Urban Renewal Authority 2018-19 Annual Report

19 MANAGING DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT Nevertheless, to tackle the aggravating problem of urban decay and push sustainable urban renewal forward, the stepping up of such planning initiatives must run in parallel with strategic studies that focus on the longer term. To this end, a two-year Yau Mong District Study (YMDS) was launched in 2017 aiming to review the existing models and implementation mechanism of urban renewal, in order to seek new inspirations in the work of urban regeneration. Given the enormous scale and the complexity of issues of the locality under study, the URA has taken more than a year to complete the baseline study, in which all data concerning buildings’ age and condition, as well as the residual development potentials and their distribution among the 3,300 buildings situated in the study area of 212 hectares were gathered, consolidated and analysed. Local traffic capacity and infrastructure were also covered in the baseline study. In parallel, the study also incorporated an in-depth review of the current policy framework and implementation mechanism of urban renewal, including legal provisions governing urban planning and land leases. The URA hopes to leverage the findings to explore more flexible planning and development approaches to include plot ratio transfer, public-private partnerships, and the development of underground space, such that development potentials of land in the old districts can be unleashed to optimise land use and maximise community benefit. As the YMDS enters the second year, our team will move forward the crucial task of identifying districts with urban renewal potential, followed by the formulation of a Master Renewal Concept Plan (MRCP) according to the analysis of the building conditions and the rate of urban decay in Yau Mong districts from the baseline study. The MRCP will comprise three different development density options, namely a “positive” option with increased development density but the same population, “negative” with reduced density, and “neutral” in which the development density under existing planning frameworks will be retained. Alongside each of the three density options, there will be an inclusion of time dimension of three courses of development — short-term, medium- term and long-term — based on an interval of eight to ten years. Eventually, a total of nine sets of blueprints inclusive of urban regeneration approaches encompassing the 5R strategies of Redevelopment, Rehabilitation, pReservation, Revitalisation and Retrofitting (5R works) will be formulated. Notwithstanding the development potential, the URA also attaches great importance to the unique local socio-economic characteristics in Yau Ma Tei and Mong Kok districts, in particular the traditional markets or shopping lanes with high clusters of shops of the same trade. These areas are facing problems of traffic congestion, narrow walkways and incompatible socio-economic activities, which are common in most old districts. To this end, our study has also identified six ‘nodes’ which possess distinctive economic, historical and cultural features as well as geographical landscapes for further enhancement. With regard to their respective building condition and urban layout, the “nodes” would be regenerated through an integrated approach of urban renewal covering redevelopment, rehabilitation, preservation and revitalisation, to become vital hubs in the district. Traffic congestion and traditional marketplace are among the key features of Yau Mong district.