowerment in economic, social and political aspects. Then based on the mapping of existing human, financial, physical, natural and social capital within the area, a livelihood asset pentagon has been figured out to explain the strengths and vulnerabilities on the mobilization of these five types of capital. Afterwards, the effectsof livelihood strategiesand policieson the livelihood assets pentagons would be analyzed. Livelihood strategies initiated by poor residents themselves are always considered as negative practices since they are all based on the sacrifice of the accessibility of other kinds of assets. Policies considered in this study include social welfare systems which aim to provide financial and resource assistance, and urban renewal in pursue to speed up the integral development of old urban areas. However, it is argued that the implementation of social welfare systems is not satisfactory enough to bring poverty groups back to a prosperous life, while the process of urban renewal has actually disrupted the social network of poor groups. Based on the analysis above, policy recommendation would be proposed to alleviate the adverse impacts and intensify the favorable impacts of community assets, livelihood strategies and policies on the livelihoods of poverty groups. / published_or_final_version / Urban Planning and Design / Master / Master of Science in Urban Planning

published_or_final_version / Housing Management / Master / Master of Housing Management

by Leung Kwong Cheong. / Thesis (M.S.W.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1994. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 1-8 (4th gp.)). / Acknowledgement / Abstract / Tables / CHAPTER / Chapter I --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1 / Chapter II --- LITERATURE REVIEW --- p.5 / Chapter III --- CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK AND OPERATIONAL DEFINITION --- p.36 / Chapter IV --- METHODOLOGY OF THE STUDY --- p.47 / Chapter V --- PROFILE OF THE TWO SAMPLE GROUPS --- p.53 / Chapter VI --- FINDINGS AND RESULTS --- p.59 / Chapter VII --- CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION --- p.82 / REFERENCE / APPENDIX / Questionnaire

published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Work

published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Work

published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Work

published_or_final_version / Urban Planning / Master / Master of Science in Urban Planning

旺角花園街是一處我住了很久的地方，兒時的花園街對我來說不單純是賣買活動空間，而是一處提供了自我伸延與探索的空間。過去不少街道研究學者指出，街道是人與人相互溝通的平台，可孕育出一個有機多元的社區生態，並維持和體現人際之間緊密接觸的溝通地方。 / 今天花園街是一條包含了233個排檔和139地舖的街道，排檔小販之間和與街坊的關係長久建立著緊密的社區人際關係網。本文以花園街作為案例研究，並以實證研究出發，透過街道觀察和訪問來探索社區人際網絡背後的條件和元素，與及它們之間的關係與影響。從研究所得，本文認為花園街的社區人際關係網得以建構，並非止於浪漫化了的人情味指涉，而背後當中有著多層互相交錯、補足和制衡的複雜元素，當中的元素包含著街道空間挪用、街頭經濟活動、個人歷史背景、鄰里間情誼、小販政策和媒體等等各種元素，這些錯綜複雜的元素透過每天日復日彼此交織、協商和積累並建構著今天花園街的社區人際親密關係網。 / Fa Yuen Street is an opened and public market located on the edge of Mong Kok District where I have lived for many years. To me, the street was not simply a place where people did the activity of buying and selling daily, but it was also a place where I was provided with the opportunity for my self-discovery and development in my childhood. Many scholars argued that a street is a platform that allows a lot of communication to take place, which in return help people fostering a local community of diversity and building an intimate relationship among each other. / Today, Fa Yuen Street has gradually been turning into a packed location which accommodates about 233 hawker stalls and 139 street-level shops. Many inter-connected factors and interactions between the different stakeholders (such as hawkers, habitants, shop owners, etc.) all together contribute to creation of a tightly knit community and close relationships for years. Such factors include the daily interactions between all Fa Yuen Street hawkers themselves, between hawkers and their neighborhood in the area, or even shoppers from other districts, etc. The research paper uses Fa Yuen Street as a case study and adopts a qualitative research approach, which mainly uses ethnographic research methods such as field visits, participatory observation, and in-depth interviews with stakeholders during the past two years. It aims to explore a range of inter-related perspectives or elements of the street and how they construct a strong sense of neighbourhood, and the tightly networked social bonds in a distinctly local context. For instance, it is important to look into the general conditions or scenes for setting up such social bonds, the unique factors contributing to it, their influence on one another, etc. The findings indicate that a good community network or relationship is not simply rooted in glorifying the factor of human interest or human warmth in the experience, but it is rather formed based on multi-aspects and complex factors. For instance, these crucial elements include spatial appropriation, business competition among stakeholders, historical background of the street, personal experiences and friendships among the neighbourhood, hawker policies and enforcement of law, media interference, and the influence of other street dependents, etc. These intricated elements are inter-related and inter-contextualized, which intertwined with people’s everyday lives, resulting in the successful construction of a unique and strong social community on Fa Yuen Street today. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / 郭斯恆. / Parallel title from English abstract. / Thesis (M.Phil.) Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2014. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 226-237). / Abstracts in Chinese and English. / Guo Siheng.