I love Hong Kong after living there before and after the handover. The first time I went back after a long break, I stayed just for a few days in Central and was sad to see the mainlandification of the place and the generic new malls. The second time, I stayed in Sheung Wan and the old Hong Kong of shops in crumbling buildings selling dried produce was, amazingly, still there. There was also, by chance, a photo festival with temporary "galleries" in random industrial buildings all over the city, which allowed me to see out of the way places I hadn't before. I don't know if I agree that Hong Kong got left behind. It was always a combination of flashy new and crumbling old. China proper just bulldozes people out of the way for its Stalin-o-capitalism schemes. No property rights for you, my friend. Infrastructure and property bubbles with negative investment returns aren't even good for the economy in the long run. Taiwan is a closer analogy to Hong Kong, with similar crumbling architecture and vibe (maybe also the smaller Chinese cities in Fujian). I think that might be more to do with actually existing property rights than anything.