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

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3STAVELY STREETPEEL STREET1WELLINGTON STREETKEY4Boundary ofredevelopment siteGAGE STREET2GRAHAM STREETGUTZLAFF STREET361MarketApproximate locationswhere photographswere takenCOCHRANE STREET3 4
Left: Graham Streetrequirement. 137 This policy also fulfilled the HKMA’s goalof promoting mortgage securitization (which banks weretraditionally reluctant to engage in) thus enabling themto indirectly regulate the banking industry’s exposure tomortgages. Out of administrative convenience, these policiesapplied to sales of new flats, but not old ones. Eliminatingthe minimum down payment allowed developers to makean end run around the 70% mortgage guideline. Eager todispose of their excess stock, they accepted smaller downpayments and offered customers supplementary loans.With a 70% bank loan, 15% from the HKMC, and anadditional 10% loan from the developer, purchasers of newflats could make as little as a 5% down payment. 138 Sellersof second-hand flats could not compete on those terms,buyers migrated to the primary market, and between 1997and 2001 secondary property market sales fell by 65%compared to 30% for primary market sales. 139 This skewedthe ratio of primary to secondary market sales from roughly20:80 to about 50:50 until 2004. 140In the long term, banks may have to change their mortgagepolicies out of necessity. The construction of new residentialunits has seen an overall downward trend since the late1980s, with an especially steep decline from 31,050 newresidential units in 2002 to a low point of 8,700 new unitsin 2008. The average level of residential completions from2000-2009 was 2/3 of what it was from 1980-1989. 141 Thismeans that Hong Kong’s building stock is ageing fasterthan buildings are being replaced. If this trend continues,banks may no longer be able to neglect the market in olderproperties, as buildings constructed before 1979 now makeup 35% of the total housing stock. 142 This may especiallybe the case since the cohort of 30+-year-old buildingsincreasingly includes not just scattered individual buildingsbut large private residential estates such as Mei Foo SunChuen. In recent years a few banks have modified theirlending terms for older properties to be somewhat moregenerous, although still not as generous as those for newproperties. For example, in 2007 the Bank of East Asiaincreased its standard loan repayment period from 50 yearsminus the building’s age to 70 years minus the building’s age.(Its promotional literature refers specifically to Mei Foo SunChuen and Chi Fu Fa Yuen). 143 If construction continues ata slow pace, other banks will likely follow suit.Planning BlightPlanning blight is a term that describes what happens whenplanning restrictions are imposed on a piece of land so thatthe owner is no longer allowed to redevelop the land orderive a “reasonably beneficial use” from it. The owner thenfinds him or herself unable to sell the land except at a verylow price. 144This usually happens when the government zones a pieceof land for some future public purpose, but takes noimmediate steps to resume it. The buildings on it thenstart to deteriorate because the owners no longer have anyincentive to take good care of them. Blighted buildingsoften become magnets for subdivided cubicle flats sincelandlords who can no longer expect to reap any benefitfrom improving their property instead resort to crammingin as many tenants as possible. Poor tenants are willingto tolerate such quarters in the hopes of being one dayresettled in public housing. This accelerates the buildings’physical decay.Several of the projects taken on by the LDC and URA wereoriginally on land zoned for open space or GIC facilities. Forexample, the site of the LDC’s Grand Millenium Plaza andthe Cosco Tower were formerly zoned for open space andGIC facilities, where the government originally intendedto build a market and some open space. 145 However, inthe absence of any programme to acquire the land, thebuildings were left to decay for years. Finally the site wastargeted by the LDC for comprehensive redevelopment,and a 3,300 m2 public square, a home help centre, and amarriage advisory council office were incorporated into thecommercial development. 14637Similar problems can occur when an area under multiownershipis zoned as a Comprehensive Development Area(CDA). CDAs were a zoning designation introduced in
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 22 and 23: PART II:22The PoliticalEconomyof th
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: Lack of FinancingOne significant pr
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
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Opposite, clockwise from top right:
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Social ImpactSocially sustainable d
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Left: Western Market has become pri
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98This spread from left: This anony
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Top: A naturally gentrified street
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102Comprehensive redevelopment disp
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104Luxury shopping at the K11 mall
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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
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118Conclusion
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120
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Appendix 1Name of projectAddress/lo
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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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