Urban renewal: Roving Exhibition on Stage
The Secretary for Development, Mrs Carrie Lam, and the Chairman
of the Urban Renewal Authority (URA), Mr Barry Cheung, today
(Monday) kicked off the opening of a roving exhibition entitled
"Towards Urban Renewal 3.0", which is being staged to tie in with
an extensive public consultation exercise on the Urban Renewal
Strategy (URS) Review to solicit views from all walks of life on
the way forward for urban regeneration in Hong Kong.
On display are plans, pictures, cage home model, video shows,
illustrations and 3-D computer animations giving visitors a full
view of the key issues of urban regeneration, the projects
undertaken by the former Land Development Corporation (LDC) and its
successor the URA.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the exhibition, the Chairman of
the URA, Mr Barry Cheung, said the timing of the URS Review is
appropriate amid the rapidly-changing social sentiments and
community expectations about urban renewal initiatives.
"Urban renewal in Hong Kong could first be dated back to some 20
years ago when the LDC was established to take up this task,
subsequently replaced by the URA in 2001. While
in retrospect, we should take stock of the practical experience of
the URA, in particular its 4R strategy, namely, redevelopment,
rehabilitation, preservation and revitalisation in our reflection
and deliberation on the way forward," said Mr Cheung.
Mr Cheung stressed that urban regeneration is a long-term social
mission as some 110,000 people are still locked up in the old urban
areas where the living conditions are greatly undesirable.
Noting that urban renewal is a daunting task which cannot be
accomplished by URA alone, Mr Cheung appealed to all stakeholders
in the community and the District Councils to join hands to make it
a success.
"On this, we have worked closely with the Government and the
stakeholders in the review process to look into the key issues,
challenges and the possible way forward," said Mr Cheung.
In addition to the roving exhibitions, the URA will hold a seminar
on urban renewal in the middle of next month when overseas and
local experts and participants are invited to share their
experience with a view to coming up with ideas and proposals for
further contemplation.
"We sincerely hope that the public and all stakeholders will
actively participate in the review process so that their voice can
be heard and their views understood," he added.
Also attending today's ceremony included members of the URS
Steering Committee, District Councillors, URA Board members, URA
District Advisory Committee members, government officials and
representatives of Sino Land Company Limited.
The first round of exhibition has been staged at Olympian City from
10 -12 November this year with encouraging response from the
public. Two more roving exhibitions will be held later this
month after the current three-day show at Citywalk.
Details are as follows:
Date : 21-23 Nov 2008
Time: 10:30am - 8:30pm
Venue: Times Square, Causeway Bay
Date: 24-26 Nov 2008
Time: 10:30am - 6:30pm
Venue: Grand Millennium Plaza, Central
(ENDS)