Why securing Hong Kong’s economic future is a cultural question

Hong Kong is navigating a period of significant economic transition. The city is seeing a surge in family offices. It is an offshore renminbi hub and has one of the world’s most meaningful capital markets.However, it needs systemic change to attract and retain top talent, bring the Hong Kong diaspora back home and lure high-spending tourists. While our capital infrastructure is strong, our cultural infrastructure demands urgent attention.As outlined in China’s 15th five-year plan, the central government sees high-quality cultural activity as a potential driver of prosperity. Living up to that potential will require Hong Kong transforming from a city that hosts cultural events into one that consistently produces culture.This means nurturing the city’s creators in subcultural fringes. In his book Status and Culture, W. David Marx argues that authentic culture is created in subcultural fringes before being co-opted by capital as mass culture.Patrick Kho, author of subculture newsletter The Chow, describes attending a recent surge of young, grass-roots cultural life: daytime discos in Prince Edward warehouses, indie zine fairs in the basement of Chungking Mansions, underground techno under a bridge in Kwun Tong and cybernetic art in Tai Ping Shan.Subcultures are not a niche – they are a global indicator in the attention economy. Digital media channel Radii, which covers Hong Kong and Chinese youth subcultures, has seen large amounts of international engagement with its posts, such as those on the “Chinamaxxing” trend on Instagram.