In 1997, Hong Kong was returned to China, but it has retained its capitalist
socio-economic order under the socialist People’s Republic. It is a Chinese city in which
ethnic Chinese constitute a majority of the population. Like other advanced economies,
Hong Kong has a gradually ageing population. The virtue of respecting the older people,
as a facet of traditional Chinese normative order, is facing challenges from rapid social
changes. Urban development has posed a considerable threat to implementing the policy
of ‘ageing in place’. Divergent paths are being taken in the public and private sectors
respectively in the effort to enable older people to remain living in familiar physical and
social environments. Market forces in private sector redevelopment usually bring about
gentrification, which results in the dislocation of older people. In the public sector,
massive public housing programmes can be beneficial to older people affected by redevelopment
by permitting in-situ relocation. The government’s community care policy
also helps to achieve ageing-in-place. This paper provides an account and analysis of the
challenges and opportunities in accomplishing the principle of ageing-in-place in the
capitalist Chinese city of Hong Kong.postprin
