The System of Urban Land Policies in Hong Kong

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1 ARCH 4721 Land and City, CUHK 26 Mar 2014 The System of Urban Land Policies in Hong Kong - How land policies and regulations shape the urban form by Dr Edward CY Yiu Associate Professor Dept of Geography and Resource Management, Chinese University of Hong Kong 1

electricity and water Why Nations Fail uses the large differences in income borders as

2 Political and Economic Institutions Determine Development Form Goma in Congo, no electricity, water or basic services Gisenyi in Rwanda, orderly street, taxis, electricity and water Why Nations Fail uses the large differences in income borders as a way of showing dramatically how changes in institutions can lead to large differences in prosperity. 2

greatest informal settlement (unplanned) The history: http://kwunchungbattle.wikia.

3 Different Urban Policy, Different Urban Form Case 1 One City, Two Systems One of the densest settlements in the world A pre-colonial town within a colonial city Kowloon City - the world s greatest informal settlement (unplanned) The history: on_walled_city whats-left-of-the-kowloon-walled-city/ 3

4 A City of Anarchy An independent city without state 20-years-later/ But it was gone. 4

exists; It is not in the New Territories, but on the Island, i.e. NOT small houses.

5 Case 2: A Pre-Colonial Village One City, Two Systems: in a Post-Colonial City One of the earliest indigenous village in Hong Kong, which still exists; It is not in the New Territories, but on the Island, i.e. NOT small houses. Low-rise high-dense organic urban form? Why? Pokfulam Village from 1868 to

Urban Policies & Urban Forms Economic Efficiency HK Environmental Sustainability Social Equity Technopolis Technopolis: constellation of massive transportation, telecommunications, and

6 Urban Policies & Urban Forms Economic Efficiency HK Environmental Sustainability Social Equity Technopolis Technopolis: constellation of massive transportation, telecommunications, and information networks to move goods, people, and information to achieve high economic efficiency. Ecumenopolis Anthropopolis Sui, D.Z. 6 ors/sui/paper.html

7 Public Facilities in Private Developments Public Open Space in Private Developments; Public Transportation Terminals under Private Developments; 7

8 Public Infrastructure at No Cost Nominal land premium BOT BOOT PPP See 3.pdf 8

9 Urban Forms of HK Unaffordable; High Rise and High Dense; Verandah and Balcony; Podium and Tower; Bay Window and Scissor Staircase; Link Bridge. 9

10 Systems of Urban Land Policy HK Leasehold Land Policy high land price, short tenure, premium system Monopolized Money Supply BANKS / HKMC Negative Real Interest Rate Monetary Policy - Currency peg High Income, Low Expenditure Monopolized land supply Systems of Urban Land Policy HK Economic Efficiency Policy and Regulations Enforcement Infrastructure and amenity subsidized by land grants Housing Policy high price, high dense, profit from concessions Monopolized housing supply Discretions and Concessions PRH (by queuing) HOS (by lucky draw) Private Housing Market Self-funded Development Control Policy Discretionary & Market Oriented 10

11 The Most Expensive Apartment in The Opus Frank Gehry-designed; (6,683 square foot); HK$455 million in 2012; i.e. HK$68,000 psf. (US$8,700 psf) the World? 11

12 Why Expensive? Urban Policies Monetary Policy Land Supply Policy Development Control Policy Specific Descriptions Money supply is externally determined - negative real interest rate causes high property price Land supply is monopolized - restrictive land supply Development control is fragmented and rigid inflexible to meet market changes Development Control Policy Monetary Policy Land Supply Policy 12

13 Restrictive Land Supply Land (for all uses) Private Housing Units to be built Bef 1997 < 50 ha Ave. 26, / ha 9, / ha 10, / ha 13,550 Target - 20,000 See Peng, R. and Wheaton, W.C. (1994) Effects of Restrictive Land Supply on Housing in Hong Kong: An Econometric Analysis, JHR 5(2),

14 Development Control Further Limits Land Supply Planning Control Lease Control Building Control Env. Control Change of Use s.16 application Land premium Prescriptive codes Impact assessments Consequences New Supply is limited to New Development Negotiation, government becomes an investor Rigid and difficult to be adapted to other uses Tedious and expensive

