234
BOOK REVIEWS
in the US to spot-light Hongkong's "blighted" areas is a useful experiment in pinpointing the areas of greatest need in the Hongkong conurbation. Though not the first exercise of its kind in the colony, Pryor makes imaginative use of the data hitherto locked away in official files.
Similarly, Bishop's description of the squatter background to the resettlement programme mounted by the Administration and the social implications of resettlement -- are very valuable indicators of the approach taken by civil servants directly involved in Hongkong's housing programme. Although both essays have their defects (Bishop's approach is too narrowly factual, for instance), these two chapters are evidence of how much information the Government has at its disposal in framing policy and of the merits of encouraging officials to release larger amounts of the data which their departments gather so assiduously.
The editor presents yet another contribution to the study of the place of small enterprises in the local economy. This topic is one on which opinions differ sharply among the specialists. It is unfair perhaps to draw attention to the limited amount of comparative data from other parts of Asia which the editor has employed in his study, since his chapter suffers from severe limitations of space.
But a wider survey of the studies produced on small industry in the region might have altered his conclusions.
Leung's two pieces on public transport are rather mixed in quality. The historical background he presents of the colony's transport system is useful but the section on mass transport is badly out of date (despite the footnote from the editor). In addition, Leung is out of touch with the way in which decisions on mass public transport systems for Hongkong have to be made.
He rightly points out that the data used in the original reports drawn up for the Hongkong Administration on a mass transit scheme were out of date even before the reports were completed. He might have pondered why the overseas consultants employed for this job were not encouraged to use other sources of data from the beginning. He should have asked how far any proposals framed originally on inadequate statistical information can remain convincing even when the proposals have been revised to take account of the latest census of the population and its key social and economic characteristics.
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Page 241
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234
BOOK REVIEWS
in the US to spot-light Hongkong's "blighted" areas is a useful ex- periment in pinpointing the areas of greatest need in the Hongkong conurbation. Though not the first exercise of its kind in the colony, Pryor makes imaginative use of the data hitherto locked away in official files.
Similarly, Bishop's description of the squatter background to the resettlement programme mounted by the Administration and the social implications of resettlement -- are very valuable indicators of the approach taken by civil servants directly involved in Hongkong's housing programme. Although both essays have their defects (Bishop's approach is too narrowly factual, for instance), these two chapters are evidence of how much information the Go- vernment has at its disposal in framing policy and of the merits of encouraging officials to release larger amounts of the data which their departments gather so assiduously.
The editor presents yet another contribution to the study of the place of small enterprises in the local economy. This topic is one on which opinions differ sharply among the specialists. It is unfair perhaps to draw attention to the limited amount of comparative data from other parts of Asia which the editor has employed in his study, since his chapter suffers from severe limitations of space.
But a wider survey of the studies produced on small industry in the region might have altered his conclusions.
Leung's two pieces on public transport are rather mixed in quality. The historical background he presents of the colony's transport system is useful but the section on mass transport is badly out of date (despite the footnote from the editor). In addition, Leung is out of touch with the way in which decisions on mass public transport systems for Hongkong have to be made.
He rightly points out that the data used in the original reports drawn up for the Hongkong Administration on a mass transit scheme were out of data even before the reports were completed. He might have pondered why the overseas consultants employed for this job were not encouraged to use other sources of data from the beginning. He should have asked how far any proposals framed originally on inadequate statistical information can remain convin- cing even when the proposals have been revised to take account of the latest census of the population and its key social and economic characteristics.
Page 240Page 241
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