Urban renewal has led to economic rejuvenation of various countries and we shall have to find our own unique solutions while learning from best global practices. While Singapore and Malaysia’s transformation was led by sagacious leadership, Hongkong, Shanghai, Chicago, Birmingham and New York effectively used their political process to drastically improve quality of life, economic output and employment opportunities.

Hong Kong 4R Model

This case study recognizes the objectives and approach of old industrial area renewal happening in Hong Kong.

Delivering Enhanced Urban Quality through Urban Renewal

To ensure that the target areas and the priority project areas upon completion of urban renewal will become attractive places to live in, the Study proposes the following strategic planning guidelines to guide their developments:-
 

1. preparation of a conceptual development framework for each of the target area to guide the proposed urban renewal actions in a coherent manner;
2. preparation of a set of broad development parameters for the priority project areas so as to streamline the planning process for redevelopment;
   and
3. set out the broad design objectives of the target areas to promote quality development. Emphases are given to promote an environmentally friendly road and transport system design; and to give priority to pedestrians and public transport.

Upon redevelopment of the 200 priority project areas, there will be major improvements to the dilapidated urban areas, which will be brought up to modern city living standards. The major urban decay problem of our city will be largely resolved. Whilst many of the social benefits of urban renewal are non-quantifiable, the following are the more obvious improvements:-
 

• improvement of the environmental quality of about 55 ha of the older urban areas
• production of 62,800 new flats
• provision of 51,500m2 open space, and 70,700m2 community facilities
  and
• Preservation of 27 buildings of local character to enhance our local architectural and cultural heritage.

Goal: To create quality and vibrant urban living in Hong Kong - a better home in a world-class city.
Mission: to realise our Vision, we act on our priorities with ingenuity and sensitivity, join forces with our partners and nurture our people
Priorities:

• to accelerate redevelopment by replacing old buildings with new to provide a better living environment and neighbourhood
• to enable and encourage the rehabilitation of dilapidated buildings to prevent urban decay
• to preserve by maintaining and restoring buildings of historical and architectural value, and to sustain local characteristics
• to revitalise through enhancing and strengthening the socio-economic and environmental fabric for the benefit of our urban communities.

The Urban Renewal Authority's 4Rs strategy is now well established and gaining recognition in the community. The 4Rs are Redevelopment, Rehabilitation, Reservation and Revitalisation which when applied together enable a holistic approach to unlock the full potential of urban renewal.
Under this 4Rs Strategy, redevelopment at a project site is used as an anchor around which other complementary modes of urban renewal will take place. For instance, this might involve the redevelopment of a cluster of rundown residential buildings. In the nearby areas, efforts will be made to rehabilitate the old but serviceable buildings, conserve buildings of special interest, preserve historic architecture and revitalise the shopping, leisure and local community activities.
Rehabilitation has become increasingly important because, if nothing else, of its potential to produce early improvements to dilapidate buildings, which is exactly what we need if we are to arrest the worsening trend of urban decay.
 

Today - World Class city

• Tall vertical structures
• Sector-by-sector massive development
• Open spaces and greenery
• FSI of 5 - 35

  
  

Area-based approach, rather than an individual project site based development approach for better planning and redevelopment with a judicious mix of rehabilitation, preservation and revitalization measures.

 

Rehabilitation – repairing & maintenance

• Partnership - Government, owners and others-
• Revitalisation is the deployment of appropriate means of renewal to revive and strengthen the economic and environmental fabric of different districts
• Under its mandate to preserve buildings, sites and structures of historical, cultural or architectural interest that forms part of its redevelopment projects, the URA is looking at the issue of conservation in a comprehensive, holistic and practical manner. Land assembling for comprehensive planning and to enable restructuring

Revitalisation, the Authority adopts a ' facilitator approach' by contributing to the improvements of the local infrastructure and urban environment, and working with the local community, especially the business sector, to set in motion a sustained, organic process of economic, social and environmental enhancement in the area.