15 Development Control Further Limits Land Supply Glaeser et al. (2005) argue that the limited supply response primarily is the consequence of an increasingly restrictive regulatory environment. Wong (2013) contends that the government failed to convert in time the industrial zoned land to commercial / residential zone, is one of the major reasons of insufficient housing supply in HK. See Wong, R.Y.C. (2013) 香港深層次矛盾, 中華書局 Glaeser, E.L., Gyourko, J. and Saks, R. (2005) Why is Manhattan So Expensive? Regulation and the Rise in Housing Prices, Penn IUR Publ. Glaeser, Edward, and Gyourko, Joseph. The Impact of Zoning on Housing Affordability. Economic Policy Review 9, No. 2 (2003):

16 Why High Rise High Dense? Urban Policies Land Use Policy Development Control Policy Small House Policy Specific Descriptions Metropolitan high density zones with country parks in the vicinity Regulations encourage high rise and smaller footprint Low density in Village Zones in the New Territories 16

17 HK Cityscape: A Dim Sum Urbanism 17

18 HK invented Scissor Staircase Scissor staircases are an effective design strategy to minimize common areas (core) and thus maximize residential (saleable) area. 18

19 Total Land Use Area (ha) SIN v HK 2010 SIN 2012 HK Res. 10,000 (14%) 9,760 (9.5%) Ind./Com. 9,700 (13%) 2,300 (2.1%) Green 5,700 (8%) ~73,000 (66%) GIC 5,400 (8%) 3,700 (3.5%) Total 71, ,200 Land is NOT limited but is at the sole discretion of the government.

20 Country/ city GDP per Capita Ave. Living Area (sf) Per Person (sf) US 51,704 2,476 ~800 Taiwan 38,357 1,119 ~370 SIN 60,799 1, Tokyo 35, ~220 Shanghai 9, HK 50, Ave per person living area of HK = 0.5 of SIN

21 Modest overall density, but very high urban density of HK.

24 24

25 Public Housing Low cost, self-funded; High rise, high density; Standard design; Far from CBD. Acc. 47% households 25

height, but Each floor area = 720sm Site coverage decreases with building height.

26 Density Control Tall buildings are encouraged by regulations: S Building (Planning) Regulations (BPR) Plot ratio increases with building height, but Each floor area = 720sm Site coverage decreases with building height. 6-storey Site area = 1,000sm Ht = 18m, pr = 4.3, sc = 72% OR Site area = 1,000sm Ht = 75m, pr = 10, sc = 40% 26

27 Domestic buildings Non-domestic buildings Ht Percentage site coverage Plot ratio Percentage site coverage Plot ratio Class A site B C Class A site B C Class A site B C Class A site B C <= 15 m >15 m <=18 m >55 m <= 6 1 m Over 61 m

Height Control by Other Regulations Authority Land Lease Condition Town Planning

HK Airport (COO) Ordinance Height Control Can be modified by paying land premium

intensity (protecting property rights) TST East, Kowloon Tong Garden City,

28 Height Control by Other Regulations Authority Land Lease Condition Town Planning Ordinance : BHR Other height restrictions of TPO Small House Policy (BO(ANT)O) HK Airport (COO) Ordinance Height Control Can be modified by paying land premium BHR should allow owners to develop their properties to the permitted level of intensity (protecting property rights) TST East, Kowloon Tong Garden City, Houses on the Peak, Stanley 3-storey of 750sf each Tung Chung, Kowloon East (bef 1997), 28

29 Why Verandah and Balcony? Urban Policies GFA Concessions Street Lighting Specific Descriptions Projections over public street A Tapered City me-history-of-building-codes-of-theus/comment-page-1/#comment

30 戰前油麻地上海街 30

31 Pre-War Tong Lau Tong Lau 唐樓 (Chinese Tenement or shophouse) is NOT Chinese architecture; but a Cross-over between European and Asia Pacific Style Veranda 走馬騎樓 ; Columns on street 臨街柱子 ; Blocks in row 排樓格式 ; T-shaped floor plan 工字型

ventilation; then a longer T due to the requirement of 2 exit staircase; #-plan after 1969: without veranda

32 Tong Lau Floor Plans I, II, T, # ( 一二工井 ) I-plan before 1894 (Bubonic Plauge); II-plan after 1894: separate 2 blocks by a back lane; T-plan after 1903: provide 2 yards to further enhance natural lighting and ventilation; then a longer T due to the requirement of 2 exit staircase; #-plan after 1969: without veranda concession, twist 8-T into a circle makes a #. Yards become re-entrants; Then, SARS in 2003, spread by re-entrants, but...

