Page 65 - URA Annual Report 2021-22

At the Yue Man Square of the Kwun Tong Town Centre Project (K7), the URA reserved shop areas (named as ‘Yue Man Lane’) for former operators in the Development Areas 4 and 5 of K7 to continue their businesses in the same locality, thereby retaining the customer network and neighbourhood ties. Meanwhile, a brand new Yue Man Hawker Bazaar was opened in April 2021, housing over a hundred licensed fixed-pitch hawkers formerly stationed at the temporary hawker bazaar in the project. The Yue Man Lane and Yue Man Hawker Bazaar together have become a new hub featuring the unique local characteristics and street culture of the Kwun Tong community. Multi- pronged promotional activities were conducted during the year with tailor-made market vibrancy programmes to enhance local awareness, strengthen operators’ competitiveness and stimulate footfall.
Local small shop operators moved back to Yue Man Lane to continue business, making the venue an attraction featuring the unique characteristics and street culture of Kwun Tong.
Facilitating Social Enterprises to Thrive
Up to 2021/22, the URA provided about 6,000 square metres of premises at concessionary rent for NGOs and social enterprises to operate, including units leased to support the Community Housing Movement2. At 618 Shanghai Street, a social enterprise named Dignity Kitchen has been operating with the mission of helping the disadvantaged and disabled to become self-reliant through employment and vocational training. As noted in the retrofitting projects on page 49 in Operating Review - the newly retrofitted building at Yu Chau West Street Industrial Building Project (IB-2:SSP) - a shop unit at the ground floor level was leased to Holy Café at concessionary rent. The café, run by a social enterprise, aims to provide training and job opportunities to people with intellectual disabilities. Another unit was let out to
Music Children Foundation while three units were taken up by Hong Kong International Film Festival Society.
URA offers Holy Café, a social enterprise, concessionary rent for operating at the retrofitted Yu Chau West Street Industrial Building.
Besides, local communities, NGOs and creative talents can rent activity spaces on a daily basis to organise workshops, performances, exhibitions and promotions at the URA’s community spaces at H6 CONET in Central, M7 in Wan Chai and 618 Shanghai Street in Mong Kok at a community rate.
All of the above have demonstrated URA’s mandate to revitalise the old urban areas through adaptive reuses of the premises it has preserved.
2 Community Housing Movement is a social movement launched by the Hong Kong Council of Social Service to provide an intermediary platform in soliciting and renovating idle residential properties from developers, and then sublet it to eligible NGOs/social enterprises as qualified operators.
URA ANNUAL REPORT 2021-22 59
Corporate Sustainability Management Discussion and Analysis Projects at a Glance Corporate Governance