Property‐led urban renewal in Hong Kong: any place for the community?

The community plays a very limited role in urban governance in pro‐growth Hong Kong. Urban renewal is a case in point. The government has relied on market forces in renewing the city. In 1988, the Land Development Corporation (LDC) was set up to facilitate private–public partnerships in redevelopment. Residents were not involved until the project implementation stage, when owners needed to be compensated and tenants rehoused. However, the growing stock of dilapidated buildings, coupled with the collapse of the property market in the late 1990s, contributed to a market failure. The Urban Renewal Authority (URA) was set up in 2000 to replace the LDC and an Urban Renewal Strategy (URS) was published in 2001. This paper argues that the URS is just a redevelopment programme and that it is doubtful whether the URA can overcome problems faced by the LDC. An integrated approach is advocated to tackle urban restructuring, with active involvement from the community.