Redevelopment targeting old, dilapidated buildings with poor living conditions. Replanning and rebuilding to achieve clear environmental and social benefits such as open space and community facilities.

To speed up development planning process and put the 4Rs Strategy fully into practice URA has adopted an area-based, rather than an individual project site based development approach by setting our sight, from the outset, on the overall planning and development of clearly delineated Action Areas. Each Action Area provides for a focus of URA activities which together will achieve a synergistic impact, creating a positive image of run-down areas which will help leverage more investment from the private sector and elsewhere. This approach also helps the URA in setting priorities based upon a coherent framework for implementation.

 

Urban revitalization - Policies and programs in American cities

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The pursuit of growth through economic development has become the key strategies in efforts to revitalize older American cities. All levels of government have come to play roles in the complex intergovernmental process of designing, funding and implementing economic development programs.


(Note: orange coloured cells are observed as common strategies in all the case studies)

 

 

With the advent of urban renewal in 1949, and for the succeeding 45 years, the federal government has taken a proactive role in urban development and revitalization, principally through a plethora of grant programs involving physical development, social transfer payments and economic development initiatives.
These are various revitalization strategies emphasizing physical development tools for individual projects, regional growth management, public-private partnership efforts which worked alone or a partnership with variety of strategies and programs in various cities.

 

• The use of Public investment as a catalyst to spur private investment in a particular redevelopment project.
   
• The creation of downtown tax districts as a tool, not only to raise funds to carry out particular projects but also as a device to manage and promote the city’s core.
   
• The use of private, non-profit development corporations. A number of the case study cities found that complex and highly entrepreneurial projects could not be managed by traditional city agencies they therefore created private, non-profit entities to oversee project development
   
• Human investment strategies several cities, as part of their revitalisation efforts had opponents of those efforts deal directly with investment in human capital. Job training, education enhancement, career counseling and other programs were targeted at the unemployed or underemployed in order to give those individuals the skills necessary to get and retain jobs in an increasingly service-oriented economy.
   
• A strong commitment to planning. Many of the case studies show that successful projects had well thought-out plans at their bases.
   
• Tax increment financing. Several cities made extensive and productive use of the relatively unusual financial tool of tax increment financing. This allowed a number of cities to accumulate funds for public improvements that made large, mixed use development possible by capturing the increased property values caused by the development
   
• Region wide managed growth. The Portland and Minneapolis studies demonstrate that the respective success and failure of these cities’ downtown revitalization efforts were tied directly to the effectiveness of managing the growth of their entire metropolitan areas and in carrying out specific programs on a region wide basis.
   
• Creation of powerful development agencies. The case studies reveal that one very successful strategy is the creation of strong economic development agencies that have the independence, power and financial resources necessary to move difficult projects through the development process.
   
• Use of federal and state development programs and funds. All the cities in the case studies made extensive use of these development programs and funds. In fact, with the withdrawal of federal support for revitalization projects during the past decade, a number of revitalization projects were cut back or significantly delayed.
   
• Channeling revenue from successful downtown projects to neighborhoods. This strategy, although relatively rare, today has great potential to rally support of neighborhoods for downtown projects, because the neighborhoods receive direct benefits from downtown development.
   
• Public-private partnerships. Virtually all of successful revitalization projects featured an emphasis on creating partnerships between the public and private sectors. Perhaps no other single strategy has been as critical to the success of redevelopment projects.
   
• Utilization of transit improvements as a catalyst for downtown renewal and private investment. Whether it was building a transit station in a development project in New York, or building a regional transit system in Portland direct growth, mass transit improvements have been shown to be a significant part of many revitalization strategies.
   
• Urban growth boundaries. Although still relatively rare, urban growth boundaries have been shown to be a significant factor in the success of several city revitalization efforts.
   
• Cities that took advantage of potentially negative situations. Although hardly a strategy to promote, taking a traumatic event and turning it into a catalyst for action has proven successful
  

  
  Source: Urban revitalization, Policies and Programs – Fritz W. Wagner, Timothy E. Joder, Antony J.Mumphery Jr.