Kwun tong

Case studies of sustainable city

Kwun Tong

1 Urban Renewal In Kwun Tong

"Over the past two years, the URA has adopted a proactive, bottom-up approach in its community engagement initiatives...� – Professor David Lung Chairman of the URA Kwun Tong District Advisory Committee

Introduction to urban renewal in Kwun Tong !

The Urban Renewal Authority (URA) has

well as community-friendly features such

submitted the urban renewal plans of

as street and bazaar in tradition.

Kwun Tong which is named ‘‘Kwun Tong Town Centre project’’ . The scheme include two sites: the main sites and the Yuet Wa Street site. The major design features of the project are results of an extensive consultation with the community, which include landmark features, more open space and greening, comprehensive community and commercial services as

The renewal area occupies a site area of 5.35 hectares, the Kwun Tong Town Centre project is expected to deliver a total floor area of 400,000 square metres, comprising 210,000 square metres for commercial, 160,000 squares metres for residential and 32,000 square metres for Government / Institution / Community purposes. Besides, there will be 8,700 square metres of me-

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ticulously landscaped and sculptured open space for the en-

The town centre’s infrastructure, in particular, its sewage system, public transport and green space, have fallen far below modern day requirements.

joyment of the public. Mainstream public opinion collected during the public consultations has been used as the cornerstone of the final design.

The north-east of Kwun Tong Road, which will comprise of two sites, namely the Main Site and Yuet Wah Street Site. The two sites are rezoned "Comprehensive Development Area� which is intended for comprehensive development / redevelopment of the area for residential, Government and / or commercial users with the provision of open space and other community and supporting facilities.

Question to ponder: What are the features of the urban renewal plan of Kwun Tong Town Centre?

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Is it really necessary to redevelop the old town of Kwun Tong?

A modern and dynamic town centre: “The People’s Choice”

Residents had too many discontents about their poor living conditions in Kwun Tong. Below are some examples.

1.Long history of development: the old Kwun Tong Town Centre was built in the 1960s with dilapidated buildings shown by peeling off exterior walls, lack of maintenance and wornout structures. Therefore, repairs and maintenance works have become increasingly ineffective and costly.

2.There is risk of fire or collapse due to over-crowding conditions and illegal rooftop structures.

3.Unsatisfactory living conditions caused by poor hygiene, leakage of water pipe and sewage pipes, improper waste disposal, aging building infrastructures

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4.Substandard living conditions shown by presence of cubicle flats and caged houses 5.Chaotic traffic caused by inadequate space for transport interchange, narrow roads, insufficient parking space and traffic jams.

6.Absence of urban planning causing land-use conflicts

“Active participation of the local community is crucial.”

The Reconstruction work Reconstructing Kwun Tong into a modern downtown can either build consummate recreational facilities in community, or supply land for commercial buildings in order to serve people in Kwun Tong and East Kowloon, which aimed at converting Kwun Tong into a centre gathered entertainment, commerce, transport. After constructed new buildings and finer transport networks, it will provide more chances for employment.

Owing to its large scale, complexity and potential impact on Kwun Tong as a whole, the planning and design of the town’s redevelopment necessarily involves an inordinate amount of work. This includes the preparatory work relating to financial feasibility study, statutory planning process and preparation, architectural design as well as co-ordination with government departments and public utility companies concerned. More importantly, it is necessary to obtain active participation of the local community.

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Is Kwun Tong Town Centre a sustainable city?

Major design features of the project are re-

is expected to deliver a total floor area of

sults of an extensive consultation with the

400,000 square metres, comprising

community, which include landmark fea-

210,000 square metres for commercial,

tures of a modernistic design, increased

160,000 squares metres for residential and

open space and greening, comprehensive

32,000 square metres for Government/

community and commercial services as

Institution/Community purposes. Besides,

well as community-friendly features such

there will be 8,700 square metres of me-

as street and bazaar in traditional "kaifong-

ticulously landscaped and sculptured open

style".

space for the enjoyment of the public.

Occupying a total site area of 5.35 hectares, the Kwun Tong Town Centre project

Mainstream public opinion collected during the public consultations has been used as the cornerstone of the final design.

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In particular, 12 major features have been incorporated to reflect the aspirations of the community. These include: 1. diversified build-form and architecture for community, commercial and residential purposes, ranging from modernistic and landmark features to traditional kaifong-style street and bazaar; 2. a reasonable plot ratio commensurate with a town centre for the 600,000 population of Kwun Tong; 3. appropriate building height to free up more public open space on the ground; 4. landmarks in the form of an oval-shaped multi-purpose civic centre, an iconic commercial tower and a cone-shaped glass atrium for the public transport interchange; 5.

a terraced -garden design with abundant water features;

6.

green coverage of almost 30 percent of the site area;

7. enlarging the Yue Man Square Rest Garden by four times and preservation of the old trees; 8. an all-weather integrated public transport interchange that enables the entire site to become car-free in the open areas; 9. using a building set-back design to widen the roads and pedestrian paths, and oer better views for all buildings surrounding the site; 10. placing the commercial complex along Kwun Tong road as noise barrier for residential blocks in the north;

11. priority to be given to the reprovisioning of government buildings; and 12. a sophisticated network of footbridges and tunnels to enhance connectivity between the site and the surrounding.

