Transcript Solutions to Housing problems

A case of Hong Kong
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Clearance of slums
Large-scale renewal projects
Provision of better public utilities
Encouragement of private investment
New town development
Rehabilitation of old buildings
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Squatter clearance
Self-help schemes
Urban renewal
Birth control and family planning
New town development
More balanced economic development
Improvement in transport network
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Urban renewal since Jan 1988
New town development since 1960s
Squatter clearance since 1980s
Housing policies
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Redevelopment
Rehabilitation
Revitalization
pReservation
It can be done by both public and private sectors:
Public sector: government want to achieve objectives
which may not be well served by functioning of the
development market, e.g. considerations of land,
safety, public health and housing adequacy,
environmental conditions and infrastructure efficiency.
 Land Development Corporation in 1988 + Urban
Renewal Authority in 2001 define overall planning and
regional redevelopment approach + Housing Authority
 Private sector: private sector redevelopment is a
routine process taken by owners and developers with
the aim of maximizing the financial returns on land
ownership.
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It involves the demolition of buildings which
are in danger of collapse / derelict /
dilapidated / old / pre-war
Improved layouts and building design, levels
of facility provision and land use interfaces
can be achieved through comprehensive
redevelopment.
Usually taken place in transitional zone like
Wan Chai, Yau Tsim Mong, where land
demand is high
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Early years: pulling down of individual
buildings and rebuild it (pencil development)
 lack of comprehensive planning  the
general urban problems remained unsolved
Recent years: comprehensive approach,
people-oriented approach, sustainable
development concepts  a balance among
economic, social and environmental concerns
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Characteristics of individual buildings
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Under-utilization of the site
Poor condition of the building structure
Inadequate standard of building design
 resolved by replacing individual buildings
Characteristics of localities
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Exposure to noise and air pollution
Lack of local space
Inadequate local street network
 restructuring of wider areas as well as the
replacement of inadequate buildings
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13,900 buildings over 20 years old (24%
private + 62% mixed C+R + 8% C + 7% I) in
2000
Of these, 7,000 buildings were in tolerable
condition and 2,300 buildings were
considered in need of treatment
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Acquisition of properties in multiple
ownership (time + cost)
Compensation to tenants
Costs of land premiums
Resettlement policies
Redevelopment by private sector takes place
generally in a piecemeal, unstructured
fashion  resulting in scatter of high-rise
blocks on small sites, interspersed among
frontages of old buildings
It does not necessarily deal with the worst buildings
and many substandard buildings in poor condition
remain untouched
 Opportunities to assemble large sites within which
significant improvements to land use arrangements
might be effected are missed as the difficult and slow
site assembly process discourages developers from
attempting to assemble large sites
 Many of the problems of the older residential areas
arise from the sites not being large enough to
accommodate parking and loading facilities, usable
open space around the building or at podium level, or
an attractive and environmentally acceptable
relationship between buildings.
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Location
No. of
scheme
Total site
area (ha)
Existing
flats
New flats
Net change
in flats
Kowloon
101
31.4
18,561
41,544
+22,983
Hong Kong
29
3.3
1,880
4,760
+2,880
Tsuen Wan /
Kwai Tsing
0
0
0
0
0
Total
130
34.7
20,441
46,304
+25,863
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Housing Authority has been redeveloping its
older public rental estates since the 1980s as
part of the Comprehensive Redevelopment
Programme (CRP)
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It consists of activities to improve a building’s
structural integrity and safety or enhance the
physical characteristics of an area
It can be appropriate depending on the
building’s degree of physical decay, though
the ageing of the structure and possible need
for eventual redevelopment must also be
considered.
This is considered cheaper and more effective
than redevelopment as an urban renewal
strategy when the need for demolition is not
urgent
 However, it requires the cooperation of all flat
owners to repair and maintain the buildings
 With the help of “Building Maintenance
Incentive Scheme” by the Housing Society, the
flat owner can repair the buildings with the
subsidies of 20% to 30% of the total repair cost.
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Preservation of buildings does not involve the
pulling down of buildings
URA has preserved for adaptive re-use many
historic buildings in Wan Chai and Sheung,
including 50 shophouses, 11 village buildings and
market buildings.
In 2008, URA announced its Conservation
Strategy with the aim to preserve additional prewar verandah type shophouses through its
voluntary acquisition and voluntary restoration
schemes in the coming years
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High cost of maintenance of old buildings
Diverse public interest: the public want to
keep the collective memories but the
developers take solely financial
considerations.
The means to develop eco-tourism are not
practical enough for insufficient
infrastructural support
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9 New Towns: ST, TP, TW, SS-FL, TM, YL,
TSW, TC, TKO of 3 generations
2 New Development Areas (NDAs): Kwu Tung
North + Fanling North, Hung Shui Kiu