West Kowloon Cultural District: Re-Commercialization, Governance, and National Integration in Post-Colonial Hong Kong

Large-scale cultural infrastructure projects are increasingly entangled with governance imperatives, financial pressures, and political legitimation—yet how these forces reshape arts management in post-colonial contexts remains underexplored. This article examines the West Kowloon Cultural District (WKCD) in Hong Kong, drawing on documentary analysis of Legislative Council records, official WKCD Authority publications, and news media, and informed by Bourdieu’s concept of symbolic power and Lefebvre’s theory of the production of space. The study traces three interlocking dynamics: the deepening commodification of cultural space driven by persistent fiscal deficits; the instrumentalization of the district as a symbol of governance legitimacy for the post-handover Hong Kong SAR Government; and the Central Government’s use of cultural infrastructure for national integration. The findings reveal that WKCD’s management has been decisively shaped by political control over leadership appointments, circumvention of public consultation, and the subordination of artistic mission to commercial and political objectives—with significant implications for arts managers and cultural policymakers globally.