Heritage Watch Lets talk Value Queens Pier, Edinburgh Place & City Hall is Heart of our City should be Monuments

AAB Meeting - 9 May 2007 Heritage Watch Lets talk Value Queens Pier Statement of Cultural Significance Queens Pier, Edinburgh Place & City Hall is Heart of our City should be Monuments

Queens Pier HK heritage of unique cultural significance of high Cultural, Historical & Social Values (1)Cultural Significance Queens Pier: Distinctive cultural landmark and civic centre of the HK City (2)Historical Context Queens Pier: Indispensable historical significance in HK's transformation from a British colony to a Special Administrative Region of China (3)Social Value Queens Pier: Unique harbour-front public space with rich social meanings and wide-ranging local interests

(1) Cultural Significance (i) Queen's Pier: the heart of the City of Victoria Unique quarter Should be conserved altogether as a cluster of significant values

(1) (ii)Queens Pier: the transformation of colonialism to Peoples Space Unique historical-linguistic significance Strong socio-historical significance ( 1) (iii) Preservation of Queens Pier: a reversal of the Destroy HK motif Queens Pier, City Hall & Edinburgh Square complex represent a great opportunity to reverse the lop-sided development motif – from Destroy HK to sustainable development. "No Demolition" does not mean "No Development. public space has provided for the nurture, accumulation, and embodiment of what Hong Kong people see as a crucial part of the vibrant city culture.

(2) Historical context Guidelines to the Burra Charter, Australia ICOMOS: … significance will be greater where evidence of the association or event survives in situ, or where the settings are substantially intact, than where it has been changed or evidence does not survive. (2)(i) Queens Pier: symbol of gubernatorial history (2)(ii) Queens Pier: visit of the Royal family (2)(iii) Queens Pier: historical continuity Queens Pier should continue to be so, now and into the future

(3) Social Value Queens Pier: Unique harbour-front public space, social value with rich social meanings and wide- ranging local interests. (3)(i) the peoples harbourfront (3)(ii) the peoples public space (3)(iii) the peoples cultural sphere (3)(iv) the site of peoples empowerment

(3) Social Value

Conclusion 1.In 2000, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage of the Chinese Central Government approved the Principles for the Conservation of Heritage Sites in China (China Principles) as an integrated and methodological approach to the conservation and management of historical sites in China. Venice Charter (1964) & the Burra Charter of Australia ICOMOS (1979, revised 1999). The HKSAR government has publicly stated that these principles should be used as guidelines for conserving built heritage". 2.On the basis of the cultural, historical and social consideration, Queens Pier (and the associated City Hall & Edinburgh Place) should be recognized as a built heritage of significance of the highest order.

3.Queens Pier: the social value it embodies are irreplaceable and unique. The obvious and logical conclusion is that it should be preserved at its current location. 4.We urge the AAB to confer Grade I status on Queens Pier. 5.We recommend AAB to take an immediate next step is to confer the same Grade I status to the whole complex of Queens Pier, City Hall & Edinburgh Place, with an aim of declaring them as MONUMENTS. 6.We recommend AAB to open up channels for the public to apply for buildings to be graded. Conclusion

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