European Real Estate Society Annual Conference 2010 Milan, 23-26 June 2010

1. Sustainable Development in Urban Renewal in Hong Kong: A Social Assessment Daniel Chi-wing HO1, Chi Kwok LAW2, Yung YAU3, Sun-wah POON1, Ernest Wing-tak CHUI2, Yu Cheung WONG2, Kar Mut LEE2, Lisanne Suk-fun KO4, Hak Kwong YIP5, Kwok Hung KWAN6 1 Department of Real Estate and Construction, The University of Hong Kong 2 Department of Social Work and Social Administration, The University of Hong Kong 3 Department of Public and Social Administration, City University of Hong Kong 4 Department of Social Work, Chinese University of Hong Kong 5 Policy 21 Limited 6 Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong European Real Estate Society Annual Conference 2010 Milan, 23-26 June 2010

2. Part ABackground of the Study

3. Your impression of Hong Kong …

4. Urban Decay and Building Dilapidation

5. Extent of Building Problem in Hong Kong Source: Buildings Department (various years)

6. Built Environment Quality & Sustainability • “We give shape to our buildings; thereafter they shape us.”(Winston Churchill’s speech to the House of Commons in 1943) • Inter-linkage between human beings and built environment • Policy and academic focus of sustainable built environment • unevenly placed between new and old buildings • existing buildings dominating the building stock • more research should focus on existing building stock (Kohler & Hassler, 2002; Kohler & Yang, 2007) • After the outbreak of SARS in 2003 • two public consultations on building management and maintenance in Hong Kong

7. Built Environment Quality & Sustainability (cont’d) • Urban renewal becoming increasingly urgent • redevelopment as major renewal mode until late 1990s • government, NGO and conservationists promoting building rehabilitation in the early 2000s • redevelopment plans of the Urban Renewal Authority (URA) challenged Sai Yee Street (Project K28) Wing Lee Street (Project H19)

8. Built Environment Quality & Sustainability (cont’d) • Decision making regarding choice of renewal approach • a multi-criteria decision making process • e.g. physical quality, economic impact, environmental concern and social impact • social aspirations should also be considered • This study aims to explore • how the community perceive different approaches of urban renewal (i.e., redevelopment and rehabilitation) in HK • community’s attitudes towards different approaches  for more informed decision making for urban renewal

9. Part BResearch Methodology

10. Structured Questionnaire Survey • A structured questionnaire survey conducted in 2008 • a total of 1,500 respondents • living in four “target areas”, namely Sham Shui Po (27.5%) Yau Tsim Mong (42.8%) Wanchai (5.3%) Central and Western (24.5%) • 69.9% of the respondents being owner-occupiers • 56.2% of the respondents living in buildings of at least 30 years old

11. New Territories Sham Shui Po Yau Tsim Mong Kowloon Wanchai Hong Kong Island Lantau Island Central & Western

12. Profile of the Respondents

13. Profile of the Respondents (cont’d)

14. Profile of the Respondents (cont’d)

15. Part CSurvey Findings and Discussion

16. Length of Residence in the District / Property > 50%

17. Complaints and Satisfaction Levels • Among all respondents, complaints against • concrete problems (20.1%) • water seepage (7.1%) • unauthorized building works (16.1%) • Respondents quite satisfied with their living environments • 76.1% liked to live in their current residences • 60.0% satisfied with their current residences • 63.6% satisfied with the hygienic condition • 62.3% satisfied with the fire safety • 65.9% satisfied with the structural safety • 64.6% satisfied with the amenity facilities

18. Intention to Move • 61.0% of the respondents expressed that they did not want to move out from the buildings they were currently living in • Reasons behind: “having accustomed to the district” (11.9%) “feeling convenient to live in the district” (5.7%) “satisfied with the current living conditions” (4.5%) “unable to afford the cost of living in other places” (4.4%) • Among those who intended to move, 56.4% opted to continue to live in the same district as before  a strong adhesion to local areas or neighbourhoods

19. Preference between Redevelopment & Rehabilitation pro-rehabilitation  16.8% pro-redevelopment  35.3%

20. Preference between Redevelopment & Rehabilitation • Why rehabilitation? buildings not dilapidated to become non-repairable (30.6%) wanted to live in the same flat (10.6%) wanted to live in the same building (9.4%) • Why redevelopment? building dereliction (43.6%) chance to move to a new home (10.0%) thoroughgoing improvement of built environment quality (8.3%)

21. Any Insights Drawn from the Findings? • Making choice between redevelopment & rehabilitation building quality >> social and environmental concerns • Dilemma of redevelopment • respondents prefer redevelopment to building rehabilitation • majority of respondents wanted to stay in the same locality • Rehousing or resettlement of the affected residents • conventional cash compensation may not work • in-situ flat-for-flat compensation or rehousing in the same district • technique of land readjustment

22. Part DConcluding Remarks

23. Concluding Remarks • Sustainable development in policy agendas for country or city development in the 21st century • social, economic and environmental quality of human settlement development set out in the UN’s Agenda 21 • Urban renewal becoming increasingly important • more informed decision making required • social stakes of different parties to be duly considered • benefitting stakeholders of building sustainability e.g. public administrator, homeowners, developers and general public

24. Thank You ! For comments and questions, please e-mail me at y.yau@cityu.edu.hk ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support provided by the Research Grant Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (Project No. 7009-PPR-4) which made this research possible.