In Hong Kong, history often makes way for progress. Edinburgh Square, a small haborfront space where governors were sworn in throughout the colonial period, will find new purpose next year as a traffic diversion. In fact, unlike Malaysia, Singapore and other former British colonies, Hong Kong has very few architectural traces of that era. In the early 1980s, a charming collection of colonial-style buildings was demolished in the central business district, despite vocal campaign by preservationists. A current focus is the conversion of Chinatown shophouses into boutiques, cafes and performance venues for Chinese opera and poetry recital.
Purists fret that history is being turned into a theme park.
Differences aside, these three cities fall equally short of world-city standards on one particular dimension. From Shanghai to Hong Kong to Singapore, material progress over the years hasn't led to trend-setting culture and scholarship. None of the cities has a newspaper, magazine or broadcast outlet whose influence reaches beyond its borders. Thus all are consumers of products branded by Western media conglomerates. And it goes further.