Kwun Tong Town Centre Redevelopment Project
Background: Controversies of Kwun Tong Town Centre Redevelopment project[edit]
The Kwun Tong Town Centre Redevelopment project is one of the key redevelopment projects proposed by the Urban Renewal Authority (URA). The project was initiated and announced early in 1998 by the Land development Corporation (the predecessor of URA before 2001) in 1988 (Urban Renewal Authority, 2017).[1] The project covered around 53,500 square meters of space, and it was an irregular site surrounded by Kwun Tong Road, Hip Wo Road, Mut Wah Street, Hong Ning Road and the Yuet Wah Street bus terminal between Hip Wo Street and Yuet Wah Street. It was estimated that a total of 24 buildings were affected, with approximately 1860 households, 5000 residents and 300 shops.[2]
However, the redevelopment project has stirred up a heated debate in both the Kwun Tong community and even the whole Hong Kong society. URA is accused of bias towards land developers, which helps reap benefit from residents by constructing luxurious flats[3][1]. Total 230,000 sq ft redevelopment area is set to provide 1,700 units of about 600-800 sq ft saleable area by 2019. With these selling at an average of HK$13,000 per sq ft, each 600 sq ft flat will cost at least HK$7.8 million or more.[3]
Hundred of shops and small businesses are forced to close down, resulting in an adverse impact on residents’ livelihood. Above all, many Hong Kong people have kept an eye on the project, as it is reported that URA ignored the public consultation results, and made tremendous changes to proposal without further consultation.[4][5][6]
Controversies of Kwun Tong Town Centre Redevelopment Project[edit]
The highlight of the redevelopment project, was the scandal that the URA altered the original redevelopment plan repetitively without underwent any formal public consultation procedures. It was initially proposed to create a unique ‘goose egg’ shaped office and retail complex at the centre of the redevelopment project with a consensus within the Kwun Tong community dating back in 2007.
In 2007, URA initially proposed to create a unique "goose-egg" shaped multipurpose complex at Hong Ming Road, which is the center of the development project. The "goose-egg" proposal was applauded when seen in plans laid on general public. [7] However later in June 2017, the URA has submitted a revised planning layout regarding the Development Area 4&5 to the Town Planning Board, which revised layout differ greatly from the original planning, which has stirred up a heated debate regarding the new layout. The "goose-egg" shaped landmark was taken out of an amended plan by the URA to the statutory board.[8][9] The change of plan was kept opaque from the Town Planning Board to the non-executive directors in the URA and Kwun Tong District Council, not to mention local residents in Kwun Tong. In response to public criticisms, the URA explained the change was caused by management and practicability issue[7][9]. Major URA stakeholder Miss Judy Chan Ka-pui, non-executive director of the authority, also member of the New People's Party and Southern District Council for South Horizons West, whose role is one more of monitoring the authority, however claimed she had been "kept in the dark" about the changes laid out in a plan submitted to the Town Planning Board, and she stressed that the revised design had not been finalized and could still be discussed, that the authority would attend the next meetings of the working group, plus to collect views of the district councilors.[9][10] Lawmaker and Kwun Tong district councilor Jonathan Ho Kai-ming criticized that the authority made this move only after it was put under pressure.
On 7 November 2017, the URA announced in a meeting in the Kwun Tong District Council that the ‘goose-egg’ shaped office and retail complex will be retained in the redevelopment plan.[11] Similarly, the revised plan was not subjected to any public consultation process. The arbitrary revision of plans clearly indicates a lack of transparency, public understanding and accountability in the URA’s decision-making process. In regard to this, the public prompts the organization to hold a formal and open public consultation and no to keep the public in the dark[8], local councilors suggested that Kwun Tong residents should been well consulted over the design of this multi-billion dollar project.[9] Pan-democrat lawmaker Jeremy Tam Man-ho further criticized the URA for resuming the design of the "goose egg" because of worries over practicality, he cited the authority’s reply to the district council stating that the "goose egg" design was taken out to make it more practical and easier to manage for sake of profitable outcomes[9][10][12][13].
