Renewal policy 'needs new mindset'
Town Planning Board members urged the government yesterday to 'change its mindset' on urban renewal and stop treating such projects as a business.
The board said the requirement for the Urban Renewal Authority to fund itself inhibited efforts to preserve heritage and the character of the neighbourhoods it redeveloped.
Board vice-chairman Greg Wong Chak-yan cited New York's community-friendly renewal policy, which led to old factories being transformed into artists' lofts, as an example.
'Artists in New York are not asked to pay land premiums for changing the land use of factories,' he said. 'The conversion is good for the community in terms of social order, and economic and cultural development.' Dr Wong said the government should relax its land premium policy for renewal projects and let redevelopment take place gradually.
'The government should change its mindset. Renewal projects should not be seen as a business.'
Board member Walter Chan Kar-lok said the authority's financial model needed more public discussion. 'It's impossible for the authority to be financially self-sustainable if it is to put more focus on heritage revitalisation and strengthening social networks. There is a price [for the improvements]. Is the public willing to pay for them?'
Members were consulted by the Development Bureau yesterday in the second stage of a two-year review of the urban renewal strategy.
Another board member, Ng Cho-nam, said previous renewal projects had violated principles of sustainable development. He hoped the future strategy would allow a 'bottom-up' approach that took account of public opinion.
