Colorful Lifestyle in Old Blocks – Retail Destinations in Kowloon

There are many shopping malls, dept. stores, walking streets in Kowloon. When we were in Kowloon on the 1^st day, we visited several famous shopping malls and streets there and got to understand how the culture and history of Kowloon have shaped the unique local retail formats and how the malls are developed under the economic and internationalization trend of the region. What’s more interesting, they all have their respective landmark colors!

Megabox (Enterprise Square) – RED

The first destination is Megabox. It is located opposite of the Zero Carbon Building.  It is developed by Kerry Properties and an important component of the Energizing Kowloon East Plan, which is a 1.1 mil sq.ft mixed-use development comprising of shopping mall and offices.

MegaBox

Megabox is the largest shopping center in Kowloon East. From my observation along the way, we did not see other comparable shopping malls within vicinity. Therefore, the Megabox is inevitably a great supplement in Kowloon Bay and will underpin the local revitalization schemes by meeting local residents and staffs’ shopping and recreation demand. It consists of 4 major Zones – “IN-Style”, “Better Home”, “FAMILY Circus” and “EATertainment” and can tailor the demands of different consumption groups and ages.

The entire project is designed in a traditional Chinese manner with colors in dark red. The traffic design is also initiative, where consumers could get easy access into the shopping mall by direct escalators and the road loop around the mall.

Limitations: Megabox and the Enterprise Square complex is definitely an impeccable shopping and office mixed-use development and a milestone project in the Energizing Kowloon East Plan. However, the location of the development is somehow embarrassing as there is no MTR station nearby. The nearest one – the Kowloon Bay station is still 15 mins’ driving distance (not walking). Consumers have to wait for a long time for their shuttle bus before arriving the mall 15 mins later. And it will surely reduce the footfall.

Telford Plaza – GOLDEN

Telford Plaza

Our 2^nd destination is the Telford Plaza [2]. It is one of the largest-scale shopping malls in Kowloon Bay, Kowloon, which is also consisted of Headquarter Tower of MTR, Hang Seng Tower and the Telford Garden. The mall is co-developed by MTR and New World Development and is currently managed by MTR. The Phase I was opened in 1980 and followed by Phase II’s opening in 1997. Further back to the history of Kowloon, Kowloon Bay was at that time an undeveloped industrial area and most of the towers in Kwun Tong were still industrial-use. So the Telford Plaza could be the only large-scale shopping destination in Kwun Tong and even Kowloon East at one time and is a milestone project in the retail development in Kowloon.

Comparing with MegaBox, the location of Telford Plaza seems superior. It is encountered by the footfall of Kowloon Bay Station, Kowloon Bay Industrial and Commercial Zone and Kwun Tong Road with additional contribution by the Public Transport Interchange and connecting to Enterprise Square and the Kowloon East. As discussed above, the traffic access to MegaBox is not good but there are shuttle buses between these 2 destinations, so that they could share more footfalls.

Besides the Phase I & II malls in Telford Plaza, there also other constructions which also contribute to its success. The Golden Road is a pedestrian corridor outside the Telford Plaza and it links to the Telford Tower and Kowloon Bay by footbridge. The entire development is actually in the golden color. It was renovated in 1997. There is also a Garden Plaza providing public open space with lots of convenient facilities. The MCL (Telford Theater) is also famous for its special design and its jewel theme.

Some general feeling: we visited the Telford Plaza on Wednesday, a weekday not weekend, but just standing under the roof of the Golden Road and inside the Plaza, I felt the whole development is really crowded.  I think the location of Plaza is one the most important reason for its success – intersection of various areas and roads, comprehensive supported infrastructure and comprehensive public traffic access. Even today, with lots of industrial towers and old residential development nearby with lots of dense population, the Telford Plaza is an extreme success and had made full use of all there factor contributing its prosperity.

