Page 73 - URA Annual Report 2020-21

Constraints in the Built Environment
Hong Kong is characterised by its population density, congested road traffic and a high density mix of old and new buildings in close proximity of each other. The situation is even more profound in older urban districts with a large cluster of dilapidated buildings. Besides, the existing building bulk of many URA projects, particularly those commenced in recent years, is almost close to the maximum permissible plot ratio under the prevailing planning regime resulting that less than half of the commenced projects could provide a high return on plot ratio gain upon redevelopment. This necessitates the URA to explore restructuring and replanning opportunities to optimise land use and maximise the planning gains of our urban renewal initiatives. Through restructuring and replanning, the development potential of some old Government, Institution or Community (G/IC) facilities, temporary government land allocations and roads in the project sites could be unleashed to enhance the overall development potential of the projects whilst G/IC or open space provisions will be raised in terms of both quality and quantity.
Accelerating Pace of Urban Decay
In view of the increasing pace of building deterioration and ageing, the importance of building rehabilitation and preventive maintenance cannot be underestimated.
Rehabilitation, as one of the two URA’s core businesses, is a linchpin of URA’s efforts to tackle the problem of urban decay in Hong Kong. Through proper maintenance, the service life of buildings can be extended thus reducing the pressure on redevelopment, and thereby relieving the financial burden on URA. According to the Study on New Strategy on Building Rehabilitation, while repairing and maintaining one’s building has always been the responsibility of building owners, the lack of awareness on building maintenance, financial reserve and technical support to organise building rehabilitation works among owners have become major obstacles towards proper and regular maintenance. The URA must press on with our rehabilitation efforts to help building owners overcome these hurdles through proactive and targeted measures.
Additional Government Initiatives
As detailed in the Operating Review, a number of Government initiatives have been entrusted to the URA in recent years, namely the active provision of Starter Homes (SH) in URA’s redevelopment projects, and assisting non-governmental organisations to develop transitional housing and redevelop community facilities on their sites under the ‘Single Site, Multiple Uses’ model. Implementing these new initiatives for the Government would inevitably incur additional cost (e.g. provision of SH units at discounted price) thus putting pressure on the cash flow and financial well-being of the URA. Given our resource constraints, it is therefore important for the URA to strike a balance between the sustainable development of our core businesses in urban renewal and delivering Government initiatives as part of URA’s social responsibility. Possible support from the Government, in terms of both policy and resources, may be required to enable the URA to optimise our resources to deliver Government initiatives without jeopardising our urban renewal missions.
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Management Discussion and Analysis Projects at a Glance Corporate Governance