The ABCs of the Sham Shui Po renewal plan

The Sham Shui Po urban renewal project will feature land use planning and redevelopment projects of an unprecedented scale. The proposed region of redevelopment covers the area North of Boundary Street in Prince Edward to the South of Hing Wah Street in Cheung Sha Wan, overseeing 130 acres of urban land, with proposed change for up to 1800 buildings. It is predicted that the livelihoods of up to a hundred thousand citizens will be affected.

One would imagine that a project of considerable scale would be publicized and broadcasted on mainstream media, yet the Urban Renewal Authority (URA) took an alternative approach as if they were trying to sneak the details of the Sham Shui Po project under the radar of all stakeholders involved. Wai Chi Sing, the managing director of the URA, announced the commencement of the Sham Shui Po renewal project through a blog post published on the URA news center website, Wai states that proprietors (who own property in structures built over 30 years situated within the district) will receive building assessment surveys soon, while street interviews and meetings with stakeholders of significance will be conducted in the foreseeable future to gather intel on how the development project shall progress, much of methodology and vision for the project is discussed. Though only planned redevelopment in areas such as Ap Liu Street, Tai Nam Street and Kweilin Street are specified. Speculations of possible gentrification and commercialization within the district arise.

Urban planning detached from the people

The authorities’ Intent to neglect the participation of the people and the overall opacity of the announced plans related to the Urban renewal project caught many by surprise, including Sham Shui Po district Councilor, Jay Li Ting Fung.

Li revealed that the memo that was sent to the office from the URA was not dissimilar to the blog post accessible to the public. Not much details were enclosed to the councilors. Li did however receive a QR code attached to the document sent from the URA, of which he discovered was a link to a questionnaire and a feedback form yet