Langham Place – BLUE

 Langham Place

The last destination we visited that day is the Mall of Langham Place after passing through the crowded streets in Mong Kok. The Langham Place was completed in October, 2014. It is a 3-in-1 landmark mixed-use development in Mong Kok, Kowloon with shopping mall, hotel and office. It is a very successful model as the visitors in its hotel and the workforce in its can provide abundant consumers for the mall, not to mention the prosperity of Mong Kok.  

The main color of Langham Place is blue as its curtain wall is mostly made of glasses. The site where Langham Place covered is originally a residential land. It was completed after 10 years of replaning and redevelopment. It is most famed by its architecture design and the entire project is designed as a round-mix and streamlined style. As for the shopping mall (15 levels), the biggest feature is the Xpresscalators from 4A tower to 8-style tower, it is also the longest escalator in Hong Kong.

Take the history and culture of Mong Kok into consideration, the area used to be the “Red Light District” with lots of night clubs. The Regal Group planned to change it to a contemporary and fashioned shopping area with more dynamic. The prosperity of Mong Kok should also thank to the development of Langham Place actually, as it changed the image of the area after it was built.

Resembling Telford Plaza, the success of Langham Place also thrived on its location – the center of the densely-populated Mong Kok. Besides, its development pattern also contributed to its success with enough footfalls coming from its brothers – the office and hotel. The unique architecture design makes it a landmark and recognizable by anyone who visited. And on top of above, it is the strategic transformation of the area underpinned its prosperity, as the old Mong Kok needs high-standard and international project to be its landmark to change its old and vulgar image. The Langham Place just caught up that trend and made its success.

References:

[1] Megabox Website (http://www.megabox.com.hk/index.php?lang=eng)

[2] Telford Plaza (http://www.telford-plaza.com/eng/tp/main/index.jsp)

[3] Langham Place ( http://www.langhamplace.com.hk/tc/)

When Development Encounters History — Thoughts on Small Houses

We visited some of the villages in Fanling and Leung Yeuk Tau of the North District on the 2^nd day and the Lamma Island on the 3^rd day and saw many irregular “3-stories” village houses during our trips. Actually, these houses are commonly known as” small house” or “Ding house” in HK. It is a special development pattern in HK, which is a mixed product of the” history and culture” of the villages in New Territories and I think there is something to talk about on this.

Small Houses in Fanling Wai

When we were in Fanling Wai, found some of the small houses were built there irregularly. Actually, the villagers built their houses randomly within village and there is no detailed plan for that. The villagers could build their house on their granted lands without too much specific requirements. The balconies are towards different directions with windows in different shapes and formats. Some houses are equipped with yards in front of the gate and the boundaries are not organized. The also arrange their “GFA” on their own preference, so we could often see the houses are with different layout and floors, as the villagers just tried to archive the “ 2100 sq.ft maximum” but in different construction designs.

Small Houses on Lamma Island

On the contrary, we arrived at the Lamma Island the next day and found the small houses there seemed more neat and fashioned. They are all built in a uniform design, everything were the same no matter the exteriors, windows, canopies and roofs etc. These houses are also small houses, but the villagers outsourced the construction work to the same contractor and designer, so they came up with the same appearance. The houses just resemble blocks of luxurious houses with more comfortable design and fit-out. As a matter of fact, it also stimulates some speculations.

Small House Under Construction
in Leung Yeuk Tau 

History and background: The small houses can date back to 1970s and they are all regulated under the so-called small house policy which was introduced in 1972. A riot broke out in 1967 and the HK government plan to develop the New Territories. To win support from the local villagers in New Territories, the government initiated the “Small House Policy [1]” in December 1972. In the policy, all male indigenous villagers[2] (over age 18) of recognized villages[3] are entitled to once in a life time an individual house site for housing for himself and his family. The house should meet the following criteria:

• should not exceeding 700 s.f. per floor(65.03 ㎡)；
• not exceeding 27 ft. (8.33m) / 3 storeys high height measured from its lowest point at ground level to highest point of roof excluding stairhood, parapet wall and water tank.

