The Urban Renewal Authority's role may be expanded to take in rejuvenation of waterfront areas and rundown industrial zones.
The authority is also being viewed as a possible alternative to setting up an independent body to manage the harbourfront.
These possibilities will form part of a public consultation on urban renewal. The consultation, part of the two-year review which started in July last year, will enter the second stage this month.
Sources close to the government steering committee reviewing the strategy said it had reached broad consensus last week that the authority's scope should be extended to a 'district-based' approach.
Under the new approach, it would look at every aspect of a district that needed improvement, including the waterfront and rundown industrial areas. 'For example, before deciding which buildings should be demolished in Sham Shui Po, assessments should be conducted to identify which areas in the district need regeneration,' a source from the steering committee said. 'These areas can be streets, waterfront and industrial zones.'
A holistic approach would ensure a district's open space and historic buildings were properly preserved and that rundown areas were revitalised, the source said.