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9. Conclusion

Due to globalisation and technological advancement, wealth and
income inequality is a worldwide phenomenon and is not constrained to
Hong Kong alone. Governments from all over the world have sought to
tackle this problem with little headway. Fortunately, the future of Hong
Kong is more optimistic than others. Due to the fact that nearly half of the
population of Hong Kong resides in public housing, this provides a golden
opportunity to mitigate the unequal distribution of capital by providing
homeownership and therefore an asset, possibly the most valuable form
of capital, for the relatively lower-class citizens living in public housing.

The Report has suggested that the effects of the current public
housing programme divides the population into the ‘haves’ and the have-
nots’. This perpetuates the inequity of housing allocation among older
PRH units, the widening of the inequality gap among classes, as well
as driving divorce and family breakdown that consequentially leads to
intergenerational poverty and lower social mobility, and is an injustice
to the population of Hong Kong. A practical solution to address these
complications all at once would be to strive for bona fide homeowners and
boost homeownership rate.

Therefore, the Report is optimistic that the SHS will bring about
positive externalities for the society in Hong Kong as a whole. A city of
homeowners with a more equal distribution of assets would unify Hong
Kong and in the long-run the fissure between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots’
would be reduced substantially. It is possible that the bellicose grievances
brought about by the housing policy could also be significantly diminished.
The pursuit of a more equal and a more unified Hong Kong could be
achieved.

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