The road not travelled: A sustainable urban regeneration strategy for Hong Kong

Abstract

In July 2000, an Urban Renewal Authority Ordinance (URAO) was enacted, opening a new page on urban renewal in Hong Kong. For the first time in the history of the city, the government proposed to inject resources for this new authority to "improve the standard of housing and the built environment of Hong Kong" (URAO, Clause 6(1)). The legislation, as will be discussed, continues to view urban renewal primarily as a physical planning exercise and expects the private sector to play a major role in renewing the dilapidated urban fabric. This article will present a different picture and an alternative strategy. The political context in which Hong Kong's land-use planning system operates will first be discussed. Unlike other cities where local communities are involved in planning their immediate neighbourhoods, the political and planning systems in Hong Kong tend to alienate the citizenry from the whole development process. However, the multidimensional urban restructuring processes in Hong Kong demand renewal mechanisms, which go beyond physical and market-oriented solutions. Yet the new proposals for tackling urban renewal do not seem to be adequate for addressing the ensuing challenges. The present article concludes by proposing a set of principles for sustainable urban regeneration and suggests that various processes, measures and implementation strategies have to be in place for people-centred and place-specific renewal, a concept still beyond the imagination of the current Hong Kong administration.