The Making of a Creative Hong Kong: Creativity for All Ages, and Age Integration in Creative Industries
Principal Investigator: Dr Anna NN Hui (CityU)

This research is concerned with creativity and aging, and intended to expand the benefactors of creativity enhancement to a broader age group and to promote an intergenerational workforce as a facilitative factor in creative industries, particularly in an aging society. To examine the influence of age on creativity, individuals of various age groups will participate in 3 studies of different contexts (community, workplace, and training). If creativity is viewed to be gained across the lifespan, the positive attitude argues for the nurturance of creative potentials and a demand for creative products and services for all ages. If creativity is viewed to be lost when individuals age, the negative belief may reflect an unfavorable result of socialization and negative views of aging, which may result in self-fulfilling prophecies (i.e., giving up on investing in creative abilities and activities over time). These findings have important implications on policy development in terms of socializing the Hong Kong community to identify with a creative identity in various contexts.

Mapping the Hong Kong Game Industries: Cultural Policy, Creative Cluster, and Asian Markets
Principal Investigator: Prof Anthony YH Fung (CUHK)

Gaming, its secondary market, and its clustering with other creative industries are proven as important sources of contribution to the GDP growth. Given such importance, this project aims to conduct a comprehensive study of the game industries in HK from an international comparative perspective. First, we will construct a proposal incorporating a regulatory framework and a cultural policy for the development of the industries. Second, we will devise concrete business strategies for HK's game industries to expand their markets in China and Asia. The significance of these strategies lies in boosting HK's economy and exports, and also in constructing an image of HK as an Asian regional hub and clusters for the creative industries. The policy implications will be relevant to the game industries and HK's other creative industries (films, pop music, design, fashion, and advertising) that are facing keen competition from Asian competitors (Korea, Japan, Singapore, and China).

Forging New Trans-border Links: Social/Community Economies in Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta (PRD)
Principal Investigator: Dr Ngai Pun

The 3-year project is about rethinking space, economy and community in a trans-border context. It is more about strategically placing Hong Kong in the new development of the Pearl River Delta that endeavors to move beyond the planned and the market economy. The global financial crisis has provided a valuable lesson for the researchers to re-examine the neo-liberal economic development thinking which dominates Hong Kong and China for a few decades. The major objective of this research project is to explore alternative social development models of community economy in Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta in the context of the global financial crisis. How to reconnect economy with community development, supplement free trade with fair trade, replace giant and monopolized corporations with social enterprise and co-operatives, and hence how to create an "embedded" market which uphold the principles of economic development, social equality and environmental protection is the cardinal concern of the project.

The Linkages of Producer Services between Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta
Principal Investigator: Prof Anthony GO Yeh (HKU)

Hong Kong and the PRD since economic reforms in China in 1978 have formed a "Front Shops, Back Factories" collaborative relationship. Since the late 1990s, however, the "Front Shops" functions of HK have been in a process of decline as a result of the rapid growth of producer services in its PRD hinterland and other parts of Mainland. How have the industrial linkages between HK and the PRD been changed in a new regional context? How can we develop HK's producer services to maintain its further development? Western experiences suggest that producer services are increasingly having closer relationships with service industries. Moreover, the Outline of the Plan for the Reform and Development of the PRD (2008-2020) formulated recently, which explicitly states that the deepened cooperation between HK and the PRD on producer service development will be of strategic importance in the national agenda. Our project attempts to investigate the regional industrial linkages and competitive advantages of Hong Kong's producer services in the PRD to help formulate appropriate policies to make HK's producer services to be more competitive amongst the cities in the Greater PRD region.