Waste Management or Management of Waste? Going Green in Hong Kong: A Case Study on the Green Lunar New Year Fair
Author(s)
Download Full PDF Pages: 52-65 | Views: 159 | Downloads: 55 | DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.7549933
Volume 11 - December 2022 (12)
Abstract
The production of waste has been a huge concern across the globe; in many big cities, the situation is even more serious owing to size of population and people’s environmental awareness. This research singles out the occasion of Chinese New Year Market in Hong Kong--- the annually held ‘Lunar New Year Fair’ during which food stalls for traditional street food, booths for traditional games and temporary floral shops are set up in at least five parks with the size of two to four basketball courts, lasting for one to two weeks, and operating from 5pm to 2am during those two weeks. Seeing the need to control waste production during this festive event, the ‘Green Lunar New Year Fair’ has been introduced in 2018, in the form of public-private partnership (PPP); a collaboration between the government and green groups. Since the LNYF was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 owing to the pandemic, the data of this research covers the Green LNYF in 2018 and 2019. Through in-depth interviews, this research delineates the bureaucracy and problems of institutionalisation exemplified in such partnership. Through the lens of stakeholder-mapping, the intricate power relations amongst collaborators are analysed. This research argues that the involvement of the government might be a source of hindrance to the effectiveness of waste reduction, but at the same time, they might also be the source of cohesion amongst green groups.
Keywords
Green LNYF; power relations; public-private partnership; stakeholder-mapping; waste management
References
i. Almeida, P. and L. B. Stearns, (1998). "Political opportunities and local grassroots environmental movements: The case of Minamata." Social Problems 45(1): 37-60.
ii. Dimitrov, R. S., (2010). "Inside UN Climate Change Negotiations: The Copenhagen Conference." Review of Policy Research 27(6): 795-821.
iii. Downs, A. (1972). Up and down with ecology: The issue attention cycle. Public Interest, 28(1), 38-50.
iv. Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Efficiency Unit. (2004) Available from: http://www.info.gov.hk/eu/english/psi/psi_ppp/psi_ppp.html [Accessed 2 April 2019].
v. Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Efficiency Unit. (2003). An Introductory Guide to Public Private Partnerships.
vi. Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Hong Kong Institute of Surveyors. (2009). Practical Guide to Public Private Partnership (PPP) Projects.
vii. Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, (2018) EPD and ECC jointly promote Green LNYFs and encourage public to "use less, waste less" Available from: https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/201802/10/P2018020900618.htm?fontSize=1 [Accessed 2 April 2019].
viii. Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Leisure and Cultural Services Department (2018). Mission, Vision and Values Available from: https://www.lcsd.gov.hk/en/aboutlcsd/mission.html [Accessed 3 April 2019].
ix. Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Environmental Campaign Committee (2017). About Us Available from: https://www.ecc.org.hk/english/about_us/about_us.html [Accessed 3 April 2019].
x. Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (2018 Nov). Press Release. Auction for Victoria Park Lunar New year Fair Stalls Ends. Available from: https://www.fehd.gov.hk/english/news/details/20181108_7201.html [Accessed 3 April 2019].
xi. Hall, P. A., & Taylor, R. C. R. (1996). Political science and the three new institutionalisms. Political Studies, 44(4), 936-57.
xii. Hanemann, W. M., (1994). "Valuing the Environment through Contingent Valuation." Journal of Economic Perspectives 8(4): 19-43.
xiii. Howlett, M. & Ramesh, M. (1995). Studying public policy: policy cycles and policy subsystems. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Chapters 6-7.
xiv. Roque, C.R., (1986). “Factors Influencing Environmental Policies in Developing Countries”, in Asian Development Bank (ed.) Environmental Planning and Management. Asian Development Bank. pp. 134 83.
xv. Simon, H. A. (1979). Rational decision making in business organizations. The American Economic Review, 69(4), 493-513.
xvi. Statistics Times. (2019). Projected GDP per capita Ranking (2018-2023). Available from: http://statisticstimes.com/economy/projected-world-gdp-capita-ranking.php [Accessed 4 April 2019]
Cite this Article: