中西區區議會文件第24/2019號—呈枱文件一 C&W DC Paper No. 24/2019 - Tabled Annex I 1 March 2019

To the Chief Executive of the HKSAR Government, Secretary for Development, Under Secretary for Development, Deputy Secretary for Development (Planning & Lands)

Dear Mrs Carrie Lam, Mr Michael Wong, Mr Liu Chun San and Miss Doris Ho,

We would like to draw your attention to recent developments that will have a significant impact on the neighbourhood, part of the Urban Renewal Authority’s H19 project area and prominently listed in the 2018 Policy Address under ‘Heritage Conservation’.

The neighbourhood surrounding Shing Wong Street (城皇街), being part of the historic Thirty Houses (卅間) area, is extremely rich in history. It is where Dr Sun Yat-sen lived and was baptised and educated when he was living in Hong Kong in the 1880s. Located at the heart of the Sun Yat- sen Historical Trail, Shing Wong Street is listed for grading and is surrounded by graded historic buildings including the PMQ (former Police Married Quarters and site of former Central School) and the News Expo (former Market). Along Shing Wong Street, the old granite steps, clusters of post-war tenement or ‘tong lau’ buildings (the largest and oldest post- war cluster in Central) and tree-lined terraces all exude an air of history. It is a historic neighbourhood which deserves careful conservation.

On 3 January 2019, the URA presented a scheme for the H19 project to the Central & Western District Council. Its proposals include refurbishing the existing tong laus for social housing and other uses, constructing new low-rise buildings in some of the open spaces for retail, F&B and other uses, and maintain a small open space for public use. During a subsequent District Council urban renewal working group meeting (14 February 2019), a URA representative told the members that the above will not be a conservation project and there will not be any conservation management plan to guide the project.

We are extremely concerned about the URA’S approach as it does not comply with the 2018 Policy Address. The Policy Address clearly designated the planning and revitalisation of this neighbourhood under Heritage Conservation.

Under this new initiative of the Development Bureau, “the Urban Renewal Authority, having conserved the buildings in , will carry out further study with a view to revitalising the building clusters with special character and urban fabric under the whole /Wing Lee Street Project (H19) so as to promote place making and synergise with nearby revitalisation projects.” (Policy Agenda, Chapter 5, P. 143)

The policy directive indeed recognises the historic value that members of the community have placed in this neighbourhood. It echoes a motion adopted by the Central & Western District Council on 16 March 2017 (Paper No. 35/2017) that called for conservation: “preserve the existing community ambience”, “the URA should also give up the H19 redevelopment project to allow complete preservation of the distinctive architectural complex by the property owners”. The URA, being the owner of various properties in H19, must therefore be very careful in conserving the unique ‘tong lau’ buildings and the historic urban landscape in this neighbourhood.

URA’s refurbishment of the tong laus on Wing Lee Street has been criticised by many (including conservation and cultural tourism professionals) for stripping the unique character of individual tong laus and resulting in a monotonous row of buildings. It will be a pity if the same approach will be repeated in the rest of H19. To make matters worse, the design concepts for the new buildings and public open spaces, as proposed by the URA, lack any consideration for the neighborhood context and the historic fabric and urban landscape.

The new initiative by the Development Bureau as outlined in the 2018 Policy Address provides a great opportunity to implement a new vision of heritage conservation - the area-based approach. Hong Kong’s conservation sector identified the need for developing from single monument/ single building conservation to area and urban conservation approaches in order to preserve the city’s culture and heritage values. A conservation management plan is a necessary tool to identify heritage values and identify the necessary conservation approach, not only for graded buildings but also for significant urban areas. If a conservation management plan would have been used for Wing Lee Street, many of the obvious mistakes could have been prevented. The area-based approach would prevent a repeat of these mistakes by learning from the past and by showcasing best practice for improved future projects. Specifically, we would like to propose the following steps in conserving this area:

1) To give the H19 area an appropriate zoning which reflects its historic value, for example Special Design Area (Heritage Conservation) with height restrictions and conservation guidelines. 2) To prepare a conservation management plan to guide the restoration of tong laus and cultural landscape in this area. Conservation professionals have to be engaged to identify character defining elements and heritage values, including social value. Both the tangible and intangible values of the area have to be clearly defined before any revitalization/development planning commences. 3) To preserve the greenery in this area - the trees within the URA’s fenced-off space on Shing Wong Street (No. 6A&B) have contributed to a beautiful green setting for the neighbourhood for many years. All the existing trees should be retained to preserve this valuable green breathing space for the community. 4) Regarding the existing vacant sites fenced-off by the URA (Shing Wong St No. 8-10, Wa In Fong East No. 16), the Government should ask the URA to conduct immediate works to open up these vacant spaces for public uses (for recreation, community gardens etc). This would relieve the shortage of local open space in the district (the San Ying Pun and Outline Zoning Plan has a deficit in local open space) and create an attractive environment for a neighbourhood which is fast becoming a cultural destination for locals and visitors. This should be done in a manner that makes minimal change to existing landscape and historic fabric. 5) Instead of erecting new buildings to fill up these open spaces as suggested by the URA, it is more advisable to adopt a phased approach: a) First, restore the existing tong laus, housing new residents on upper floors and new community uses on ground levels. This will bring much needed life and activity to the neighborhood. b) Secondly, only after rehabilitation of the tong laus and allowing a period of time for the effects of this rehabilitation to clearly present themselves, one could then consider whether there is a need for additional buildings on the vacant lots. Rushed, poorly considered new building projects carry an enormous risk of irreversibly damaging this sensitive and historic neighbourhood. A careful detailed architectural and design study should be conducted and the public duly consulted before decision is made. The design process should also follow the guidelines set out in the conservation management plan.

We would like to take the opportunity to make the Government aware of the proposal for a “Community Living Room” for the vacant government lot on No. 6 Shing Wong Street submitted by Friends of the 30 Houses Neighbourhood to the Lands Department in October 2018. This proposal supports the new initiative by the Development Bureau in the 2018 Policy Address to utilise vacant government sites by nongovernmental organisations for short-term non-profit-making community purposes. The proposal aims at providing immediate improvement to the neighbourhood through making available a community space for public enjoyment. Friends of the 30 Houses Neighbourhood is committed to mobilising community efforts to take care of this space and to provide a conservation-related programme to the public. This space could potentially be the first to open up to the community should the Government approve the application.

We hope this submission could provide the Government with a sense of how members of the community cherish the Shing Wong Street and 30 Houses Neighbourhood and how we would like to ensure that the conservation and revitalisation process could be implemented with care. Your consideration will be greatly appreciated.

Attached please find a document prepared by Sjoerd Hoekstra explaining the reasons for conserving this neighbourhood.

Thank you for your kind attention and we look forward to receiving your reply.

Best regards, Katty Law Convener, Central & Western Concern Group and Friends of the 30 Houses Neighbourhood

Sjoerd Hoekstra Curator, Friends of the 30 Houses Neighbourhood Msc (Architectural Conservation), ICOMOS (Netherlands), DOCOMOMO, HKICON

Gesa Schwantes Director, Architectural Conservation Laboratory, HKU Urban Labs, Faculty of Architecture, The University of Hong Kong. Private conservation consultant at Gesa Schwantes Conservation Consultancy (GSCC) and previous tenant of Wing Lee Street No. 9

Kit Yeung Member, Friends of the 30 Houses Neighbourhood M.Phil (HKUST), Cert. in Landscape Design, HKU SPACE, ISA Certified Arborist