Introduction of the revitalization scheme launched by the HKSAR government
The scheme of revitalisation of industrial buildings was announced by the Government of Hong Kong in 2009. The aims of the scheme is to provide more floor spaces for suitable uses in order to meet Hong Kong’s changing social and economical needs. The scheme was implemented since April 1, 2010. There was a mid-term review of the scheme in September 2011. Afterwards, the deadline for submission of applications was extended from March 31, 2013 to March 31, 2016.
Contents
- Introduction of the revitalization scheme launched by the HKSAR government
- Background
- The implementation process of the revitalization scheme
- Types of businesses
- Food
- Entertainment
- Sports
- Arts
- Security
- Low incentive for owners
- References
Background
The revitalisation of industrial buildings has been in progress in areas under the urban renewal project. For instance, Kwun Tong, Sham Shui Po and Kwai Chung . There are several reasons, leading to the change of landuse and the start of the scheme. These include the evolving economy, the rental prices and prices of purchasing offices had tremendously increased in the past decades, leading to the winding down of traditional manufacturing industries. Under numerous circumstances, especially because of the economic factors as mentioned, many factories were relocated to Mainland China. As a result, many industrial buildings have become vacant or under-utilised. The vacancy rate of industrial buildings was 6.7% in December 2007 indicating that there was a waste of valuable land resources in the area. In order to solve this problem and better utilize resources, a re-allocation of resources was needed. Thus, the Lands Department implemented the conversion of industrial buildings to other uses. Different kinds of businesses have been set up in these buildings and has become prosperous. Since these buildings are geographically and economically favourable to different businesses. This made the conversion more efficient and created job opportunities. Revitalisation of industrial buildings is obviously cost-effective and beneficial to owners and labours in Hong Kong.
The implementation process of the revitalization scheme
In September 2014, there were in total 100 approved applications under the revitalization measures. There are two kinds of applications in this scheme, namely wholesale conversion and redevelopment. The applications of redevelopment are mainly located in Kwun Tong, Kwai Chung, Cheung Sha Wan, Yau Tong and Wong Chuk Hang while the first two places are at the same time for wholesale conversion. The uses for the industrial buildings have become more diversified.
Types of businesses
In recent years, there is a variety of businesses opening in the revitalized industrial buildings. They can be mainly classified within the following commercial sectors: food, entertainment, sports and arts.
Food
Since the rent has gone up sharply in Hong Kong, many restaurants have started to operate their own businesses in the industrial buildings, especially underground restaurants, which is a kind of home catering that features unique recipes. These particular kind of restaurants mainly promote tranquility eating environments, which are suited to the isolated environment of the industrial buildings. Cooking classes are also held in these enormous spaces. In addition, in order to meet these current trends, the industrial buildings attract a lot of organic food laboratories and resellers. The large-scale environment is ample for the business owners to obtain large machines to breed seafood and plant organic vegetables.
Entertainment
For babies and toddlers, there are customized playgrounds for play. Birthday parties are frequently held with educational games catering for infants. For teenagers, ghost houses and escaping games are slightly offbeat venues for gatherings. For adults, wine cellars are also a place for people to pursue the quality of life. People can taste wines and even DIY own wines.
Sports
Sports activities can commonly be found inside revitalised industrial buildings in Hong Kong, examples include: golf, archery and martial arts. Fitness centres have gained favourable reception by Hong Kong people as well. Unlike some existing sports clubs, sports activities in revitalised industrial buildings are mass-oriented. Customers can enjoy the fun of doing sports at the same time with a relatively lower cost. This interests not only sports lovers but also families that bring their kids to take part in leisure activities.
Arts
Despite the fact that Hong Kong is often referred to as a ‘Cultural Desert’, the development of art is thriving in revitalised industrial buildings. Art studios, workshops and music studios became ‘must-have’ items in those buildings. Painting sessions and free art-jamming are offered to people who wanted to escape their busy life and be immersed in tranquility. On the other hand, workshops for leather-making or other hand-made products are provided so that people can showcase their creativity. From the musical perspective, customers can have opportunities to create music and jam, and enjoy band performances. For example, there are live houses in Kwun Tong industrial area that provides performance venue for local singers and bands.
Security
After the launch of the revitalization scheme, owners can apply to the Lands Department for changing its usage of his premises. The department has insufficient monitoring of these industrial buildings after the approval. Different varieties of businesses like holiday inns, arts studios and sport centres are developed making the department hard to control. Some owners develop businesses via this administrative loophole, running cubicles, casinos and mahjong clubs, creating many security problems for the building. Triad societies and gang activities may immerse in these buildings and may affect public order . Some cubicles have poor fire control facilities and have the potential to cause injuries and death when a fire breakout.
Low incentive for owners
Many owners of industrial buildings are reluctant to carry out revitalization. Firstly, due to the location and environment of the premises, for instance, no windows or sunlight hinders the transformation of buildings for other business purposes such as inns and hotels. Secondly, owners have to bear the huge cost for revitalization, so they may illegally to choose to make unauthorized changes to their industrial buildings for commercial use to save cost. Thirdly, the scope of the new businesses is limited, as it is hard for people to know the existence of the shops and thus requires a large advertising cost, which hinders the expansion of the businesses. Therefore, many owners prefer to leave buildings vacant rather than taking costly and time-consuming action for revitalization.