bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

The huge undertaking, covering 1,600 property rights, aims to breath new life into the run-down industrial district

Hong Kong's biggest redevelopment project kicked off yesterday amid predictions it will cost $25 billion and take 10 years.

The bill just to buy properties and pay compensation in Kwun Tong town centre is likely to cost $10 billion as the Urban Renewal Authority project rejuvenates the run-down industrial district.

The authority promised the redevelopment would bring more open space and a greater range of facilities, while old trees in the town centre would not be sacrificed. It refused, however, to disclose the development density.

It wants to submit a development plan to the Town Planning Board in June and start purchasing by March 2007.

David Lung Ping-yee, who chairs the authority's Kwun Tong district advisory committee, said it had to study how to come up with such a huge amount.

Speaking after the committee's first meeting, Professor Lung said the most difficult part was to secure the co-operation of various government departments, given the widely differing views on how the project should proceed.

Professor Lung, who heads the University of Hong Kong's architecture department, said the positioning of the new Kwun Tong was the authority's priority.

'Everyone at the meeting agreed it was not just a Kwun Tong issue, it was a city-wide project. There were views that Kwun Tong should be the commercial and financial centre of east Kowloon.'

The project, which affects 23 buildings and 1,635 property rights, was  announced early in 1998 by the dissolved Land Development Corporation. It was  passed on to the Urban Renewal Authority after it was set up three years later.

A survey commissioned by the authority found that most residents thought the buildings were so run down and the living environment so dire that they preferred a complete redevelopment over renovation.

The 5.3-hectare project includes Yuet Wah Street bus terminal and the area bordered by Hip Wo Street, Mut Wah Street, Hong Ning Road and Kwun Tong Road.

Professor Lung said the authority would listen to those residents affected and stressed consensus was the prerequisite of making any master plan.

A dozen residents attending the meeting sought guarantees that the project would start at the earliest and not be put on hold again.

Their demands include purchase and compensation offers to all those affected simultaneously, contrary to the authority's plan to roll out the project in phases.

Professor Lung vowed the authority would balance the interests of various parties, such as residents, shopkeepers, hawkers and minibus drivers.



Kwun Tong's $25b 'rebirth' begins