Rendering of proposed redevelopment; URA pamphlet

The Urban Renewal Agency (URA) has bought out the entire area of Kwun Tong, aiming to construct a mix-use building complex consisting of several 40 to 50 story tall residential towers, a hotel and office tower as well as open space plazas, and of course, a mall.

Although URA has already begun their phase 1, they have yet to remove all of the buildings.  Through a contact in the agency, I was able to visit a couple of abandoned buildings having “unauthorized building works (UBWs)”- meaning illegal and unauthorized subdivisions that have taken place in the buildings. In  their majority, these UBWs are actually rooftop settlements.

As surprising as it is to see informal settlements on rooftops in a city and that lives through laws of eradication/reconstruction and a strong government control, it is even more surprising to see that many of these rooftop settlements are actually quite organized and consolidated! The type of rooftop construction depends on the type of building and their building managers… Generally speaking, there are two scenarios:

CASE 1: For some of the more consolidated and organized rooftops, where one primarily sees concrete constructions, there is a landlord in the building who had the idea and initiative of taking over the roof and subdividing it. After subdivisions were made, “lots” were either sold or developed and rented as units.

CASE 2: For others cases, the settlements began similar as shantytowns, squatting on the rooftops, and perhaps establishing informal agreements and/or rent with the building owners/tenants. In this case, the construction looks more like temporary construction using corrugated metal sheets, plastic bags and wood for structure (case 2).

In regards to the *case 1* structures, which are the type of rooftop settlements that I was able to enter, the subdivisions follow the original building plan Read More…

BRIEF OVERVIEW

Located on the eastern end of the Pearl River Delta region in the Southern coast of China, Hong Kong houses approximately 7 million people in an area of 1090 square km.

Hong Kong became a colony of the British Empire following the First Opium War in the mid XIX century. In 1898, the colony’s borders were extended passed Hong Kong Island to include Kowloon Peninsula and the New Territories. During the Pacific war (World War II) the island witnessed a 3-year Japanese occupation, later returning British control, which resumed until 1997 when Hong Kong was given back to China. Today, based on Deng Xioping’s: “One country, two systems,” Hong Kong has had a different political system from the socialist system in Mainland China. Once depending on salt trade and fish sauce production, Hong Kong is now a major capitalist service economy, and one of the world’s leading international financial centers (although it seems that little by little Hong Kong is slowly drifting closer to mainland China’s rules and operations).

PUBLIC HOUSING

In 1951, after Japanese occupation, Hong Kong was in political and socio- economic instability. Food rationing was imposed and housing shortages became apparent as new migrants continued to move into the city. In order to accommodate the increase in population, existing houses were subdivided between Read More…