In the old days, the economies of Hong Kong depended very much on manufacturing. The manufacturing sector contributed only 1.1% of the HK GDP in 2017 while it was 21.7% in 1987. The total private flatted factories at the end of 2017 was 16,525,600 sq m. while the figure at the end of 1987 was 14,461,300 sq m. About 39% of the current stocks are built in pre 1980. From the above figures, it is clearly that transformation of aged industrial space is inevitable. Substantial amount of the existing stocks should have been changed to non-industrial uses. It is just a matter whether we leave this to the market entirely or guided by the government policies in a tidy manner.
Major comprehensive redevelopments were motivated by market forces. Examples are Taikoo Shing, Whampao Garden, Amoy Garden, Tai Hing Garden etc. All these are large pieces of land owned by single owners. Piecemeal redevelopments of aged industrial buildings owned by single owners were not uncommon too. Quite a number of cases of conversion of aged buildings to commercial use happened after the nil premium policy adopted by the government about 10 years ago. But we still have no policy to tackle the situation of multi-owned factory space. Should we encourage redevelopment or refurbishment? How can we get the owners to come together? These are fundamental questions which solutions are needed. |
