There’s no question Wan Chai is booming. But a number large-scale development projects could jeopardize the area’s historic charm. By John Robertson.

Wan Chai remains one of Hong Kong’s most historical urban areas. But the district has undergone monumental changes in the last few years, and faces even bigger ones that could erase most of its core identity altogether. At the center of this shift is the Urban Renewal Authority (URA), which has enabled various projects that many feel will also increase the area’s density to levels beyond what its infrastructure can sustain.

According to the URA, its Master Thinking Plan for Wan Chai incorporates “the 4Rs,” which they list as “redevelopment, revitalization, rehabilitation and preservation.” It is perhaps telling that “preservation” does not actually start with “r.” The most high-profile of the URA’s efforts toward these stated ends has been the demolition of Lee Tung Street, better known as Wedding Card Street. Despite strong opposition from local residents and shop owners, the area famous for its traditional print shops was razed last December to make way for a $3.5 billion development project consisting of four residential blocks. The H15 Concern Group proposed an alternative plan that would allow residents and shop-owners to return to the area, but like the group’s other efforts, it was rejected.

“We can’t stop demolition whenever someone hands in an alternative proposal,” said Development Secretary Carrie Lam at the time. “I believe this is not the kind of attitude the public would like the government to have, as it would greatly affect our ability to govern.” Describing the URA’s action as “arrogant,” former Wan Chai District Council Chairwoman Ada Wong emphasizes that many of Wedding Card Street’s residents were over 60, and that it will be difficult for them to adapt to new surroundings elsewhere: “They don’t belong to the new Wan Chai.”

Jimmy Sha, a spokesman for the URA, argues their intentions were honorable. “Our primary objective in the implementation of Lee Tung Street is to help the affected residents to improve their living environment through redevelopment,” he says, adding that the URA intends to “bring back the local character” by encouraging a Wedding City theme for the new development, and giving former local business owners priority to lease premises. Critics, however, point out that the small family-run businesses that once occupied the area can’t possibly afford the new prices, and either way aren’t likely to return after a 10-year absence. “There may well be wedding shops there,” says architect and Legco member Patrick Lau, “but they’ll be high-end shops; the original owners won’t be back.”

Replacing the old buildings along Lee Tung Street are four residential blocks, three 45 stories high and the other 25, as well as an underground car park. More high-rises will also go up along Tai Yuen Street and Wan Chai Road, with three 50- to 52-story buildings having already been erected as the first phase of The Zenith. Besides blocking sunlight and airflow, Lau says the building impinge on Wan Chai’s historically small streets and massively increase the area’s density.
Despite these concerns, observers also point out that the URA has taken some positive steps in Wan Chai. The most commonly cited example is the Johnston Road–Ship Street area, where the pre-war building that housed the Woo Cheong Pawn Shop has been preserved, retaining much of the original decor. “That does serve as a good example of how things should be done in Hong Kong,” says Paul Zimmerman of Designing Hong Kong. Lau similarly points to the old Wan Chai Market building. The mock Bauhaus-style structure was originally slated for demolition, but will now have its “key elements” preserved as the lobby of a new residential block.

Yet in the same breath, Lau emphasizes that the development planned on top of the market building is unnecessary in the first place. Moreover, as Zimmerman adds, while the URA has responded to public pressure, these street-interface developments have taken place on a relatively superficial level that tends to “camouflage” the larger density problems that major developments in the area may cause.

One of the biggest issues in this respect is a massive new 93-story building planned by Hopewell Holdings. Originally called The Megatower, its name was changed to Hopewell Centre 2 after mounting public opposition. Residents of the area are particularly incensed, both at the traffic it will likely cause as well as the immense space it will occupy, standing on 164,000 square meters of land. “Wan Chai people will be looking up at this huge monster,” says Lau, who was a member of the Town Planning Board when it rejected Hopewell Holdings’ proposal in 2000. In a controversial move, Hopewell is now invoking an earlier approval granted by the government in 1994, based on a smaller projected area for the building. It remains for the government to determine whether to let the project go ahead by selling the rights to the land.

Spokesman Sha points out that the URA has carried out “traffic, visual and air ventilation impact assessments” with regard to its own projects. Yet many remain deeply concerned about the true impact these and other developments will have on the density of the area. Zimmerman envisions pedestrians being forced onto elevated and underground walkways and roads being maxed out if strict controls are not put into place. “I think we’re at a dangerous cross point,” he says. “If you take all these projects together, Wan Chai will be a complete disaster.”