Mong Kok flower market set for partial makeover in Hong Kong renewal project, with new canal to link up public leisure spaces
- Urban Renewal Authority announces plan to redevelop flats and shops at flower market and nearby streets, with HK$2.5 billion to be spent on acquiring properties
- Redevelopment to include canal connecting public leisure spaces in bid to breathe new life into one of city’s oldest districts
Mong Kok’s famous flower market will undergo a partial makeover as part of a large-scale project aimed at revitalising the bustling Hong Kong neighbourhood, with plans including a canal to link up the area’s public leisure spaces.
The Urban Renewal Authority (URA) announced the plan on Friday to redevelop 31 buildings aged between 64 and 76 years and 33 shops at the flower market and nearby locations, such as Sai Yee Street and Fa Yuen Street.
The overhaul will affect about 275 families and 20 flower shops, or 17 per cent of all stores in the market, and includes revitalisation initiatives.
Responding to questions about whether the URA could push forward the initiative given its deficit, director of planning and design Lawrence Mak Chung-kit said acquiring the properties would cost HK$2.5 billion (US$320 million), a “relatively small” acquisition.
“We hope to promote urban renewal with limited resources,” he said. “It is difficult to predict whether the project will make or lose money given the unclear market conditions.”
The authority recorded a HK$3.5 billion deficit for the 2022-23 financial year, after posting a surplus of HK$6.6 billion 12 months earlier, a reversal its management attributed to a downturn in the property market.
The project is the URA’s only one for the current financial year and the first initiative under its Yau Ma Tei and Mong Kok renewal blueprint published in 2021. The two neighbourhoods are some of the city’s oldest and most densely populated.
Six locations involving a total area of 2.93 hectares (7.24 acres) will be redeveloped. The site at Sai Yee Street and Prince Edward Road West will become a residential and commercial complex with up to 44 storeys, providing 1,350 flats.
Another four small lots, scattered across Yuen Ngai Street and Flower Market Road near shophouses revitalised by the authority will become leisure parks with low-rise retail facilities. The authority also aimed to transform an alleyway running through the flower market to improve accessibility.
The sixth site, the largest, will host a new multipurpose building rehousing two sports centres and a football field, as well as accommodate a district health centre. A hotel, office tower or residences may also be included in the complex.
The site will also include a waterway and an adjoining park with a combined area of at least 8,800 square metres, featuring spots where residents can appreciate flowers to echo an initiative laid out in the government’s 2023 policy address.
The canal, known as the “Urban Waterway”, will be situated between Boundary Street and Nathan Road. It will connect areas including the flower market, Mong Kok Stadium, Tai Hang Tung Recreation Ground and the multipurpose complex to host large-scale sports events and other major activities.
Director Mak said the authority was likely to redevelop the area in stages and start with the largest site on government land because it did not involve property acquisition. It was scheduled to be completed by 2034.
The authority is exempted from paying land premiums for its redevelopment sites as a form of government financial support.
Brian Wong Shiu-hung, a member of the Liber Research Community, an NGO that focuses on land issues, raised concerns over the authority producing flats and retail facilities at no cost on public land to make a profit.
He also argued the low-rise blocks involved in the project were not heavily dilapidated, questioning whether they should be prioritised for redevelopment.
Sunny Lai Wing-chun, owner of a flower shop that has operated for more than three decades, said he hoped to support the authority’s efforts to improve the market, but he had mixed feelings about the redevelopment.
“The flower market stands out from the low-rise area,” he said. “If the redevelopment brings in high-rise buildings, residents may not be able to experience the original state again.”
Given the reputation of the flower market, Lai said he would consider returning after the redevelopment.
May Cheng, who had often accompanied her 83-year-old mother to the market over the past four decades, said that under the plan most of the stalls would not be affected and the redevelopment would not disrupt their routine.
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But the housewife, 50, said she did not see the need to redevelop the area.
“The neighbourhood is very pretty. It does not need redevelopment. They should go for districts like Sham Shui Po and To Kwa Wan,” she said, referring to other old districts in Kowloon.
An 82-year-old resident surnamed Lau, who has been living in a 900 sq ft flat with her family in the affected area for almost her entire life, said she was concerned about losing her home despite being eligible for compensation.
“It is difficult to move back to this area as property prices are expensive,” she said.
The elderly resident added that she had to spend extra effort walking up the stairs to her flat in the block built in 1955, noting her home still had water leakage issues after repair.
More than 2,000 buildings in Yau Ma Tei and Mong Kok are over 50 years old. The redevelopment plan is considered one of the most costly and challenging in the city.
