Using one developer for cultural hub 'illogical'
Architects want an authority to be set up to oversee the West Kowloon project and prevent it becoming a property project
Chief Secretary Donald Tsang Yam-kuen has been criticised by the Institute of Architects for his 'illogical' refusal to grant the huge West Kowloon redevelopment project to more than one developer.
The group fears the project to transform the area into a cultural hub with museums, theatres and public walkways could simply end up as a cash-driven property project because there are too many ambiguities around the extent of commercial development allowed at the site.
It called for the establishment of an authority comprising all relevant sectors - both public and private - to oversee and scrutinise the $24 billion development of the 40-hectare site.
The institute yesterday said members were unconvinced by the argument put forward by Mr Tsang that it was in the public's best interest to develop the site by a single consortium that will be entrusted to run the site for 30 years.
Mr Tsang cited the need to keep costs down and added that one of the difficulties in splitting the project was the construction of a single roof covering the site.
But the institute said the construction of the world's largest roof, designed by the acclaimed architect Lord Foster, should have nothing to do with the tendering because the roof could be built in phases.
'It is illogical and hard to understand why the project cannot be split. If it is tendered as a single one, there will be just a few competitors bidding for it,' said Vincent Ng Wing-shun, a council member of the institute. 'The lack of competition will only result in low bids and it is simply equal to selling the bulk of the land at a cheap price. How can we say it is in the interest of the public?'
The institute said the World Trade Centre redevelopment in New York and Docklands in London were both developed in phases by different consortiums.
The group also pointed out that the ambiguities over the scale of residential and commercial developments allowed on the site would affect the eventual size of cultural space available to the public.
It also cast doubt over local developers' expertise in managing world-class cultural facilities.
The government has so far received 10 submissions from consortiums indicating their interest in developing the site.
Bernard Lim Fung-wan, a council member of the institute, said the group did not object to private participation in the project, but the government went to the wrong extreme in its tendering plans for West Kowloon.
'It is such a big swing from the building and running all cultural facilities by the government itself in the past to simply keep its hands off completely,' he said. 'But there are lots of possibilities in between.'
He said the success of the world-renowned Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, was the result of both government participation and professional management from art experts.
