Page 40 - IJPS-9-1

International Journal of
Population Studies Transportation assimilation in Hong Kong

Colony to a Special Administrative Region. It is possible sizeable group, they are structurally conditioned to more
that the Chinese arriving before the Handover might be interethnic communications and assimilate to the host
more likely to take the minibus as they entered a relatively society at a faster speed. In transportation integration, the
more tolerating socio-political environment nurturing size of the coethnic group in the residential location is a
better integration when first entering Hong Kong. In this crucial structural condition influencing the opportunities.
way, we hypothesized that Chinese immigrants are more Residential location becomes influential for immigrants’
likely to take the minibus than immigrants of any other transportation socialization through two channels: The
ethnicity in Hong Kong, and those Chinese immigrants social and physical characteristics of the locality itself and
arriving before 1997 were even more likely to take the the distance between the locality and the important places
minibus compared to the latecomers (H3). (e.g., churches, work location). The previous literature
Among the non-Chinese immigrants in Hong Kong, on U.S. immigrants discovered that newly arrived
South-east Asians, who are mainly Filipino and Indonesian immigrants tend to live closer to public transit, especially
domestic helpers, constitute the largest population. The the rail. For Latin Americans, living closer to the rail is
increasing discrimination from the locals toward the positively correlated with their likelihood of taking public
domestic helpers comes hand in hand with their large transportation and lowers the probability of car ownership.
population. Numerous studies have empirically confirmed This correlation might vary across different ethnic groups,
that South-east Asian domestic helpers in Hong Kong as Indians also exhibit a higher propensity for rail use but
often experience physical and verbal abuse that increases do not necessarily live closer to rail stations (Chatman,
their level of depression (Cheung et al., 2019; Ng et al., 2014).
2019). Against this backdrop, we postulate that South-east In the U.S., the clustering of immigrants in urban
Asian immigrants might become less likely to integrate dwellings is a well-known phenomenon. A recent study
into the local society. Thus, we hypothesized that compared investigating Latino immigrant groups in six metropolises
to immigrants from other ethnic backgrounds, the longer in the U.S. confirmed that living in areas with higher
length of stay in Hong Kong, the less likely for South-east ethnic concentrations increases the likelihood of relying
Asian immigrants to take the minibus (H4). on carpooling and public transit (Liu & Painter, 2012).
The language barrier also plays a role in immigrants’ Hong Kong displays a much different urban setting,
transportation preferences. For example, to circumvent the where districts are all quite close and have a much denser
language barrier and to compensate for other deficiencies population. At the same time, Hong Kong is also unique
in regular public transit service, Camionetas (the in the sense that certain non-Chinese immigrants are
Spanish word for privately operated minivans) have been likely to cluster in specific regions. We would expect that
popular among Latino communities throughout the U.S. immigrants living in areas with a higher percentage of
(Valenzuela Jr et al., 2005). In Hong Kong, Cantonese is the ethnic concentration, in other words, more immigrants
most used language. In addition, immigrants often assume with similar ethnic origins, are more likely to build
that Cantonese is a must for taking a minibus. Therefore, we intra-ethnic relations, which negatively influences their
hypothesized that the ability to speak Cantonese is positively possibility of taking the minibus. Hence, we hypothesized
related to one’s likelihood of taking the minibus (H5). that living districts with a higher percentage of non-Chinese
immigrants are negatively correlated to an immigrant’s
1.2.2. Opportunities: district-level characteristics transportation assimilation (H6).
In addition to individual-level features, district-level
characteristics could also be influential in the social 1.3. The dynamic mode of integration
integration process as the latter affects the opportunities With a few exceptions, one common feature of
for interethnic interaction. In a more specific sense, this transportation assimilation or social integration literature,
opportunity to meet coethnic peers depends, among in general, is the static nature of the findings (Martinović,
others, on the size of the ethnic group, the size of the 2013). While the previous research has generally pointed
major population, and the degree of segregation (Blau out that a longer duration in the destination is positively
& Schwartz, 1984). Immigrants would have more correlated to a higher level of transportation assimilation,
opportunities to meet the coethnics when the coethnic few have specified a possible dynamic assimilation
group is large and intergroup segregation is evident phenomenon. The previous research has also confirmed
(Leurent, 2022). Such a structural condition would that people with different characteristics or opportunities
slow down immigrants’ interethnic social integration. may integrate at a different pace (Martinović, 2013;
In contrast, when the immigrants cannot consist of a Martinovic et al., 2009). With different types of initial

Volume 9 Issue 1 (2023) 34 https://doi.org/10.36922/ijps.0386