URA 20th Anniversary Video Series: Building Community Beyond Urban Renewal

Introduction

The URA has fostered urban renewal on all fronts over the years to improve the living environment of older areas, creating quality, environmentally sustainable and liveable homes for citizens. To promote its urban-renewal work, the URA launched a 20^th Anniversary TV Series, titled “Building Community Beyond Urban Renewal” in September 2021, in collaboration with the TVB News and Information Division. The aim of the series, comprising 10 episodes, was to showcase the URA’s outstanding achievements over the previous 20 years in enhancing the built environment of older districts and the living standard of the residents through human-interest stories, covering the URA’s 5R businesses – Redevelopment, Rehabilitation, pReservation, Revitalisation and Retrofitting – and various community-care programmes.

Owing to copyright limitations, the “Building Community Beyond Urban Renewal” videos are no longer available on the URA website and YouTube channel, except for a synopsis of each episode.

	Episode 1  The first episode highlights the URA’s achievements in implementing Kwun Tong Town Centre Redevelopment Project. The Project took a forward-looking planning and development approach to rejuvenate old urban areas. Through restructuring land uses, it created a better transport and pedestrian network, improving public facilities and liveability.
Episode 2 The second episode features the URA’s best endeavours in preserving local characteristics in the course of urban renewal by providing modernised facilities and market blocks upon redevelopment, enabling affected business operators from street shops, hawkers and unauthorised building structures in the area to continue their businesses in the same locality upon redevelopment.
	Episode 3 The third episode highlights that the URA has adopted a people-first approach in carrying out urban renewal. While launching various initiatives to enhance the acquisition and compensation policies for the redevelopment projects, flexibility has been given to those affected owners and tenants to cater for their needs.
Episode 4 The fourth episode features the URA’s efforts in putting forward various supportive measures to assist building owners in organising building repair and maintenance works. The episode shares the case of Yee On Court in which the URA’s Smart Tender Building Rehabilitation Facilitating Services has facilitated the owners in organising the tender, which attracted a number of contractors to submit competitive tender bids, thereby reducing bid-rigging risks.
	Episode 5 The fifth episode continues to feature the URA’s efforts in promoting building rehabilitation.  In the case of Koon Sheng Building, which does not have owners’ corporations or any form of residents’ organisations or has not engaged property management companies (commonly known as “three-nil buildings”), the URA has not only assisted the owners in forming owners' corporations, but also provided financial and technical assistance in carrying out repair works. Regarding another case of Gee Chang House, the URA assisted owners to undertake building rehabilitation through various Government subsidy schemes, improving building safety.
Episode 6 The sixth episode features the endeavour of the URA in preserving and revitalising historic buildings. The episode showcases how the Central Market and “618 Shanghai Street” project went beyond preserving building structures and achieved adaptive reuse by adding local characteristics and culture into the sites, giving them new lives and new uses.
	Episode 7 The seventh episode highlights the URA’s "community-making" approach in project planning and implementation. In the Staunton Street / Wing Lee Street Project (H19) project, the URA collaborates with local organisations and residents to carry out various revitalisation initiatives, including an urban farming project, to strengthen neighbourhood relationships and build a better community.
Episode 8 The eighth episode features the URA’s effort in bringing care to the tenants within the neighbourhood of the URA’s projects, particularly those families and kids who moved out from the community upon relocation, retaining their social network in the community beyond improving the living conditions. The episode highlights the establishment of "oUR Amazing Kid Band" by the URA, which allows the kids to reunite and enhance social bonding with families from To Kwa Wan through performances and regular practice. The project helps keep the social network and community sentiment within the old district.
	Episode 9 The ninth episode showcases the URA’s new thoughts in tackling the aggravating problem of urban decay. The episode cites the Yau Mong District Study, in which a Master Renewal Concept Plan has been developed with recommendations for a number of development nodes and new planning tools. By enhancing the efficiency of land use and the redevelopment potential in the two districts, the study aims to establish an implementation mechanism for the sustainable development of urban renewal.
Episode 10 The final episode concludes the series with the URA’s vision in continuing urban renewal to improve the overall living environment of the residents, creating a liveable, lower-density and sustainable city. This vision could be achieved by a forward-looking and comprehensive strategy. Meanwhile, reserves on financial and land resources should also be built to provide sufficient resources to sustain urban renewal work in the implementation of three cycles.