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The following is a translation of the speech made by the Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands, Mr Michael Suen, in response to the motion on " Retaining and Supporting the Development of Commercial Districts and Bazaars with Local Characteristics " in the Legislative Council (LegCo) today (January 17):
President,
In today's LegCo sitting, two Members have respectively raised a motion about the conservation of built heritage and districts with cultural and economic characteristics. The heated participation in the discussion by the Hon Fang Kang and 19 Members over the motion and the amendments has fully demonstrated the importance that the LegCo and our community have attached over this subject.
This motion and the previous one raised by Hon Audrey Eu pertain to a common issue, that is, in the course of urban development, how should we proactively retain certain established facilities which are regarded by the public as valuable and containing local characteristics. The issue is not only confined to discussion about retaining the bricks and mortar of individual heritage buildings. It has also extended beyond the concern over a "point", but also the perspective of "line" and "surface" in heritage conservation, such as the Hon Fang's concern over the preservation of commercial districts and bazaars with local characteristics. This motion has also touched upon a consideration at a deeper level, that is, how to retain, in addition to the "hardware" of valuable built heritage, the associated "software", including the concern over preserving specific business activities.
As pointed out by the Secretary for Home Affairs, Dr Patrick Ho, in the previous Motion Debate, the Government aims to seek community consensus on issues including what built heritage should be preserved, how to preserve and how to engage the public in reaching community consensus. In the recent heated discussion in the community on heritage conservation, the scope of concern has extended much wider than before, covering the protection of collective memory, the way of life experienced by Hong Kong people and certain economic and cultural characteristics.
When deliberating on this subject, we must adopt a rational, practical approach and strive for the best interests of the community. On the one hand, there is no doubt that we need to cherish and attach importance to our valuable built heritage and culture, allowing the community and our next generation to learn about our history and cultural identity. But at the same time, we should also recognise a reality in urban development that our society has to progress continuously. Therefore, new buildings may replace dilapidated buildings, and thus improving the living environment of people. In order to maintain the sustainable economic development, new businesses may inevitably take the place of certain business activities that no longer carry any economic value.
Furthermore, whilst discussing and indicating our support for conservation, we should not overlook that, to a certain extent, the whole society, including every one of us, has to contribute at various degrees for the promotion and implementation of conservation work. It will be neither possible, nor acceptable to the public, to retain each and everything. We must thoroughly discuss and seek a community consensus on the kind of built heritage that are genuinely valuable and should be preserved. Similarly, we believe that to decide on the type of commercial districts and bazaars with local characteristics to be retained, given the interests of various stakeholders involved, the community will also have diverse views. The key to resolve this matter is to seek a fine balance with a view to securing the best public interests. The community should also discuss the content and the definition of "commercial districts and bazaars with local characteristics" in order to reach a consensus.
Commercial districts and bazaars with local characteristics cannot be created overnight, but mainly relies on the driving force of these commercial activities and the synergy effect brought by the concentration of individual business. The success factor often hinges on the uniqueness and attractiveness of such activities. The Government will facilitate and assist these activities through flexible planning work. Through the Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines which are revised from time to time, we encourage the preservation and enhancement of Hong Kong's local character, serving as the direction and concept for urban design in Hong Kong.
We can further discuss and we welcome views from the public on how the existing planning mechanism should be used to preserve our collective memories of people's way of life, cultural, social and economic activities. I would like to point out that the Government has taken actions ourselves and proactively adopted the strategy and procedures of "planning with the community" in our urban planning. Indeed we have already adopted this approach. The planning of Wan Chai, Kai Tak and the whole South East Kowloon region is the best and strongest proof.
To allow public participation in expressing their views on planning and city development with a view to enhancing public involvement and the transparency of the town planning process echoes what the Hon Yeung Sum has proposed in his amendment motion.
The renewal of old districts, as mentioned by the motion, is no doubt part of the Urban Renewal Authority's (URA) work. As one of the active players in urban renewal, the URA has adopted its 4Rs strategy in undertaking urban renewal in a holistic manner since its establishment in 2001. Apart from redevelopment, the URA also undertakes rehabilitation, preservation and revitalisation. Whilst improving the living environment of old districts, the URA strives to bring out the local characteristics within its project areas. This will retain the local characteristics and enhance the sense of community among the people in those areas. In fact, as guidance for URA's work, the Urban Renewal Strategy stipulates that URA should "preserve heritage buildings if such preservation forms part of its urban renewal projects, including retention of the local colour of the community and the historical characteristics of different districts."
Preserving local characteristics and showing respect for existing local culture and business activities have been the focal concern of the URA in the planning process for various projects. The URA also emphasises communication with stakeholders.
