Hong Kong’s Urban Renewal Authority plans to further develop Kowloon City
- Christopher Wong, authority’s general manager for planning and design, says accessibility and connectivity will be enhanced in the district
- Proposal involves building 900 residential flats, while 560 properties with some 830 households and 90 ground floor shops will be affected
Hong Kong’s Urban Renewal Authority (URA) will further rejuvenate Kowloon City in the eighth phase of a district-based redevelopment plan for the old neighbourhood, officials have said.
By integrating the 6,590 square metres To Kwa Wan Road/Wing Kwong Street site with seven ongoing redevelopment projects in the vicinity, the authority aims to improve pedestrian and road networks and provide more community facilities for the public.
“Accessibility and connectivity in the district will be enhanced and more space will be provided for pedestrian use. It will also create facilities for a more livable community through enhanced urban design,” said Christopher Wong, the authority’s general manager for planning and design.
He said a footbridge would be built across To Kwa Wan Road, linking the coming To Kwa Wan MTR station to the site.
The site layout will also be restructured to create a hub for leisure and community activities.
The development scheme covers eight to 15-storey tall buildings built between 1957 and 1974. An estimated 560 properties with some 830 households and 90 ground floor shops will be affected.
The URA proposal involves building 900 residential flats, with a 5,540 square metres reserved for government institutions or community facilities. It is expected to be completed by 2032.
Urban Renewal Authority to build more than 3,000 flats at redeveloped Kowloon City site
Residents living in the affected buildings, such as 84-year-old Cheung Hang-chun, were taken by surprise by the announcement. But she said she was also relieved the dilapidated blocks would be redeveloped.
Cheung, who owns a 200 sq ft flat on the sixth floor of a walk-up building, hopes to find another flat nearby with a lift so it is more convenient for her to get around.
“A chunk of the ceiling recently fell and hit me on the back while I was having my meal. I have to use mooncake boxes and buckets to collect water whenever there are leaks. I’m so relieved because I’m scared of water seepage and other damage in this old building,” she said.
Chan Chu-hong, 72, chairman of an owners’ corporation that manages two buildings in the area, said he hoped the URA would acquire the 600 sq ft flat he had lived in for more than 50 years.
“This building is like an old and frail soldier. We’ve received many statutory orders from the Buildings Department and the Fire Services Department but we have no money to fix it,” he said. “There are so many rats I’m scared to open my windows.”
Chan hoped to continue living in Kowloon City but acknowledged he would only be able to buy a smaller flat with the compensation he would receive, which will be based on the value of a notional seven-year-old flat of a similar size.
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Shop owners said they would miss their regular customers and hoped their businesses would be relocated.
Ng Yung-shun, 60, who has been running a bakery on a ground floor property he rented in 2002, said he was worried he would not be able to continue his business elsewhere.
“I currently pay HK$38,000 (US$4,900) per month. I don’t think I’ll be able to find another space nearby at the same rent. I hope to continue running the bakery but I will monitor the economic situation before making any decisions,” he said.
Kitty But, 61, who owns a 500 sq ft concession stand, said she would consider opening another store in the district if the rent was cheap.
“I support the redevelopment and hope the URA will give us appropriate compensation,” she said. “I’m very close to people in the neighbourhood, so I will miss them a lot.”