Apart from being criticized for the vanished "goose-egg" major design, URA has been criticized aiming to reap profits with private developers by constructing luxurious flats rather than providing affordable housing to residents. Albert Cheng criticized that URA used market prices to buy up old buildings, however sets compensation benchmark at the price of seven-year-old buildings in the area. While the redevelopment project involves one of the poorest districts in Hong Kong, the act of URA has been blasted for going against the fundamental principle of gentrification of old districts.[1]
Secondly, not only did the project failed to improve living conditions and cater the necessary needs of local residents, but it also created an adverse impact on their livelihood. Hundreds of shops and small businesses were affected in the course of redevelopment. Not all businesses were able to relocate, and consequently, many of them were forced to closed or withhold the business.[14] Most of the businesses had taken root in Kwun Tong for decades, in addition to the old age of these business operators, adapting new working environment was deemed impossible. Moreover, as one of the most former districts in Hong Kong, Kwun Tong had a seriously ageing population, with most buildings between 40 and 50 years old on average[1]. The redevelopment inevitably created tremendous changes to the original community and society in Kwun Tong, which might create stress and pressure for the elderly to adapt the entire new living environment and living style[15] . The redevelopment project in the Kwun Tong Town Centre created some deleterious impacts to local residents.
After encountering numerous criticism and receiving different stakeholders’ views during the Town Planning Board’s consultation, the latest design was passed and accepted by the Kwun Tong District Council on 7th November, 2017. The previous modification was controversial, mainly because the "goose-egg" shaped landmark architecture was taken out, and the terrace-garden design with water features was absent. To gain back public support, these features are retained in the latest design[11]. However, iconic features are still different from the original generally-welcomed design. The "goose egg" shaped architecture now is only a "half-egg" design and the terrace-garden is smaller than the original one.[14][16] A large commercial development has raised the original height restrictions by 20 metres, thereby creating more areas for retail shopping, offices and hotel business. The footfall design apparently tended to lead the car-free, pedestrian-friendly zone to walk through a big shopping mall to get to public transport or car park, thereby highly increased shopper volume[14]. The revised design has been criticized shifting in favor of commercial operators and developers[14][17][18][13].
Other Similar Cases[edit]
In September 2017, the URA offered an apology for the lack of consultation, which leads to different stakeholders being unaware of the slight changes in the "goose-egg" design.[7] URA’s handling of redevelopments projects has been severely criticized for its inadequate level of transparency, notable examples of which include Mong Kok’s Fa Yuen Street (a.k.a. Sneakers Street), and Wan Chai's Lee Tung Street (a.k.a. Wedding Card Street). Very few citizens have little knowledge of the plan until it materialized where the stakeholders’ stance was disregarded. [14][18]The standard tactics would be substituting the old neighborhoods, including the local sellers, by the big brands and flats of exorbitant prices.[4][5][6]
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "URA has turned its back on local people in Kwun Tong redevelopment". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
- ↑ "Kwun Tong Town Centre Project (K7) - Project - Redevelopment - Urban Renewal Authority - URA". www.ura.org.hk. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "URA cash injection to speed up development of 'small Taikoo Shing'". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "觀塘重建變「小太古城」 你信佢會「平民化」？ | 輔仁文誌". Retrieved 2018-06-05.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 "觀塘重建趕絕商戶 街坊抗爭「讓鴿子飛」 | 馬淑君 | 香港獨立媒體網". 香港獨立媒體網. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 "881903.com 商業電台 - 受觀塘重建影響商戶要搬遷居民稱捨不得". Retrieved 2018-06-05.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 "Apology from URA after egg-smashing act". The Standard. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Changes to projects must be in the open". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 "Change in plans for Kwun Tong's 'goose egg' building ruffles feathers". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 "觀塘重建修訂「鵝蛋」消失 市建局非執董稱不知情 - 香港經濟日報 - TOPick - 新聞 - 社會". topick.hket.com. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 "觀塘重建 鵝蛋地標還原". Apple Daily 蘋果日報. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
- ↑ "譚文豪批市建局觀塘重建方案走數兼過橋抽板 新民黨籍非執董稱不知有大改｜852郵報". 852郵報 (in 中文). 2017-09-14. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 "過橋抽板欠諮詢 觀塘重建變鞋盒世界 | 公民黨 - 公道自在民心 Civic Party - The Civic Way, The Fairer Way". www.civicparty.hk (in 中文). Retrieved 2018-06-05.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 "Has the URA returned to its old tricks?". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
- ↑ Li, Chun-yu, Richard (2007). Kwun Tong Town Centre redevelopment project and the role of urban design (Thesis). The University of Hong Kong Libraries. doi:10.5353/th_b4068726.
- ↑ "觀塘重建「鵝蛋」變「半蛋」 區議員批屢不諮詢 - 20171108 - 港聞 - 港聞一". 明報新聞網 - 每日明報 daily news (in 中文). Retrieved 2018-06-05.
- ↑ "【一眼睇晒 - 觀塘重建】 - 譚文豪 Jeremy Tam". zh-hk.facebook.com (in 中文). 2017-09-12. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 香港01 (2017-09-12). "【01觀點】觀塘重建方案一改再改 市建局應尊重諮詢結果". 香港01 (in 中文). Retrieved 2018-06-05.
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