Critics hit out at over-development; town planning system takes flak.

A court ruling paving the way for a skyscraper in one of Hong Kong’s busiest residential districts has fuelled growing discontent in the city over excessive development and the powers of town planners.

The High Court last week gave the green light to a 57-storey block in the Mid-Levels district, one of the city’s most congested and developed residential areas, to much uproar.

The developer is a subsidiary of Swire Properties, one of the city’s largest property firms.

The ruling reverses a town planning board restriction limiting the development to 12 storeys amid concerns over traffic, as well as visual considerations. The proposed building is on a narrow, one- way street.

It is also in an area which landed the government in hot water recently after it failed to adhere to a 1972 moratorium designed to keep Mid-Levels development in line with traffic capacity.

Against this backdrop, many grassroots activists have called for an urgent overhaul of the city’s town planning system. Over-development has become a thorny issue for policy-makers: in the upcoming District Council elections for example, it is a hot topic.

The court ruling last week reflected a very ad-hoc system of planning in Hong Kong, according to Paul Zimmerman, convenor of Designing Hong Kong Harbour District. This allows developers to take advantages of loopholes in the system, he says.

‘There’s a bunch of different departments (in government) which are not necessarily in agreement… overall, our whole planning system is a disaster,’ he said.

The latest court case reflected inconsistencies and ’sloppily-executed plans’, he stressed. The town planning board is moreover effectively run by the government. Although there are independent members, they are elected by the government. The government also runs the secretariat arm of the board.

‘Here we have a half-hearted effort to control density and it’s so mismanaged, they lose the case,’ Mr Zimmerman explained.

The court ruling comes barely a week after the town planning board lost another legal battle over its powers. A court ruled it must reconsider a decision to block development of land in Sai Kung, which is in the New Territories.

A judge found the board made ‘material factual errors’ in declaring sites in the area as conservation areas.

Policy-makers are coming under increased pressure from the public to address the city’s planning shortcomings, stresses Christine Loh, who heads the think-tank Civic Exchange.

‘People have become more sensitised to the issue of town planning,’ she said, ‘particularly where there’s an accumulative impact as well. One of the problems of the town planning board is that it’s not an independent body.’

She cited a renewed vitality in town planning among civic groups, as well as established organisations which have long been pressing for reform in this area.

‘It’s becoming hard to ignore,’ she said. ‘This is obviously a trend…more people than ever are interested. It does mean the government is going to have to respond in a different way.’

This rise in planning consciousness comes on the heels of a string of high-profile battles over key heritage sites, such as the Star Ferry and Queen’s Pier, which were razed to make way for a highway and underground shopping mall.

It is also tied in with growing concern over the city’s pollution levels, which daily leave the skyline covered in a thick brown layer of smog.

Source: Business Times