URA

9 Since the publishing of my last statement in the 2016/17 Annual Report under the theme of “Laying a Solid Foundation to Undertake a Dynamic and Forward-looking Urban Regeneration”, I have been delighted to see that a number of initiatives have begun to take shape towards realising the objective. While the URA has been implementing the four core businesses of urban renewal, namely: redevelopment, rehabilitation, revitalisation and preservation, in order to address the aggravating problem of ageing buildings in the long run, we have in parallel actively conducted strategic studies to formulate comprehensive new strategies with the aim of achieving sustainable urban renewal. At the beginning of my tenure, I took stock of the challenges we faced and soon became aware of the difficulties in racing against time and catching up the pace of urban decay. I contemplated at that time ‘how much the URA needed to do’, a question which is still relevant today as the pressure posed by ageing buildings has continued to rise over the past two years. The total number of buildings aged over 50 years increased from around 9,000 two years ago to around 10,200, representing an average increase of 600 buildings per year. It is estimated that this number will reach over 20,000 by 2046. Despite the fact that the URA has launched more than 60 redevelopment projects over the past 17 years, only around 1,300 dilapidated buildings have been redeveloped. It is apparent that with this pace and the current mode of urban renewal had failed to meet the challenges of urban decay, a new strategy to guide future urban renewal is much called for. Gathering Momentum for New Urban Renewal Strategies Managing Director’s Statement “Thi s past year has been a time of sustaining efforts and getting ready for the future.”