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The reconstruction of Kwun Tong Town Centre is in line with the principles of sustainable development. It benefits dierent stakeholders from economic, social and environmental perspectives. Equally, it may bring negative impacts which are the costs of sustainable development.

Stakeholders

Benefits

Local residents

- improve living standard and housing quality - upgrade existing infrastructure and transport facilities - provide more open space for community - provide more job opportunities - more effective land use planning can avoid land use conflicts - better social image of Kwun Tong - better environmental quality, e.g. better air flow, air quality and aesthetic quality of Kwun Tong

- may lose their close neighbourhoods and social ties - the elderly find it difficult to adapt to a new environment - resettlement is too far away as some residents are resettled to new towns - the collapse of cultural heritage and collective memories

- some have much compensation to relocate their businesses - there may be more customer flow after redevelopment

- may lose their customers and some small indigenous retail shops may close down - not quite possible to start business in original place due to higher land rent

Shop owners

Land developers

Environmentalists

Harms

- resumption of large piece of land is easy for comprehensive redevelopment scheme - may not be interested in preserving old - better utilization of land in the old town buildings and retain local colour - a variety of land uses available for raising profits - increasing amount of green areas in the town centre - more open space to improve air flow and quality - presence of major transport interchange to reduce traffic jams and thus improve air quality - preserve collective memories of the Kwun Tong people such as the big trees

- various types of pollution exist during the construction work

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2 Kwun Tong as a second CBD

“Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, donec ornare vitae.”

– Leo Venenatis

Transformation of Kwun Tong into a commercial district

CBD refers to Central Business District. It

In Hong Kong, there is a CBD and it is Cen-

is located at the heart of the city with a

tral. It is located at the North West part of

high concentration of commercial build-

the Hong Kong Island. There is a great con-

ings. Also, CBD usually located at the

centration of skyscrapers. Also there is a

meeting point of the city’s transport sys-

high proportion of commercial land use.

tems.

There is a high proportion of commercial land use than other land uses. Also the accessibility of this district is the highest among the city which leads to high land values.

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In 1981, industrial land use dominated most of the land south of Kwun Tong Road and the MTR line. It shows that Kwun Tong was an important industrial district in the past. During 1970s-1980s, the main type of industry is manufacturing industries. In Kwun tong, there were lots of textile and cloth-making factories. The importance of industry was fading out in the late 1980s, many factories have moved to Zhu Jiang delta or Guangzhou. Starting from 1990 early, because of the decline of manufacturing sector in Hong Kong, many factories have been pulled down. Conversely, on the north of Kwun Tong Road, most land was residential and mixed commercial-residential land uses. The proximity of industrial and residential land uses shows that local Kwun Tong residents could save much transport cost from home to work. It was equally easy for factories to recruit suďŹƒcient labour for production.

In 2013, most of the land use south of Kwun Tong Road was converted to commercial land use. The land along major highway and road junctions was more profitable for commercial development due to high accessibility. Some commercial land use is also found along the coast due to better sea view. All these can raise the land value and only commercial land use can aord to be located there.

With the development of tertiary industry, these factories were replaced by commercial buildings. There are more OďŹƒces and workshop in Kwun Tong. Also, the government wanted to build up a commercial centre in Kwun Tong in order to develop a second CBD in Hong Kong.

The cargo handling area disappeared in 2013 due to less usage. The vacant land is preserved for the development of waterfront promenade. It is expected that the proportion of commercial land use may further increase, transforming Kwun Tong from an industrial centre to a business centre.

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What makes Kwun Tong a second CBD?

Favourable locational factors for develop second CBD in Kwun Tong Factor/Place

Kwun Tong

Central

Accessibility

LOW

HIGH

Kwun Tong MTR Station Bus Terminus

Central MTR Station Bus Terminus

LOW

HIGH

Mainly residential housing building

Mainly modern and tall building Skyscraper

Building density

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ECONOMIC FACTOR Due to high accessibility, it is occupied by high concentration of shopping mall in Kwun Tong like APM. The business which have higher income and use small amount of space can bid a high price for the land in or-­‐ der to gain more proKit. Therefore, the land value would become higher.

Due to further expansion, the commercial buildings in Kwun Tong are adjacent to some industrial factories.

Because of the industrial development, it provided a lot of job opportunities to people.

Most of the people are attracted to come to Kwun Tong for working.

TRANSPORT FACTOR The commercial centres in Kwun Tong de-­‐ velop at the road junction, e.g. Kwun Tong Road.

