Source:
https://scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3179490/hong-kong-renewal-project-built-more-4000-flats-kowloon-city
Hong Kong/ Society

Hong Kong renewal project to build more than 4,000 flats in Kowloon City but vendors, Thai residents fear for soul of neighbourhood

  • Urban Renewal Authority is looking to acquire property interests in the area for its second-largest redevelopment project
  • Union chair for Thai workers says community could become further fragmented due to redevelopment project threat
An ambitious redevelopment project in Kowloon City has sparked concerns from members of the local Thai community as well as traditional vendors. Photo: Yik Yeung-man

The Urban Renewal Authority (URA) has announced it will build 4,350 flats in Kowloon City over the next 12 years in its second-largest redevelopment to date, but residents and business owners in the area known for its heavy concentration of ethnic Thais and traditional stores have expressed concerns that the project may destroy the soul of the neighbourhood.

Comprising three sites with a total area of 37,000 square metres, the project is expected to produce a fivefold increase in the overall number of flats in the neighbourhood once the redevelopment is completed in 2036-37.

With the combined area accounting for 1,000 property interests, the authority on Friday said it would begin making acquisitions and issuing compensation, with residents to receive either financial reimbursement or a new flat upon completion of the project, estimating a cost of HK$10 billion (US$1.27 billion).

“We intend to invite [current shop operators] with local characteristics, to come back and operate in the [pedestrian street],” said Wilfred Au Chun-ho, the authority’s director of planning and design.

The authority added that it would meet shop tenants and come up with proposals to assist them with interim business operations, relocation arrangements as well as returning to sites after the project was complete.

The area is also home to members of the Thai and Chiu Chow communities, with the neighbourhood previously hosting water splashing festivals to celebrate the Thai New Year before the pandemic.

According to a government census in 2016, more than 800 of Hong Kong’s 10,215 Thai residents live in Kowloon City.

Gasing Phobsuk, the chairwoman of the Thai Migrant Workers Union, said she was worried the project would push the community further apart.

“It will be difficult for us to find places for living and doing business since the rent will be increased [after redevelopment],” she said.

Phobsuk added that another project announced in 2019 and located near Sa Po Road and Kai Tak Road had already pushed the community apart.

“At the previous project site, the Thai community there is broken. And now comes a large-scale project,” she said.

As part of the redevelopment effort, the project will convert Nga Tsin Long Road and Nam Kok Road, the main site, into two 18-metre-wide green pedestrian avenues to accommodate on-street shops.

Ethnic Thai residents in Kowloon City have said they are afraid the community will be further broken up by the project. Photo: Yik Yeung-man
Ethnic Thai residents in Kowloon City have said they are afraid the community will be further broken up by the project. Photo: Yik Yeung-man

A market square would also be created to provide more green areas, with the authority saying it hoped the new design would provide more space for the Thai community to hold cultural events.

But Phobsuk said the increased space would be wasted if there were no members of the community left in the area.

Aside from its Thai community, the area is also famous for its grocery stores which sell traditional snacks and dried seafood. The site also serves as the location of a municipal service building, which is a popular destination for locals and tourists, including famous actor Chow Yun-fat.

The municipal service building, as well as the public health centre and the Lee Kee Memorial Dispensary, which has served locals since 1951, will be moved to a new government complex at the northern site in Carpenter Road Park, which will be completed in 2030. The estimated cost for building government facilities will be HK$4 billion to HK$5 billion.

The initiative also includes an eastern site near Prince Edward Road East that will be developed into a new gateway square that connects to the Kai Tak Development Area.

But a shop owner surnamed Yau, who runs a Chiu Chow grocery store located in the proposed eastern site, said she was worried the community would lose its character after the redevelopment.

“[Modern stores] lack the human touch. Now I can invite elderly residents to sit in the stall to rest because I have space. But a commercial shop’s space is scarce and expensive,” Yau said.

But a local tenant, who only gave her name as Lui, expressed her support for the project, saying it would help to improve her living conditions.

But Lui also said she was worried she would be unable to afford the rent for the redeveloped flats.

“My flat has water leakage and the pipes are rusted. It is right to redevelop the area,” she said. “I am paying a rent of HK$8,000 (US$1,019) but the new flat’s rent will cost over HK$10,000.”