Adaptive reuse of traditional Chinese shophouses in government-led urban renewal projects in Hong Kong
Introduction
Globally, adaptive reuse of historic buildings is increasingly recognized as a sustainable approach to conservation (Cohen, 1999, Rodwell, 2007, UNESCO, 2007). However, there are many challenges to enhancing sustainability, particularly where redevelopment pressures are immense in urban renewal districts in historic cities in south-east Asia. One of the essential problems of urban renewal remains the narrow focus on redevelopment and demolition rather that urban regeneration. The latter is a social and economic process which involves a community, the environmental impact and cultural heritage. Most prevalently, urban renewal projects have seriously impinged on property rights by premature unilateral termination of leasehold interests by redevelopment ventures who profit by such actions (Lai, 2002). This forced eviction of inhabitants is most evident in the adaptive reuse of shophouses in urban renewal projects. Shophouses were designed as two to four-storey buildings, with a business on the ground floor and shop-owner residences on the floors above. With urban renewal, the owners of the shophouses were often forced to move out of the adaptive reuse projects. There is also empirical evidence that urban renewal projects have destroyed areas of Chinese traditional trades which usually locate on the group floor of the shophouses (Lai et al., 2007).
In addition, adaptive reuse of the shophouses also often leads to the social phenomenon of dissonance and gentrification. For instance, many shophouses have been turned into middle-class offices, restaurants and cultural enterprises (Chang and Teo, 2009, Yeoh and Kong, 1994) with no public access (Chang, 2010). They commonly compromise the authenticity of an area and the continuity of the original ways of living (Gotham, 2007, Urry, 2002). In light of all these issues, the concept of urban sustainability in terms of social, economic, environmental and political dimensions must be more thoroughly considered in building adaptive reuse in urban renewal areas (UN-Habitat, 2004).
In Hong Kong, heritage conservation faces many challenges, particularly in urban renewal districts, due to the enormous pressure for land development and housing demands, as well as compensation for development rights (Loh, 2004, Yung, 2007). As a result of these issues, there are only a few individual shophouses remaining in dense urban centres and these are surrounded by new high-rise buildings. This is very different from Chinese districts in places like Singapore and parts of Malaysia where there are continuous rows of shophouses whose architectural styles and settings have been largely preserved (Baroldin and Din, 2012, Davison and Tettoni, 2010, Lee, 1996, Lee et al., 2008, Tajudeen, 2012). Recently, a number of government-led projects that included the adaptive reuse of shophouses projects in urban renewal districts were completed, however, they have attracted much criticism because of the destruction of the existing neighbourhood and gentrification. Thus, in this study we considered the following research questions: (1) what role does urban renewal play in the adaptive reuse of traditional Chinese shophouses, and (2) what urban sustainability factors should be considered in the adaptive reuse of traditional Chinese shophouses in urban renewal districts. As urban renewal claims to address urban decay problems in dilapidated districts, should the physical condition of the building be the prime factor for revitalization intervention? More specifically, taking into account obsolescence rate, heritage value, socio-economic context, or urban renewal redevelopment plans, our study examines on which basis the government chooses shophouses for adaptive reuse as part of urban renewal.
As the government has limited resources, prioritizing adaptive reuse of dilapidated buildings based on obsolescence rates is one possible way to decide on the need for conservation. However, this study looks beyond the issue of the physical building to consider the conservation of shophouses within urban governance, policy and sustainability frameworks. In this study, the Adaptive Reuse Potential (ARP) model as a technical approach is applied to assess eight existing clusters of shophouses in Hong Kong listed by the Urban Renewal Authority (URA). Qualitative analysis of the cases in relation to their connection with urban sustainability is obtained through a mixed methodology, using archives, newspapers, reports and discussions with conservation and planning critics, academic experts, URA officials and project participants.
The paper begins by providing a literature review on the revitalization process of shophouses in Hong Kong and, in particular, the problems and issues associated with their potential adaptive reuse. This is followed by a brief summary of the ARP model’s conceptual framework, then results, discussion of case studies and some recommendations for a broader sustainability framework for prioritizing adaptive reuse in urban renewal are given.
