Page 19 - URA Annual Report 2021-22

“We are still in the first cycle of urban renewal after
20 years.... It is therefore essential to encourage owners of structurally-sound buildings to carry out preventive maintenance, whilst giving a window for the URA and other stakeholders to work on the dilapidated ones.”
(5) Good financial planning
Looking ahead, the URA will continue to press ahead with urban renewal works and progressively increase the number of redevelopment projects in its Corporate Plan. A sound financial plan must therefore be in place to ensure sufficient resources are available to meet the substantial acquisition costs incurred in these projects. We will achieve this by means of:
1. Making cash reserves flexible: We will complete the initial planning and design of new projects as early as possible, such that we can align the timing of new project launches with the tendering of other projects that have already completed property acquisition. This allows the ‘hedging’ of funds received from the upfront payments of tendered projects to replenish the cash for property acquisition of the new projects.
2. Replenishing cash flow: When available resources have been exhausted and in the event of any possible shortfall of funds, we will arrange loan facilities in advance.
3. Improving project returns: By incorporating under-utilised streets in the vicinity of the project areas into our master development plans, we can optimise the land uses in addition to bringing in new or refurbished community facilities. We will also advance the restructuring and replanning of land uses from 2D to 3D and incorporate new planning tools such as transfer of plot ratio in our planning applications such that the plot ratio of areas with low development potential can be analysed and assigned to those with high development potential, achieving optimum utilisation of the residual plot ratios for redevelopment.
Embarking on a new journey of urban regeneration
Over the past six years, good progress has been made in URA’s five principal areas of work, namely redevelopment, rehabilitation, preservation, revitalisation and retrofitting. In addition we have completed two strategic studies with their findings and recommendations favourably received by the Government, the Legislative Council and local stakeholders. I am truly grateful for the support and recognition of URA’s work from various sectors of the community.
I would like to take this opportunity to express my heartfelt gratitude to all colleagues in the URA for their tireless efforts in taking forward the regeneration of old districts over the years, and for remaining dedicated to their work even during the most severe stages of the pandemic. We have not only been able to meet our work targets, but have achieved breakthroughs in a number of business areas. I am also indebted to our Chairman and the Board members for their trust, which has enabled us to be bold and innovative in carrying out our work.
Urban renewal is a lengthy process. Today, we are still in the first cycle of urban renewal after 20 years of the URA's establishment, with a lot of dilapidated buildings still to be redeveloped. It is therefore essential to encourage owners of structurally-sound buildings to carry out preventive maintenance to prolong their service life, whilst giving a window for the URA and other stakeholders to work on the dilapidated ones. Meanwhile, we will continue to build up our financial and land reserves for the next cycle of regeneration. As we embark on this long but rewarding journey of urban renewal, I am confident that our URA team will go from strength to strength, forging ahead to help make the city we call home smarter, more liveable and more sustainable.
Ir WAI Chi-sing, GBS, JP, FHKEng Managing Director
31 July 2022
URA ANNUAL REPORT 2021-22 17
Managing Director’s Statement Operating Review Corporate Sustainability Management Discussion and Analysis Projects at a Glance Corporate Governance