RIDING THE UNDERGROUND DRAGON

The most successful subway system in the world is to be found in Hong Kong, Britain's crown colony on the South China coast. Finished ahead of schedule and within budget, the Mass Transit Railway (MTR) is clean, safe, and virtually crime-free. This study, based on five months of fieldwork, describes the development of the MTR and how it has kept crime to a minimum. The system's low crime rate is attributed to three factors: (1) the nature of Hong Kong society, with its overall low crime rate; (2) the efforts of the MTR District Police to ensure a rapid response to calls for assistance; and (3) most important, the well-conceived design of the MTR's stations and trains, which discourages criminal behaviour.