Section snippets
Adaptive reuse and urban sustainability
It is increasingly recognized that there is a strong connection between adaptive reuse of historic buildings and sustainable urban development (Bromley et al., 2005, Bullen and Love, 2010, Steinberg, 1996, Tse, 2009). Adaptive reuse refers to any intervention made to adjust, reuse, upgrade, or change the capacity of a building to suit new conditions or requirements when the former function has become obsolete (Douglas, 2006). Adaptive reuse projects provide economic and social benefits. They
Previous attempts to evaluate adaptive reuse potential
The literature shows that there are a number of different technical and systematic approaches to evaluating the potential of adaptive reuse of buildings. However, they do not clearly assess the different sustainability dimensions. The assessment of office buildings for their suitability for transformation into housing (Geraedts & Van der Voordt, 2007) and the weighted scores for the viability of conversion of buildings for reuse with a different function (Hek, Kamstra, & Geraedts, 2004) are
The significance of traditional Chinese shophouse and its evolution in Hong Kong
The Shophouses were built in rows along streets and had a uniform and continuous facade. A shophouse contains specific architectural features representative of the traditional townhouses in the southern part of China and Southeast Asia during the colonial era in the 19th the early 20th centuries (Cheung, 2000). They were built to cater to the business needs of the community in a compact urban setting. They have narrow frontage with a covered pedestrian walkway at the front, contributing to
Urban renewal and the conservation of shophouses in Hong Kong
Shophouses and built heritage were not as treasured by people in Hong Kong thirty years ago as they are now. This is because many of the shophouses were located in old districts and owners could obtain a high price for the land they stood on if they sold their buildings to developers for redevelopment. The only few remaining shophouses are single structures or small blocks occupying a confined site area with less development potential than a larger site. Conservation of historic buildings has
Method
This study adopts both a technical assessment and a qualitative analysis of eight shophouse projects located in three different districts in Hong Kong. It applies the ARP model to identify and prioritize existing shophouses for potential adaptive reuse, taking into consideration the seven aspects of obsolescence: namely, physical, economic, social, functional, technical, legal, and political obsolescence. The ARP model is conceptualized as rising and falling during the life cycle of an asset.
Case studies
Table 1 presents the summary of 8 selected clusters of shophouses and their photos. The brief description includes the number of buildings, dates of construction and refurbishment and whether they are situated within a URA redevelopment plan.
The overall results from the ARP model are provided in Table 2. As a general guideline, ARP scores above 50% represent high adaptive reuse potential and scores below 20% indicate low potential. The maximum ARP scores possible are determined when the useful
Shophouses in the Wanchai district
Shophouses were the dominant building type in the Wanchai area until the late 1940s. Most of them lie on land reclaimed before 1888. The revitalization of the shophouses was only one of many projects intended to rejuvenate the Wanchai district in its entirety. The four shophouse projects in Wanchai are all part of an URA project situated at the heart of the Wanchai district (see Fig. 2) earmarked for comprehensive development, including property redevelopment, building revitalization and
18 Ship Street, Wanchai
18 Ship Street is a three-storey commercial-cum-residential shophouse in Wanchai, which has been owned by the Tse family since its construction in the late 1930s. Before redevelopment by the URA, the ground floor was occupied by a construction company. The house was originally of timber construction but fell into disrepair during the WWII years. Ship Street was heavily bombed by the Japanese during the war, but building No. 18 survived. The building is included in the URA’s redevelopment
Shophouses in the central and western district
The following two projects in the central and western district are situated in the URA’s redevelopment plan that includes high-rise towers.
120 Wellington Street and 26 Graham Street, central
The shophouse on Wellington Street is a 135-year old, three-storey building that houses an 80-year old grocery store. The grocery store has been a community gathering space for the neighbourhood. Three other shophouses are located on adjacent Graham Street, which is the city’s oldest wet market. The government planned to develop the street into Hong Kong’s first “old shop street”. The wet market street and the surrounding area include sites relating to Sun Yat-sen and his past revolutionary
Shophouses in the Mongkok district
Unlike the shophouse projects in Wanchai and the central and western districts, the two projects in Mongkok and the Prince Edward district are not situated in any URA redevelopment plan and the URA has not yet announced any plans for their adaptive reuse. However, the URA announced it would spend $HK1.3 billion to redevelop and preserve both groups of shophouses.
Discussion
The technical assessment of the projects shows that there is little significant relationship between the ARP results and the priority of adaptive reuse of shophouses in the government-led urban renewal projects in Hong Kong. Nevertheless, most projects have been delayed longer than their optimum intervention time, as the decision on adaptive reuse is apparently not determined solely by the extent of deterioration or the useful life of the shophouses. The eight case studies show that the
Conclusion
Urban renewal often involves large-scale demolition and redevelopment; however, a more sustainable approach should be adopted. Given the fast disappearing shophouse typology in Hong Kong, as well as in other Southeast Asian cities, particularly in the last two to three decades, interest in the conservation and adaptive reuse of shophouses has increasingly gained momentum. They are no longer viewed as obsolete structures incompatible with the image of a modern city. Instead, it is being argued
Acknowledgement
The work described in this paper was fully supported by a grant from the General Research Fund of the Hong Kong SAR Government (Project No. PolyU5407/11H). The authors would like to thank all the anonymous referees for their valuable comments. Special thanks to all those who participated in the in-depth interviews. Also, thanks to the research assistant, Mr. Zhang Qi, for producing the maps and taking some of the photos.
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