$15b bid to stop 'fragmentation' of Kowloon City

The Urban Renewal Authority will set aside more than HK$15 billion for its first project in Kowloon City that is to span the next 10 years, managing director Wai Chi-sing said.

Wai's indication came in the wake of the URA announcing on Friday the commencement of statutory planning procedures for the Nga Tsin Wai Road/Carpenter Road Development Scheme in the Lung Shing area of Kowloon City.

The wet market, which was visited by many celebrities including Chow Yun-fat, Brigitte Lin Ching-hsia and Sean Lau Ching-wan, will be demolished and moved to a new government complex.

In his online blog yesterday, Wai said Kowloon City cannot be reconstructed just by pulling down old buildings and rebuilding the way private developers intend - with single-block residential buildings.

"This kind of single-block projects will be scattered throughout the area, exacerbating the 'fragmentation' of Kowloon City and causing irreversible planning restrictions," he said.

"Faced with the challenge of revitalizing the 'Lung Shing' area, the URA has adopted a 'plan-led' approach to carry out district planning and layout reorganization to overcome planning challenges," he said.

Wai said the URA will provide a total of 660 public car parking spaces - twice as many as current roadside parking spaces to solve congestion and parking problems.

It will also provide another 1,200 additional parking spaces for residential, commercial and community facilities. Nga Tsin Long and Nam Kok roads will be converted into two green pedestrian avenues, each at least 18 meters wide.

"The pedestrian avenues will be lined with shops, recreating the street atmosphere with specialty shops and restaurants, and can also be used to hold traditional festivals and cultural events to enhance the local character and promote the heritage of the district," Wai said.

In terms of relocating facilities, the URA considered the district council's suggestion for part of Carpenter Road Park to be built into a new government complex with community facilities.

The new complex will be three times the size of existing community facilities and include a new community hall to minimize the inconvenience caused.

The URA will help repair old buildings, he said, adding half of the over 40 private buildings between Nam Kok and Tak Ku Ling roads were built over 40 years ago.

It will provide financial and technical support to flat owners of old buildings.

Wai said there are more than 30 old single-block buildings in the district that were not managed by property management companies. These buildings only have a dozen flats each and could not afford the cost of security, cleaning and maintenance.

The URA is considering helping flat owners hire one property management company together to share the cost, he said.

It is also mulling over encouraging owners to set up a maintenance reserve fund and hoping restaurants and stores could return to Kowloon City after the revitalization.

A Chaozhou restaurant owner said he has been operating for 27 years and the revitalization will definitely affect his business.

A tea shop owner said renewing old districts is good but he might move.