Sustainable development
Cultural Preservation in HK
What is Sustainable development?
• Sustainable development,
according to the World
Commission on
Environment and
Development, is :
• "development that
meets the needs of the
present without
compromising the
ability of future
generations to meet
their own needs." ["Our
Common Future", 1987]
A Video concerning
Sustainable development
• http://webcast.info.gov.hk/20
03/sdu_c.ram
The need of Hong Kong to achieve
cultural preservation
• Hong Kong have long historical background:
•
•
•
•
Middle stone age(c.4000-2500.BC)historical Site are found
6,000 years from now
－＞ valuable to historical studies
- we should utilize this advantage and generate economical
profits as long as preserving the site for our next generations.
•
Hong Kong was known as a place with rapid development for
immediate economic returns, therefore heritage conservation
was often neglected.
•
Many beautiful historical buildings were demolished for
redevelopment, either
by private owners (e.g. the popular Lee Theatre),or
by the government (e.g. the old Tsim Sha Tsui Railway Station).
Heritage and nature conservation has long been neglected while
there are such a great conflict between different landuse,
•
•
•
Therefore, there are great needs of Hong Kong to protect the
site with cultural and historical values in a sustainable way.
Role of Heritage Preservation in Sustainable
Development
•
•
The historical sites are the “Objective reminders of cognitive presence and
help us formulate the path to the future.”
(1) As urban theorist Aldo Kossi says, “the city is the collective memory of
the people”
•
(2). Only with proper self identity, we would be able to realize that our
heritage is part of us and what we do now will become part of our future and
that of our future generations, and then we would endeavor to advocate for a
sustainable development.
•
In the 1999 Policy Address, our Chief Executive clearly stated that :
•
“it is important to rehabilitate and preserve unique buildings as this is not
only accords with our objective of sustainable development but also
facilitates the retention of the inherent characteristics of different districts,
and helps promote tourism.
•
Theconcept of preserving our heritage should be incorporated into all
projects forredeveloping old areas.”
(4) With a changing vision in heritage conservation,
•
• How can we achieve this objective in the future development
of Hong Kong?
What have been done?
• The Antiquities and Monuments Ordinance, Cap.
53(1976)
• to provide legal justifications for the declaration of
monuments.
• Antiquities Advisory Board / the Antiquities and
Monuments Office to enforce the Ordinance.
• Home Affairs Bureau
• oversees heritage policies and strategies.
monitoring the preservation of cultural heritage
•  promoting heritage education.
• Sites with outstanding historical and architectural
merits would be declared as Monuments and put
under statutory protection.
• Environmental Impact Assessment Ordinance (EIAO)
(1998) provides protection to the built heritage in
Hong Kong
•  put Hong Kong a pioneer in the Southeast Asian
region in respect of environmental legislation.
Heritage Preservation
Successful example
Introduction
• Most of the buildings are found a
number of pre-war buildings in and
around Wan Chai, Yau Ma Tei,
Mong Kok, Sham Shui Po and
Central and Western.
• Some of those buildings are already
graded by the Antiquities and
Monuments' Office as historical
buildings.
Case 1
Western Market
•
•
•
•
Location : Sheung Wan
Description: A four-storey European-styled building
Completion year: 1906
The building was identified by AMO as one of the Declared Monuments
in 1990. At present, it is the oldest market building in Hong Kong.
Case 1 Western Market
•
•
•
•
Conservation
Tourism
Economy
Urban environment
Why we should perserve
our• Historical
heritage?
heritage is important to a city’s
identity and character. When a historical
• building is demolished, the loss is irrevocable.
If Hong Kong is really to become Asia’s World
City, we must preserve our valuable cultural
heritage.
Constraints of Heritage Preservation In HK
-(1) Constraints of institutional framework
- inadequate funding
- government decisions toward land use are departmentalised
- e.g in Town planning ordinace, there is no reference to protection of
- historical buildings
-(2) Oppositions of developers and businessmen
- historical building are susceptible to urban development
- they want to maximize proftits only, showing little care of cultural preservation
- e.g Murray House was dismantled for the building of Bank of China due to
-developers’ oppositions
-(3) Constraints in preserving privately owned buildings
- consent of owners are needed for preservation
- owners may prefer gains from demolishment for redevelopment to reservation
- government need a large sum to purchase the heritage and huge cost in preserving it
-(4) Lack of public awareness of heritage conservation
- less-educated people have little sense of heritage preservation
- people concern more about basic utilities,e.g housing,medical,school,recreation ,etc
- heritage becomes an aesthetic luxury among professional elites and interested
-minorities
Case study:
紅樓
尊崇中山 保護紅樓
The red chamber was located at Tun Mun
At the end of the Qing this place are
unvisited, the external communication
only depended on the waterway,
therefore the red chamber then became
the xing zhong hui revolution party
member's connecting point
Because the red chamber play an
important role to the Chinese national
revolution
The building also have great historical
status as it symbolize the revolutionary
ideas.
In the park, there are also bronze statue of
Mr Sun and some carvings in order to
memorize him.
