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 03/sdu_c.ramhttp://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 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?

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. What have been done?

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 At present, it is the oldest market building in Hong Kong.

Conservation Tourism Economy Urban environment Case 1 Western Market

Why we should perserve our heritage? Historical 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 :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 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 % 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, re- development 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 inviting nominations until September 28 this year. The Heritage Awards aim to give recognition and encouragement to the community and schools for remarkable achievement in heritage conservation or heritage education. 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.

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