33 GFA Concession BO s.31 Projections on or over streets no building or other structure shall be erected in, over, under or upon any portion of any street But by Schedule G of BO 1935 (or earlier versions), verandahs and balconies are exempted from this restriction; The first gfa concession ( 發水 ) in Hong Kong.

34 Verandahs and Balconies Regulations BO 1903, s.134 s.134: No encroachment shall be made on, over or into unleased Crown land by any verandah or balcony, or by any area, or by any structure whatsoever 1.Unless with the previous consent of the Governor; and 2.Until the applicant for leave to make such encroachment shall have previously signed an undertaking in the form contained in Schedules E or F; and 3.Unless subject to the regulations contained in Schedule G or such other regulations as may be in force; and 4.Unless the building to which such verandah, balcony, area or structure appertains shall comply in all respects with every provision of this Ordinance. s.137: No verandah shall, except with the consent of the Governor in Council, be hereafter projected over any street, whether public or private, which is less than 50 feet in width.

35 Renaissance City (Y. Asihara) A: 240 x 340m; B: 270 x 340m, C: 180 x 340m 橫向 100 米的小格內裝着 20 多個重覆的騎樓, 帶出的節奏與旋律, 引發共鳴而且樓高 (H) 不過 15 米, 比街道的闊度 (D) 還要少,D/H 比例約大於 1, 為芦原義信 (1983) 的文藝復興城市形態規劃, 城市如詩似畫

36 Little Veranda 小飛騎 Narrow street -> narrow balcony

37 Why Round Corners Tong Lau? Maximize the projection over street (concession); When the street is round corner, it results in a round corner building form.

38 天階騎樓 Street Light Veranda 銀燭秋光冷畫屏, 輕羅小扇撲流螢天階夜色涼如水, 坐看牽牛織女星 [ 唐杜牧秋夕 ] 天階不是登天之梯, 而是天井 [ 王亭之廣府回憶 ]

39 Post-War Tong Lau More advanced reinforced concrete technology: Balcony 陽台 ; Cantilevered (no columns on street) 臨街無柱 ; Blocks in row 排樓格式

40 Why Shoring? Party wall shared by 2 blocks; If redevelop one first,

41 Why Tapered? High-rise, no natural lighting BO degree to horizontal Protect street shadow

42 Why Tapered? New York Zoning Regulations,1916: Set back, FAR, Skyscrapers

43 Why Podium and Tower? Hong Kong Birthday Cake with Candles 蛋糕蠟燭 Cake and Candles New York Wedding Cake without candle? 43

44 BPR 1976: Why Podium and Tower? S.20(3): Subject to the provisions of paragraph (4), the site coverage for a non-domestic building, or for the non-domestic part of a composite building, on a class A, B or C site may, whatever the height of the building, exceed the permitted percentage site coverage to a height not exceeding 15 m above ground level. 44

45 HK: A City of Bay Windows 45

46 Why Bay Windows? PNAP 68 Projections in relation to site coverage and plot ratio if projections are not at a floor level, or potential floor level, and do not dominate the face of a building, measurement as accountable gross floor area is not required 46

47 Facade Change? Verandah (bef 1945), Balcony (bef 1970), Bay Windows (1980s), Green Balcony (2000s), AVA Big Hole (2010s) ( 騎陽窗露洞 ) 47

48 A Vertical City Linked by Bridges S.22 BPR Surrender of land for public passage; Bonus GFA = 5 x surrendered area or less than 20% of the permissible plot ratio; 48

49 The End comments are welcome. Enquiries to: 49

The System of Urban Land Policies in Hong Kong

ARCH 4721 Land and City, CUHK 22 Oct 2014 The System of Urban Land Policies in Hong Kong - How land policies and regulations shape the urban form by Dr Edward CY Yiu Associate Professor Dept of Geography