With respect given to you Jay Kay, how is whats happening in Hong Kong, any different from western countries ?
Our family home located in an inner city bay side suburb of Melbourne (15 minutes drive from the CBD ), was once a very working class area 40 - 100 years ago, now it is an upper middle class area where the median house prices are well over $1 million AUS, for a modest 3 bedroom fully restored Victorian/Edwardian Federation home. Today s working class/lower socio economic groups now all live out in the outer northern / western suburbs 45 minutes - 1 hour drive away from the CBD.
Paris is the same if one compares central Paris property prices to outer area's ( 40 minutes drive from central ) like Moussey Le Neuf, Moussey Veux or Roissy, ( Very affordable housing out there ) and I am sure exactly the same pattern has taken place in London, and Harlem in New York City, where previously poor neighbourhoods have been bought up by yuppy dinks, who have bought all of the renovators delights.
Pricing poorer demographics out of the hip inner city neighbourhoods is not mutually exclusive to Hong Kong, it is the same in every first world city.