URA

CHAIRMAN'S STATEMENT 6 As our redevelopment projects that were commenced under the “district-based” approach become bigger in size and involve more property titles, related acquisition wor k when pro j ec t s a re be i ng implemented becomes increasingly complex, making the redevelopment process longer. Adding to the challenge for the URA is a strong demand for public housing units, not only from the general public but also from tenants affected by the URA’s redevelopment projects as most of them opt for rehousing to public housing units instead of accepting the ex-gratia allowance provided by the URA. The increasingly long queue for public housing has made the URA’s efforts in rehousing eligible tenants to public housing units more time-consuming, hence prolonging the acquisition and rehousing processes and subsequently the time to take a redevelopment project from commencement through acquisition to completion. If we look back in the early days when the URA was established, this whole process took only about six years, but now it is at least eight to ten years or even longer. These challenges will undoubtedly put pressure on the operation and finances of the URA. Nonetheless, the URA will continue to take forward urban renewal under the planning-led strategy and approach, for we believe that the “district-based” approach will enable us to better achieve the objectives stipulated in the Urban Renewal Strategy and bring in greater planning and social benefits to the community. Commencing Strategic Studies to Facilitate Sustainable Urban Renewal Owing to the current implementation model and development constraints, coupled with the obstacles in pushing forward urban renewal, no matter how fast the URA and private developers undertake their redevelopment projects, the pace still lags behind the speed of urban decay and the ageing of buildings. Moreover, in view of the situation that many old buildings have used up its plot ratios or have even exceeded the limit under the current planning regime, redevelopment of these dilapidated buildings means the development potential of the remaining plot ratio, if any, is insignificant. Urban regeneration should be a continuous process to cope with urban decay in the long run. Thus, it requires efforts from all sectors to formulate more effective urban renewal models with new mindsets, based on insights generated by the strategic researches, to cope with the difficulties and challenges of urban renewal. With this strategic direction in mind, the URA Board approved in mid-last year the commencement of “Yau Mong District Study (YMDS)”, which will adopt a forward-looking and planning-led approach to explore more flexible and effective strategies f o r unde r t a k i ng f u t u re u r ban renewal work. This will include, amongst others, the “Public-Private Partnership” model, adopted by the former Land Development Corporation, for urban renewal to be more diversified and efficient through encouraging participation of different stakeholders in urban renewal work. Apart from regenerating old districts through redevelopments, the URA Board and Management team are also well aware that preventing the ageing of buildings and avoiding them from being dilapidated and called for demolition overearly, are crucial to the work of urban renewal. To this end, the URA commenced a study on New Strategy on Building Rehabilitation last year that aims to understand comprehensively the conditions of buildings in Hong Kong, such that specific strategies targeting buildings of different ages can be devised to strengthen owners’ awareness and responsibility in carrying out building repair and maintenance, and to promote a preventive maintenance culture. The study will also review the implementation and limitations of the current regulations, which upon completion, the URA will look forward to proposing appropriate amendments to the Government. Encouraging Application of New Technology to Keep Pace with the Times Officiating at the Building Rehabilitation and Smart Tender Concession Scheme Info Truck Launching Ceremony. As we embr ace t he new age o f t echno l ogy, digitalisation and artificial intelligence, the URA is actively utilising innovative information technology to enhance its efficiency. In terms of the application of Building Information Modelling (BIM), not only is the “Urban regeneration requires efforts from all sectors to formulate more effective urban renewal models with new mindsets, based on insights generated b y t h e s t r a t e g i c researches.”