Public consultation for preservation of shophouses begins
The Urban Renewal Authority (URA) will start tomorrow (Saturday)
the first of a series of consultative sessions on the adaptive
re-uses of the 20 pre-war shophouses at Prince Edward Road West and
Shanghai Street. The URA plans to preserve and revitalise
these two rare shophouse clusters which have outstanding
historical, cultural and architectural values in Hong Kong.
The 10 shophouses at Prince Edward Road West are categorised as
Level One-- outstanding heritage value in a consultancy study by
the URA earlier this year while the other 10 at Shanghai Street are
classified as Grade One historical buildings by the Antiquities
Advisory Board (AAB).
The debut is a brainstorming session in which some 100 people from
the community including owners, residents, academics,
professionals, Yau Tsim Mong District Council members and Yau Tsim
Mong District Advisory Committee of the URA will take part in the
discussion. Its objective is to explore appropriate and
viable adaptive re-uses for the 10 shophouses at Prince Edward Road
West.
The discussion, which will be divided into six groups, will be
facilitated by an architect Vincent Ng. The session will be
held at Heung To College of Professional Studies, 29 Playing Field
Road, Mong Kok, from 2:30 pm to 4:30 pm.
Director, Planning & Design of the URA, Mr Michael Ma, said:
"We want to stress that we do not have any preconceived idea of how
the shophouses should be revitalised. We are completely open
to any sensible and practicable theme and activities that may be
proposed, as long as they are deemed sustainable and compatible
with the goals of preserving these shophouse buildings and
enhancing local characteristics."
Consideration will be given to all practical suggestions and
proposals collected during the sessions when preparing the
Development Scheme Plans, which will be submitted to the Town
Planning Board (TPB) for its perusal early next year, he
added.
Subject to the approval of the TPB and the Chief
Executive-in-Council, the URA proposes to invest $1.3 billion to
restore and conserve those 20 shophouses.
Another session for the Shanghai Street cluster will be held a
week later on 10 October (Friday) evening from 7:30 to 9:30 pm at
the above venue.
(ENDS)