Urban renewal and redevelopment: Social justice and property rights with reference to Hong Kong's constitutional capitalism

Within a framework that connects the various disciplines and key concepts of “urban renewal,” this paper reviews the relevant research publications, as found in the literature going back to 1960 in terms of its: (i) diverse meanings and means; (ii) espoused reasons for government-led urban renewal; and (iii) the notion of holding out. It then discusses the feasible roles the state can play when planning for urban renewal in terms of property rights, which is a dimension of social justice (which has yet to be explored) and an expression of subsidiarity. It will demonstrate these roles in a study on Hong Kong and report a statistical test on the effect of urban renewal on neighbouring properties. It should show that government-led urban renewal in Hong Kong is oriented towards exploiting development potential and infringes on private property rights, while other espoused objectives are secondary. A statistical test will show that government-led urban renewal has not always led to positive externalities, as expected.