The small house policy was originally a temporary policy by the government. As the new territories is not a well-developed area in HK and the living condition there is quite poor there. The first aim of the policy is to provide better living condition for the local villagers there. And we could see from the picture above, some of the small houses are really beautiful and living-friendly. It is a good step towards further development of the village area in New Territories with local villagers accommodated during the development process; As the male indigenous villagers (Ding 丁, in Cantonese) accounts for a proportion of the population (approx. 240,000) in New Territories and the housing are not enough for them, the small house could solve their housing demand significantly and is definitely a good measure to secure the social stability there. Just take the small houses in Fanling Wai and Leung Yeuk Tau as an example: they are also good demonstrations in maintaining rural village character in HK, which is becoming more and more valuable in HK today.

Considerations: However, there are still some issues we need to think about after on-site visit of the small houses in New Territories. Of the most concerned, I think is the land/sustainability issue. For my understanding, the average personal living area in HK is less than 150 sq.ft in HK. The population within New Territories is less than 800,000, once they have a male posterity, they will be able to build a 2,100 sq.ft spacious house, not to mention the area of roof, garden and garage are not accounted. In 2012, the HK Development Authority also announced that 56% of the government land reserve can be used in the rural development, which means that “60 percentage of the usable land in HK is for 10% of the total population” - what an amazing figure. Facing the intense land supply and housing problems in HK, the small houses are unsustainable. The valuable land resources are occupied in a very inefficient manner. If all of the estimated 240,000 male villagers with entitlements were to be granted small houses this translates to 504 million sq ft of living space or over 2,200 hectares (ha) (allowing for building space between houses) of land area. It is definitely a waste of usable land in HK on top of the intensive land supply problem.

Drainage System of Small Houses

As mentioned above, the construction process and deliverables are not fully regulated by the government. Though the small houses are governed by HK Building Ordinance Cap 121[4] and administered by the HK Lands Department, generally, approval of building plans by Buildings Department is not needed. As a result, there is a potential planning issues for development in the recognized villages. Since the houses were built under no plans, they scattered within the villages disorderly, this will lead future planning difficulties. From my observations that day, I my can also found the disorganized drainage and water systems within these village areas, which have potential sanitation problems.

Beyond above, the speculative trades often happen, as once the indigenous villagers was removed of Restriction of Alienation[5], which allow them to sell the small houses after paying land premium, they may sell their houses to outsiders immediately. Some qualified indigenous villagers also sell their eligibility and sign declarations to developers, which misrepresent their intentions and underpin speculative development. The famous HK TV play “Overheard 3” [6] is actually demonstrated on top of the speculative development over the small houses in New Territories.

The small houses are resulted from the British Colony History in New Territories, which had contributed to its current land unsustainability and planning problems. Under the economic pressures, the small house development is somehow speculative between villagers and developers now. It satisfied the housing demand of local villagers in New Territories and helps to stable the community temporarily, but on a long-term sustainable development perspective and taking the housing problem in HK into consideration, the small houses policy needs to be modified and there should be new balance when sustainable development encounters history. 

References:

[1] Small House Policy: (http://www.landsd.gov.hk/en/legco/house.htm)

[2] Indigenous villagers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigenous_inhabitants_of_the_New_Territories_(Hong_Kong))

[3] Recognized villages (http://www.hyknt.org/img/data/009b.pdf)

[4] Cap 121, Building Ordinance (http://www.legislation.gov.hk/blis_pdf.nsf/6799165D2FEE3FA94825755E0033E532/23D3DEB18A34C224482575EE003EA492?OpenDocument&bt=0)

[5] Removal of Restriction of Alienation (http://www.aud.gov.hk/pdf_e/e39ch08.pdf)

[6] Movie: Overheard III (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overheard_(film))