THE LEGAL APPROACH TO HISTORIC PRESERVATION: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF HISTORIC PRESERVATION LAWS IN NEW YORK AND HONG KONG

To explore the significance of historic preservation in metropolitan cities and disparities in the legal system to preservation, this paper conducts a comparative study of Hong Kong and New York. To begin with, it provides an overview of the historic preservation legal system in New York and Hong Kong and outlines the major preservation laws respectively in two cities. It pinpoints the key difference of the two legal systems: historic preservation in New York is shaped by four tiers of laws on the federal, state, local and community levels whereas Hong Kong only has a handful of preservation laws on the level of the special administrative area. The latter is hence void of the legal procedure that stipulates governmental actions of assessment and intervention as well as incentives for preservation. This article proceeds to make Comparisons are made in the aspects of historic preservation goals and scope, historic preservation nomination procedure and criteria, administrative structure and institution, regulating governmental actions, regulating private actions and public participation, while a set of policy recommendations is proposed.