URA moves ahead with plan to redevelop more than 1,400 run-down flats in older Hong Kong district
- Some building owners could also be allowed to participate in the HK$10 billion project, according to Urban Renewal Authority
- Authorities hope to build 2,230 flats by 2033 in To Kwa Wan, involving site dubbed ‘5 Streets’ and two industrial buildings
Hong Kong’s Urban Renewal Authority (URA) has said it will redevelop more than 1,400 dilapidated flats in an older district, some eight years after the plan was first proposed, with the body revealing it may also allow some building owners to participate in the project.
The authority on Friday announced it would go ahead with the HK$10 billion (US$1.3 billion) scheme to build 2,230 flats by 2033 in part of To Kwa Wan, consisting of a site dubbed “5 Streets” and two industrial buildings in the district.
The project, featuring a 20-metre (66 feet) wide water promenade and a shopping centre with on-street dining and shops, involves the “5 Streets” area which covers five individual streets comprising around 100 old and run-down buildings without lifts.
A total of 1,410 households and 100 ground-floor shops on Ma Tau Kok Road, Ming Lun Street, Chung Sun Street, Hing Yin Street and Hing Yan Street will be affected by the plan.
“I am so happy. These are dangerous buildings and they are unliveable,” one resident surnamed Ng said, adding she had urged authorities to redevelop the homes for a decade. “We have a water drainage problem and we can only take a three minute shower or else water will flood out.”
She said private developers had failed twice to acquire enough ownership of the area for redevelopment.
Ng revealed she had to place a wooden ceiling in her home to prevent the concrete from breaking off, but the board started to fall apart due to a water leakage.