Kwun Tong has a Well-­‐developed trans-­‐ port network, such as Kwun Tong MTR Station, Bus Terminal. The development of transport network causes high-­‐income residential to relocate in the suburbs of the city. It is well-­‐linked to main urban ar-­‐ eas as there is railway station and there are rails lines link with Tseung Kwan O line and it can travel to Hong Kong island.

ment of living place will be better for the local residents.

GOVERNMENT FACTOR Government can make the Kinal decision on the use of the land. The transforma-­‐ tion from old industrial areas to commer-­‐ cial district in Kwun Tong is favourable to develop CBD. In order to develop Kwun Tong as CBD, Energizing Kowloon East OfKice (EKEO) was set up to take responsibility for Ener-­‐ gizing Kowloon East project.

To make Kwun Tong to become an attrac-­‐ tive commercial centre, government intro-­‐ duced measures to revitalize industrial buildings in Hong Kong and 33 applica-­‐ tions have been approved for wholesale conversion or redevelopment and 16 of them are located in Kwun Tong and Kow-­‐ loon Bay. These industrial buildings would be converted into ofKices, shop and services, and hotels. A diversiKied and self-­‐contained community could be found. They provide job opportunities, encourage the development of tourism, so the Kierce competition in Kwun Tong could be risen and beneKit to develop CBD.

Also, there are 3 main tunnels for trans-­‐ portation uses and they are Eastern Ha-­‐ bour Tunnel, Tate’s Cairn Tunnel, and the Tseung Kwan O tunnel. They are linked up with route 2, which is located at the centre of Kwun Tong.

People can afford high commuting cost from living place to workplace.

SOCIAL FACTOR With the decrease in the number of facto-­‐ ries, the air quality of Kwun Tong has been improving. The government is plan-­‐ ning to plant more trees, so the environ-­‐

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What are the benefits and impacts of developing Kwun Tong into a second CBD? ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVE The main land uses in Kwun tong is residential and industrial land use. Development will fur-­‐ ther change the land use pattern of Kwun Tong. There would be decay in industrial land use as commercial activities are more attractive.

Due to the growth of population, developing CBD is good for Kwun Tong. It could provide a lot of job opportunities to local when high concentration are found in Kwun Tong, such as ofKices, retail shops and hotels.

Moreover, Kwun Tong has a well-­‐developed transport network, so people would try to work in there because of convenience. For example, Kwun Tong is link with Tseung Kwan O line and Island line.

Also, most of the industrial buildings in Kwun Tong have con-­‐ verted into commercial buildings which include different types of business just like pet shops, clothes shops, party room services and Kishing products. It encourages more peo-­‐ ple do the business by them. The economic Kierce competition can be enhanced in Hong Kong.

Higher concentration of shopping malls like APM can earn more proKit to Hong Kong in order to improve the economy of Hong Kong. Besides, it can attract local and tourists come to these shopping malls for shopping. It can help the tourism in-­‐ dustry to earn more proKit.

ENVIORNMENTAL PERSPECTIVE POSITIVE: The new design of Kwun Tong as CBD is urban greening, it can improve in the part of streetscape greening and public open space with planting more trees.

Connectivity is one of the main purposes of developing Kwun Tong as CBD. The monorail and pedestrian bridges are built with the Environmentally Friendly Linkage System (EFLS) in order to provide infra-­‐district linkage.

Redeveloping dilapidated buildings into new buildings with modern standard and environmentally-­‐friendly design can im-­‐

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prove the urban greening.

NEGATIVE: It might cause various types of pollution.

Air pollution is one type of them. It occurred when cars like private cars produce dioxide, car-­‐ bon monoxide and respirable suspended particulates (RSP). More smog which produces at seri-­‐ ous air pollution problem reduce the visibility and interrupts air and water transport like air-­‐ craft and ferry respectively. Moreover, the building in CBD usually are tall and skyscrapers and high building density, so Urban Heat Island Effect are occurred.

Land pollution is found if the construction of commercial buildings is processed and solid wastes and sewage are produced.

SOCIAL PERSPECTIVE

POSITIVE: A well-­‐planned arrangement of land use on developing CBD is beneKicial to Kwun Tong. The diversiKied activities and facilities are added into developing Kwun Tong, such as waters and marine facilities. Alfresco dining, water ac-­‐ tivities and entertainment facilities can enhance vibrancy in Kwun Tong.

They also provide entertainment to both the local and tourist in order to improve on the development in Hong Kong. High concentration of shopping mall can offer daily necessities to them too. Therefore, self-­‐contained and bal-­‐ anced community in Kwun Tong is developed.

NEGATIVE: There is still has some old industrial factories, causing run-­‐down parts in the old urban area of a modern place, i.e. CBD. Kwun Tong residents are mainly low-­‐income group and middle-­‐ income group, but high-­‐income group would be found after developing Kwun Tong as CBD. This may lead to unequally development of Kowloon East with different communities.

Due to large amount of factories are moved out to mainland, restructuring of economy in Kwun Tong has changed into a knowledge-­‐based economy. Some of the workers with low level educa-­‐ tion may not be employed.

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