Author: Jain Priyanka
AIT Library Call Number: AIT Thesis no. HS-87-16
Year: 1987
Academic Program: Human Settlement (HS)
Type: Thesis (M.Sc.) – Asian Institute of Technology, 2000
Examination Committee: Yap Kioe Sheng (Chairperson); Hans Detlef Kammeier, Seisuke Watanabe (Examination Committee Members)
Abstract: The issues of urban renewal are of a pressing concern in the cities around the globe. Decay and dilapidation due to aging, neglect and lack of maintenance, cause a loss to the existing and much required housing stock. Hong Kong, which is a relatively young city, also faces this problem. The scale of the problem is extensive with over 8,500 private tenements over 30 years of age, in a dilapidated state requiring some measures of renewal. The different approaches to urban renewal in Hong Kong, i.e., redevelopment, rehabilitation and business-as-usual, have been outlined and analyzed through a case study of Chungking Mansion, which is a 38-year-old private tenement facing decay and deterioration. Located in a prime land and is in a dilapidated condition, this building is inhabited mostly by a population that is under-represented in the process of decision-making. Divided into five blocks, and consisting of some 500 residential and 400 commercial units, it is home to a dense multi- cultural and low-income population comprising mostly of the native elderly, and migrants from South Asian sub-continent. The research rests on the qualitative and quantitative information gathered through survey, interviews, discussions, and observation along with the reliance on a lot of secondary information. Redevelopment is a financially lucrative option because it accrues a profit of about I-IK$ 1 Billion to the developer. However, its socio-economic outcomes are drastic as it causes dislocation and loss of business and employment. Hence it is socially and politically undesirable. The findings revealed that worst to be affected would be the tenants of the building, who would loose both financially as well as socially and may end up squeezing into the overcrowded old areas in the city, thus giving rise to another slum rather than reducing it. Rehabilitation, on the other hand, is a socially acceptable, but financially unremunerative renewal approach. If a simple and low-grade rehab is done, it would cost
Scholarship Donor(s): Urban Management Center; Asian Institute of Technology Partial Scholarship
Note: A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science, School of Environment, Resources and Development
Advisory: Full-text is available at https://library.ait.ac.th/ (accessible to local ip address only)
