Effect of Revitalisation of Historic Buildings on Retail Shop Values in Urban Renewal: An Empirical Analysis

There often exists a tension between heritage conservation and urban redevelopment. However, heritage places are progressively operated as consumption spots and economic commodification, based on scholarly argument, is a major reason for the existence of a heritage resource. In this study, it is argued that revitalisation of historic edifices in districts undergoing urban renewal enhances the values of nearby commercial properties. This study employed a Hedonic Price Model (HPM) to investigate the existence of any relationship between revitalisation of historic building developments and the value enhancement of nearby retail properties located at the ground floor in the old area of Wanchai in Hong Kong. The model used 2961 real estate transactions obtained from buildings in the neighbourhood of three revitalised historical projects in the studied area, where a number of revitalisation projects have been completed. The results show that the revitalised historical projects have generated considerable value enhancements to the retail shopping properties in the vicinity. The results also revealed that the revitalised historical sites exert a greater impact on the retail property prices than do the newly developed nearby residential projects. The findings indicate that through the value enhancement of neighbourhood properties, the revitalisation of historical sites benefit not only the surrounding property owners but also local governments in the vicinity. The finding therefore supports the arguments utilized to advocate urban revitalisation and the idea that heritage resources exist purposely for economic commodification. Moreover, three case studies of the revitalisation of Chinese tenement buildings also provide a qualitative analysis of their social and economic impacts on the community.