Area on edge of Kowloon City near Kai Tak eyed for revamp by Hong Kong’s Urban Renewal Authority
- Many structures in the neighbourhood are more than 40 years old
An old neighbourhood near the site of Hong Kong’s former Kai Tak airport is the next area being eyed for redevelopment by the city’s Urban Renewal Authority, the organisation revealed on Friday.
The site is on the edge of Kowloon City and covers 50 buildings constructed more than 29 years ago. Many structures in the neighbourhood are more than 40 years old.
It is divided from the old airport site – now a prime new development area – by a major highway. Kai Tak Road and Sa Po Road mark the boundaries.
Kowloon City is known for its Thai shops and restaurants. Revamping the targeted area would mean relocation for 670 households and 40 shops, but would eventually yield 810 new small and medium-sized flats, as well as 86,000 sq ft of commercial space and at least 11,000 sq ft of open space.
“The redevelopment project will connect the new [Kai Tak] district with the old [Kowloon City] district,” said Wilfred Au Chun-ho, the authority’s director of planning and design. “It aims to achieve better utilisation of land and improve the environment through appropriate urban planning.”
Au said existing streets would be preserved but pavements widened to improve walkability.
Buildings will be set back from the street to expand the open space available for leisure.
The revamp will also feature a three-level outdoor “sunken plaza” – a first for the authority – which will lead to a pedestrian tunnel connecting the site with Kai Tak.
Au said the authority had not decided on a price at which to buy the affected properties, as the project was still at the urban planning stage. Construction would take 10 years, he said.
Most of the affected shops are car repair garages or hardware stores, and two or three are Thai restaurants. Some with unique or local character would be invited back on completion of the project, Au said.
The authority operates a system under which affected property owners living in their flats receive cash compensation equivalent to the market value of a seven-year-old unit of similar size in the area. The owners are also given priority in buying a property built by the authority’s other redevelopment projects nearby.
Hung Siu-cheng, who is in his 80s, is one such owner in Kowloon City. He bought his 500 sq ft flat about 50 years ago and lives there with his wife, now in her 70s.
“I’m worried we may have nowhere else to go,” Hung said. “We won’t be able to buy a new flat this size [with the compensation].”
But Hung agreed that redevelopment was necessary because the buildings in the area were old. He complained of water seepages in his kitchen and bathroom.
Shopkeeper Ho Yuk-ming has been renting space in the area for the past three years, but has been running some form of second-hand electronics store in Kowloon City for more than three decades. The 58-year-old said he planned to close his shop for good when the redevelopment project started.
“All the stores will have their rent raised after redevelopment,” Ho said. “How can grotty shops like ours afford those fancy premises?
“It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been doing this. When the redevelopment comes, everybody has to go.”
Lee Sai-nang, who runs a car repair workshop, said he would seek to relocate elsewhere but would miss the friendly neighbourhood.
“I’ve been renting here for 10 years. All my neighbours are familiar with one another,” he said. “They even look out for you if police come around issuing parking tickets.”
The project is the authority’s ninth in Kowloon City since 2014, when a government-led study and urban renewal strategy involving the area were released after district-wide consultations. Since that time, the authority has shifted its strategy from redeveloping single buildings to taking on whole areas.
