URA Commences Two Redevelopment Projects in To Kwa Wan to Create a Vibrant Harbourfront through Effective Planning

The Urban Renewal Authority (URA) today (7 October 2022) commences the statutory planning procedures for two redevelopment projects in To Kwa Wan.  By adopting a “planning-led, district-based” urban renewal approach to regenerate the built environment of the old district, a holistic plan will be formulated to restructure and re-plan the land uses of the area to improve the living environment of the residents.  In the meantime, the redevelopment will also improve the connectivity of To Kwa Wan with the Kai Tak Development Area and create a vibrant harbourfront, bringing greater planning benefits to the community.

There are a large number of aged buildings in the older area of Kowloon City where residents and stakeholders have expressed their requests for a better road network, living environment and community facilities through urban renewal.  The URA has taken these aspirations into consideration, and has conducted a comprehensive and holistic planning study to examine the land-use planning and renewal opportunities for the area, so as to pave way for regenerating the built environment and improving the standard of housing. 

The two projects commenced in To Kwa Wan today are Ming Lun Street/Ma Tau Kok Road Development Scheme (KC-018) and To Kwa Wan Road/Ma Tau Kok Road Development Scheme (KC-019).  KC-018, also known as “5 Streets”, covers buildings of about 110 street numbers.  These eight-storey buildings are currently occupied by about 1,400 families and 100 ground-floor shops.  They are generally in the age of about 60, without elevators, and in dilapidated conditions.  KC-019 covers the redevelopment of two industrial buildings.  According to the relevant statutory plan, the area has been zoned for comprehensive redevelopment for residential and commercial uses with the provision of a waterfront promenade and other supporting facilities.

At the media briefing today, URA General Manager (Planning and Design), Mr Lawrence Mak, said, “The two projects will be implemented under the ‘planning-led, district-based’ approach in accordance with the objectives set out in the 2011 Urban Renewal Strategy.  By incorporating ‘5 Streets’, the two industrial buildings and the adjoining underused streets in the holistic planning, opportunities to improve the local streetscape and overall living conditions can be optimised, realising an area-wide regeneration of the built environment in the old district.”

As the project sites are strategically located at the harbourfront area, the URA has incorporated the Government’s visions of enhancing the city’s harbourfront environment in its comprehensive study.

Mr Mak continued, “Through the re-planning of land use under a holistic master plan, a portion of the new buildings after redevelopment will be set back from the waterfront to create space for a waterfront promenade of about 20 metres wide.  It will connect with the facilities in the Kai Tak Development Area including a dining cove, a waterfront promenade and the Kai Tak Sports Park, achieving the design objective of shaping a world-class harbourfront.”

In addition, through a properly-planned building layout and design, an at-grade waterfront plaza between the residential blocks and the commercial podium will be provided.  The plaza, which is at least 25 metres wide, will enhance walkability between To Kwa Wan Road and the waterfront promenade, and at the same time, provide space to accommodate on-street dining and shops, creating a pleasant atmosphere for public enjoyment.

Besides, the buildings facing To Kwa Wan Road will be set back upon completion of the projects to provide sufficient space to align with the Government’s intention to widen To Kwa Wan Road from four lanes to six, enhancing the accessibility with the Kai Tak Development Area.  

In accordance with the Urban Renewal Authority Ordinance, a URA notice announcing the commencement of KC-018 and KC-019 can be found in today’s publication of the Gazette.  As the implementation involves the amendment of the Outline Zoning Plan of the district, the URA will submit two draft Development Scheme Plans to the Town Planning Board (TPB) on or before 10 October 2022.  All related information will be made available by TPB for public inspection.  Full details are available on the notice in the Gazette.

General Manager (Acquisition and Clearance) of the URA, Mr Kelvin Chung, said that the URA would start the acquisition of property interests and make compensation/rehousing offers to eligible tenants in accordance with the policy prevailing at the time when the approval to implement KC-018 and KC-019 is granted by the Chief Executive in Council.

KC-019 is URA’s third industrial building redevelopment project.  Back in 2012 and 2013, the URA commenced two industrial building redevelopment pilot scheme projects in the Central and Western district and Cheung Sha Wan respectively.  Having considered various factors, the URA eventually withdrew these pilot projects during the implementation periods.  A major factor for the withdrawal was that a few owners and some property developers who held a certain proportion of the properties, preferred to retain them for self-use or to redevelop on their own rather than selling them to the URA.

Taking into consideration the difficulties encountered in implementing the pilot projects, the URA is reviewing the policies for the acquisition of property interest of industrial units.  Meanwhile, the URA is also exploring the feasibility of introducing an alternative by allowing owner(s) who, as of the date of the commencement of KC-019, own not less than a prescribed number of properties in the project area and satisfy other criteria specified by the URA, to participate in the development, instead of receiving pecuniary compensation by selling their properties to the URA.  The terms and conditions and relevant details will be provided to owners at an appropriate time.

The new initiative being explored aims to facilitate the acquisition arrangements for KC-019 so as to expedite the redevelopment of the industrial buildings under a holistic master layout plan with KC-018 for more planning benefits.  As such, the measures involved, would not be applicable to other URA projects.

URA staff has been deployed earlier today to the site area to conduct a freezing survey to ascertain the actual number of affected residents or users, and the occupancy status of the property. 

As social distancing measures are still in force, the URA will take enhanced infection control measures throughout the period of freezing survey.  These measures include enabling URA interviewers to store their vaccination records as well as the negative test results of the Rapid Antigen Test taken on the date of the survey in the URA’s “Health Code 4.0” application on his/her mobile phone.  Such information will be shown to the occupants for verification before entering the property for the freezing survey.

Following the commencement of the two projects, the URA will conduct online video briefing sessions for affected residents on topics covering the planning procedure and the URA’s prevailing acquisition and compensation arrangements.

The URA will also assign case officers to contact the affected households and business tenants to explain the acquisition policies, timeline and arrangement of the implementation, as well as the latest progress of the projects.  An urban renewal social service team staffed by professional social workers of Hong Kong Lutheran Social Service has been appointed by the Urban Renewal Fund to provide relevant assistance and guidance to owners and residents in need.  The contact number of the social service team is 3596 6850.  Affected residents can also visit the URA Headquarters in person, call the URA’s Hotline at 2588 2333 for enquiries, or visit the URA website at www.ura.org.hk for information about the projects. 

Appendix: Details and Proposed Development Parameters for the Redevelopment Schemes

*Subject to the results of the freezing survey

**Subject to future detailed design

-End-