By way of the formation of District Advisory Committees with representatives from wide sectors of the community, the URA consults the local residents and stakeholders at various levels on their aspirations and views on its urban renewal projects in the districts. The URA also works closely with relevant bodies and stakeholders, such as the Antiquities and Monuments Office, the Antiquities Advisory Board and District Councils in preserving or enhancing, as far as practicable, the local characteristics identified which are worthy of preservation in the project area. As regards residents and shop owners with direct interests in the renewal projects, the URA will listen to their views, discuss with them the issues of their immediate concerns such as compensation and rehousing arrangement, and render assistance as appropriate.
Taking Kwun Tong Town Centre project as an example, the URA has at an early stage formulated a consultation plan, adopting a "bottom-up" approach as mentioned earlier by some Members to work together with the community in planning for the future development of the Kwun Tong area. Over the past year, the URA held several rounds of consultation to collect the views of the community and residents on the redevelopment of the Kwun Tong Town Centre. To seek community views on the roadmap, planning and design of the Kwun Tong project, the relevant consultation work include surveys conducted within the redevelopment boundary and wider area; and forming the Kwun Tong District Advisory Committee composed of LegCo Members, local community leaders, residents, academics and professionals, operators of transport networks and hawkers, etc. The URA also organised community workshops and came up with specific design models for consulting the various stakeholders on the design concepts of the project. The URA is currently consolidating the views received in order to finalise its planning concept. We hope that in future, the project will bring to the Kwun Tong area more greening and open space, a better transport network, a quality living environment and more importantly vibrant economic activities.
In fact, in planning for its redevelopment projects currently underway, such as projects in Peel Street/ Graham Street, Central and Hoi Tan Street, Sham Shui Po, the URA has heeded the views received in the consultation. Attempts have been made, by making reference to similar architectural style in those project areas, to restore the original alleys and street shops, in order to revive the local architectural and economic characteristics in those areas.
In the Lee Tung Street project, the URA emphasises recreating some local features and characteristics of in Wan Chai such as diverse tiny street shops, a mix of traditional and newly-emerging businesses. In the Peel Street/Graham Street project, the century-old shops as well as the traditional market therein are proposed to be retained. Also, there will be a jade-themed piazza in the Hoi Tan Street project. Together with the improvement of pedestrian facilities, the enhanced linkages with the neighbouring areas, and a green and well-ventilated environment, we believe that the pedestrian flow of the districts will increase after redevelopment. The economic vibrancy of the area will also be enhanced. Furthermore, the URA will make use of the additional open space in the Yu Lok Lane project in Sai Ying Poon to provide a park which will display the changes in the culture of the district over the past decades.
The amendment to the motion proposed by the Hon Kwok Ka-ki, and further amendments by the Hon Albert Ho both call for the use of proper means to preserve economic activities with local characteristics. We appreciate the spirit underlying the proposed amendments of the two Members. That said, given the diverse factors warranting consideration in the town planning process, including the aspirations and needs of different stakeholders, we therefore consider that under a proper framework for town planning, a sufficient degree of flexibility should be retained so as to avoid being too rigid and out of context.
In addition to redevelopment and preservation, by way of revitalisation and rehabilitation, the URA also seeks to improve the quality of life of people in old districts, bring new colour to those districts, preserve existing social networks and local characteristics, and promote the vibrancy of the districts. As regards whether the URA should redevelop or rehabilitate certain buildings or areas, the URA will, after consulting the community and premised on maintaining the long-term public interests, come to a decision after balancing various interests involved.
In future, the URA will continue to carry out its mission in urban renewal and preservation through the above work. Nevertheless, we consider that such work should not, neither would it be possible, to ask the URA to shoulder the entire preservation responsibility alone. Members of the public should therefore clearly express their views on the conservation policy, so that the overall policy is able to fully reflect the voices of different sectors of the community; and through a proper planning mechanism, achieve the preservation policy in a comprehensive and sustainable manner.
The Hon Fang Kang has also mentioned a few overseas experience like Singapore and London, demonstrating how revitalisation and adaptive re-use are carried out. These examples have showcased a combination of heritage conservation and commercial elements in their planning concepts and mode of operation, hence creating popular tourist attractions. To a certain extent, their success hinges on their respective unique social and cultural environment. Nevertheless, we believe that their experience will also shed light on our work in heritage conservation and town planning. We will carefully study these overseas experiences in order to formulate an appropriate model of social development and heritage conservation mechanism for Hong Kong.
Lastly, I want to emphasise that both the Government and LegCo Members share a common goal: we want our society to continue to grow, bringing improvement to the quality of life of our people. We also aim to suitably preserve existing developments with historical value and local characteristics, including commercial districts and bazaars. We concur that these two concepts should not be mutually exclusive. But in the course of putting these concepts into practice, we need to take into account the real circumstances and seek a compromise. Besides, in achieving the objective of heritage conservation, we also need to consider the resources and public money involved, as well as to strike a reasonable balance among relevant policies and procedures concerning land use, town planning, urban renewal and private development rights, which would be acceptable to the community.
I look forward to continue to work hand in hand with LegCo Members and our community in striving for better conservation work and city development for our society.
Thank you, President.
Ends/Wednesday, January 17, 2007
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