1994 :many local patriotic association request to list the red chamber as the
historical site. They suggested that the site should be protected.
1995 :the Hong Kong government antiques historical site advisory
committee decided the suggestion listed the red chamber as the legal
historical site
1995 May: Government decided to develop the red chamber area as a
historical park.
After 1997, Recreational and cultural department and the antiques historical
site office, for many years have lacked the incentive to follow up thework.
At present, because the red chamber and nearby park service lacks the
maintenance and the basic cleaning up, the appearance already
damaged. At the end the valuable site have been left unprotected.
Case study:
喜帖街
(the wedding card street)
Brief Introduction of the case
• The Lands Department has announced
land resumption at Lee Tung Street and
McGregor Street in Wanchai. The
streets are well-known for wedding card
shops.
• Residents and shop owners have long
fought with the Urban Renewal Authority,
in bid to preserve the streets. Under the
redevelopment plan, 148 interests will
be affected, covering a total area of
nearly 9,000 square metres. The
affected interests will revert to
Government three months after the date
of the resumption notice being posted
on the site
Profit or History?
• Under great pressure of the
urban land use competition, the
government chose to redevelop
the famous wedding card street,
historical and cultural site are
sacrificed for more urban land
use.
• This will not only affect the
residents, or shop owners but
is also harming the local
tradition heritage.
• We are losing our valuable
historical site!
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Lee Tung Street, better known as Wedding Card Street, is where Hong
Kong's publishing business began.
Over the past 30 years, tens of thousands of couples have visited the shops
there to order their wedding cards, namecards and traditional Chinese
calendars.
In 2003, the URA announced it would spend HK$3.58 billion to redevelop
Lee Tung and McGregor streets.
Last December, the authority made an application to request the
government to apply the Land Resumption Ordinance to resume the area.
The government claimed the redevelopment ``would help rejuvenate the old
district concerned and improve the living conditions of the residents.''
But Christopher Law, a leading architect specializing in urban planning, said
Friday the renewal program will break down a community network that had
taken years to cultivate.
In a bid to conserve the historical uniqueness of Lee Tung Street, some
residents formed the H15 Concern Group in 2002. They submitted a
``people-oriented redevelopment plan'' to the Town Planning Board, but this
was rejected.
The group organised weekly meetings to discuss the issue and held 60
conferences and 12 residents' workshops with up to 300 people attending.
They also built their own Web site to publicize their discussions about the
renewal plan.
Cultural affairs commentator Leung Man-to described their efforts as an
``unprecedented genuine people's participation project in Hong Kong's
history.''
Citizen’s view over the Lee Tung
street
--- 70% of respondents agreed to conserve Lee Tung
Is there any other way?
• The government rejected the resident’s
suggestion about low-density development
and keep the district’s spirit.
• But they later accepted the proposal of
people-oriented development as one of the
considerations.
• There are plans suggesting to keep the main
part of the “tong lau” and adding new
elements such as wedding dress shops or
relevant industries to attract more customers
and reflect the character of the city.
• The government explained that the decision
of the demolition of the wedding card street is
made because of the decline of the printing
industries. On economic basis, redevelopment will be beneficial, either to Hong
Kong and to the residents ,as the living
condition will be improved.
• Press release Wednesday, July 4, 2001
• The first Hong Kong Heritage Awards encourage
community's participation in heritage conservation
•
*********************************************************
The Hong Kong Heritage Awards, launched for the first time by the Antiquities Advisory Board and the
Antiquities and Monuments Office (AMO) under the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD), is now
The Heritage Awards aim to give
recognition and encouragement to the community and schools
for remarkable achievement in heritage conservation or
heritage education.
inviting nominations until September 28 this year.
•
•
•
Speaking at today's (July 4) press conference, the Deputy Director (Culture) of LCSD, Ms Choi Suk-kuen,
said, "The Chief Executive Mr Tung Chee Hwa highlighted in his policy addresses the need of preserving
Hong Kong's heritage to foster a sense of identity and belonging, and to help develop tourism. Since its
establishment, the LCSD has been making continuous efforts in preserving local cultural relics and promoting
Hong Kong's heritage through the work of AMO.
"Last year, the result in this aspect of work is outstanding and encouraging. There were two monuments in
Hong Kong being awarded the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage 2000 Awards for Culture Heritage
Conservation. This year, the Government launches the Hong Kong Heritage Awards, which aim not only to
commend the organisations or individuals for the contribution made in heritage preservation, but also to
encourage schools and the community to participate in heritage conservation and education," said Ms Choi.
The Heritage Awards comprise two categories, namely Community Heritage Awards and School Heritage
Awards. The Community Heritage Awards are to commend local community organisations, companies,
institutions, universities or tertiary educational institutions and individuals for the significant achievement in
heritage restoration, donation of private land and property for heritage conservation cause, promoting heritage
tourism and effective reuse of historical buildings. The School Heritage Awards are to commend schools for
the significant achievement in curriculum design and promotion, audio visual projects, tourism projects,
heritage trail planning and promotion, and research projects on heritage conservation.
THE END