Treating the Symptoms - A Critical Review of ... - Civic Exchange

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PART II:22The PoliticalEconomyof the URA
The setting up of the URA raises a broader question: whydo we need a URA in the first place? Why is the privatemarket unable to redevelop, rehabilitate, revitalise, orpreserve old buildings on its own? In Hong Kong, thereis a common assumption that buildings over 30 years oldshould be torn down, yet other cities around the world areable to make use of buildings for decades or even centuries.The answers lie in Hong Kong’s institutional context.Hong Kong’s peculiar system of land administration andurban planning has created an inefficient and distortedland market, where real estate development has becomean extremely capital-intensive activity with high barriers toentry. Real estate development in Hong Kong is dominatedby a very small number of large players, who are generallyunwilling to invest in older parts of the city because theyare less profitable than greenfield site development, whilesmaller players and individual owners find it prohibitivelyexpensive to conduct renewal themselves. The situation isone of market failure.The same institutional features which lead to market failurealso explain why Hong Kong has historically placed solittle emphasis on urban design. As a small, hilly territory,land would have been a scarce resource in Hong Kong inany case. However, its institutional set-up has artificiallyrestrained its supply to an even more extreme degree,making land extremely expensive and vastly intensifyingdevelopment pressures. The need to extract the maximumdevelopment potential out of a small amount of land hascome at the expense of good quality urban design. HongKong’s legislation and regulation of development, design,and historical preservation remain relatively rudimentary inlarge part due to these pressures.The formation of the URA did not address theseunderlying institutional issues. By directly intervening inurban redevelopment, the government is addressing thephysical symptoms of the problem rather than the causes.The following section will offer a brief outline of politicaleconomy and institutional context in which the URAexists. It is not intended to be a thorough treatment ofHong Kong’s land administration system, but to highlightthe ways in which it affects the problems of urban renewal.It will then consider the effects that the URA has on theland system in turn.23
Page 7: The Local Context:Evolving Communit
Page 10 and 11: Hong Kong Urban Design ConcernsHong
Page 12 and 13: 12In 1998, the Planning Department
Page 14 and 15: Part I:14The URA —A Redevelopment
Page 16 and 17: Version 2:The Urban RenewalAuthorit
Page 18 and 19: URA Ordinance vs.Urban Renewal Stra
Page 20 and 21: How The URA WorksThe Cycle ofResump
Page 24 and 25: The Institutional ContextNationaliz
Page 26 and 27: 26traditionally given the Lands Dep
Page 28 and 29: 28maximum allowable plot ratio —
Page 31 and 32: Left: Multi-ownership with inadequa
Page 33 and 34: Weak building maintenanceregulation
Page 35 and 36: Lack of FinancingOne significant pr
Page 37 and 38: Left: Graham Streetrequirement. 137
Page 39 and 40: Left: Graham Streetthe 1970s to ind
Page 41 and 42: From the point of view of private d
Page 43 and 44: The Built EnvironmentPart I discuss
Page 45 and 46: Left: The K11 shopping mall, hotel,
Page 48 and 49: Box 4Calculating Plot RatioPlot rat
Page 50 and 51: 50Standardized ArchitectureStandard
Page 53 and 54: Left: Langham Place, blank facade o
Page 56 and 57: 56Figure-ground diagram of Langham
Page 58 and 59: 58This page: Footbridge network ove
Page 61: Left: Wo Tik Street - the only acti
Page 65 and 66: Public Open Spaces and Pedestrian P
Page 67 and 68: The MertonThe Merton in Kennedy Tow
Page 69 and 70: Left: The widened pavement along Sh
Page 71 and 72: Langham PlaceThere are often paveme
Page 73 and 74:
Recreational Public Open SpacesQuan
Page 75:
Hanoi Road K11 Open SpaceSize: 1,20
Page 78 and 79:
78Clockwise from left: The ground f
Page 81 and 82:
The MertonTotal size (sites A and B
Page 83 and 84:
General ObservationsLandscapingGene
Page 85:
The URA also announced that it had
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Box 6The Counterproductive Pursuito
Page 91 and 92:
Opposite, clockwise from top right:
Page 93 and 94:
Social ImpactSocially sustainable d
Page 96 and 97:
Left: Western Market has become pri
Page 98 and 99:
98This spread from left: This anony
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Top: A naturally gentrified street
Page 102 and 103:
102Comprehensive redevelopment disp
Page 104 and 105:
104Luxury shopping at the K11 mall
Page 106 and 107:
106A building rehabilitated by the
Page 108 and 109:
According to town planner Ian Brown
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110
Page 112 and 113:
112Wan Chai Market. Built in 1937,
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114
Page 116 and 117:
116
Page 118 and 119:
118Conclusion
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120
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Appendix 1Name of projectAddress/lo
Page 124 and 125:
Name of projectAddress/locationArea
Page 126 and 127:
126Endnotes1 HKSAR Planning Departm
Page 128 and 129:
128110 Chan, B. W. (2002), “The h
Page 130:
Room 701, Hoseinee House,69 Wyndham
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