1 Hanoi Road project lacks open public space, says green group
Paggie Leung, SCMP 26 March 2008

Green Sense chairman Roy Tam compares the original 1999 design of the Hanoi Road project to the way it is now being built. Photo: Jonathan Wong. Source: SCMP
 
An environmental group criticised the design of the Hanoi Road redevelopment project yesterday, saying the public open space is either covered or under a footbridge.

"The quality of this open space is poor. Most of the area is covered by shelters which are 10 metres from the ground, while 97 square metres of it is under a four-storey-high footbridge," Green Sense president Roy Tam Hoi-pong said.

"An ideal public open space should be open and without any shelter ... Sunlight should be able to reach the area, too."

Still under construction, the 68-storey redevelopment project in Tsim Sha Tsui will include about 1,200 square metres of public open space, trees, potted and hanging plants, sculptures, water features and seating.

Green Sense said the public open space - about 16 metres wide - was more like a covered walkway than a space for the public to use.

The group pointed out that the initial plan adopted in 1999 by the Lands Development Corporation - the predecessor of the Urban Renewal Authority - did not include the footbridge. But the design had been amended seven times since then.

It also said the original design of the building was oval-shaped and was 80 metres wide. However, the newly built tower is now rectangular and 112 metres wide.

"The air quality of Tsim Sha Tsui is already bad and, with the tower almost as huge as stacking three football pitches on each other, the air ventilation is affected," Mr Tam said.

"It also blocks the sunlight and makes the surrounding area darker."

The government should monitor the quality of the public open spaces in private development projects, he suggested.

A URA spokesman said the master plan of the redevelopment project, adopted in 2003, had been approved by the Town Planning Board.

The authority said the building of the footbridge was in line with town planning procedures, which did not require a public consultation to add it to the master layout plan.

Undertaken by New World Development and the URA, the site comprises a hotel, serviced apartments and shopping centres. It is bounded by Hanoi Road, Mody Road, Bristol Avenue and Carnarvon Road.

New World was not available for comment.

Green Sense also criticised the design of Vision City in Tsuen Wan, saying the open space was surrounded by buildings and shopping arcades.

Mr Tam added that open space should be easily recognised so people would know it was for public use.

2 URA plans work in phases to stop market from dying
Olga Wong, SCMP 26 March 2008

Redevelopment surrounding the 150-year-old Graham Street market will be undertaken in phases and more incentives will be offered to encourage hawkers to stay on during the reconstruction, the Urban Renewal Authority said yesterday.

The moves - aimed at addressing the public's desire for the historic open market to be preserved - would lengthen the redevelopment period and increase the cost, it said.

A study due to be completed in July will give details.

The authority's director of planning and design, Michael Ma Chiu-tsee, said the measures would ensure the market would not die.

Activists welcomed the changes but doubted they went far enough, while a district councillor said a revision of the government's policy on hawker licences was crucial to help preserve the market.

Apart from redeveloping the three sites in phases, two three-storey blocks at the junction of Gage Street and Graham Street will be made available for affected shops in the wet market, including stores that sell flowers, vegetables and poultry.

The two buildings, providing more than 10,000 sq ft for wet stores, differ from the usual design of public markets by providing shops at street level. Storage areas are available for hawkers to rent. The two buildings will also act as temporary business sites for shops during the redevelopment. Under the arrangement, shops from a demolished site will be allowed to move into the two buildings or other site areas.

Mr Ma said tenants would be given discounted rents for shops within the site areas to continue their business. The authority also promised to continue existing contracts with shop tenants even though the stores had been acquired by the authority.

"The market will not die under the new arrangement," he said. "Eighty per cent of the acquired shops are still running their businesses."

All 50 affected hawkers would be able to stay if they did not surrender their licences to the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department. "We will continue to provide the water and electricity supply to hawkers," Mr Ma said, adding the authority would meet the department on the possibility of renewing the licences.

Responding to a counter-proposal submitted to the Town Planning Board last month by the concern group World City Committee, the authority said that proposal provided smaller areas of public open space and for a community hall.

The concern group proposed leaving the old market undisturbed while allowing the tenement buildings along the market to be retained or redeveloped individually. The group also proposed a lower density for the three redevelopment sites. The Town Planning Board will discuss the proposal next month.

"We welcome the amendment made to the initial plan," said the joint director of the concern group, Amil Khan. But he insisted the old market would inevitably disappear during the redevelopment.