Living in Wanchai

You need to pay 1/3- 1/2 of your income to rent a tiny unit of 100-160 sq. ft in Wanchai. if you works for a restaurant (as follows) in the district, earning 7000-9000 HKD a month.

News clip/Achieving Suite Success

the following is available from Jones Lang LasSalle's


Jones Lang LaSalle releases white paper on serviced apartments.

The growing significance of the serviced apartment market over the past few years has made it a unique segment in Hong Kong’s real estate industry. As the sustained leasing demand helped safeguard the rents of serviced apartments from falling drastically after the financial crisis, the growing investment demand has lured institutional investors to the business, which also saw the emergence of chained operations in the market. In its white paper titled ‘Serviced Apartments – Achieving Suite Success’, Jones Lang LaSalle discussed some of the key factors in forging a successful project in the serviced apartment industry.

about “My Home Purchase Plan”

In the most recent policy address(2010-2011) given by the head of HKSAR, there is a highlight about policy to promote affordable housing and to subsidy sandwich class to purchase homes regarding housing. The program underlies SAR's belief stated in the head's policy address, "The Government recognises the importance of a stable home, and is fully aware of our people's wishes to improve their quality of life and move up the social ladder through home ownership.”  It has aroused major discussion about the competency of the program. 


It sounds brief and clear, "rent-and-buy." However,we need to pay attention to the fact that it is not a program that subsidizes rent unless you have a home purchase plan during the five-year period participating in the program. In another word, you have to be definite to change your identity as a tenant in the city to become qualified for this subsidy.


Meanwhile, I wonder if it can be considered more as a subsidy to investors rather than renters regarding the fact that tenants who plan to purchase housing stock in private market would also be qualified. The program seems to be more like a linkage that aims to facilitate capital moving between governmental subsidy and private market. The only benefit a renter who would not buy a house after five year is probably the zero-gain rent during the period. Moreover, it is quite clear that the program is not designed for the most deprived renters in the city.

* the policy is published here http://gia.info.gov.hk/general/201010/13/P201010130272_0272_70332.pdf

順寧道，走下去 (Shunning Road, Keep Walking)

It was a touching moment when those active community members sharing their thought after all of us seeing the film together on the street (a program in the 2010 Social Movement Film Festival in Hong Kong). One of the most impressive comments was from Mr. Ho, who noted that people got to understand the issues facing them are social rather than individual only after voicing out and acting out. "You gradually found out so many unjust things hiding in public policies and institutions. Nowadays I basically don't trust Hong Kong SAR. But we need to voice out to let more and more people understand the situation we are bearing with anyway." Ho suggested.

Summary of my research project #1

Tenant's Right to the City: Contested Urban Citizenship in Redeveloping Hong Kong

This research, based in Hong Kong, investigates the massive urban redevelopment led by the Urban Renewal Authority and the increasing debates ever since its establishment in 2001. It concerns how urban renewal shapes “urban citizenship” in relation to production of space. It calls attention to the systematic production of dislocation as a result of urban renewal and emerging serviced apartment as new dwelling in gentrified, redeveloped area. By juxtaposing two kind of tenants, those being displaced and those being embraced in the redevelopment vision, and the way they are accommodated in the city, it aims to understand the dynamics between changing dwelling and geographies of care and needs. There are low-income tenants who often provide care work being displaced. Meanwhile, there are increasing international elites living in serviced apartments enjoying privatized care yet often being ignorant to local urban politics that makes the luxurious dwelling possible. By examining changing tenancy exhibited in urban renewal cases in Sham Shui Po and Wanchai, the research is aiming to illustrate the dynamics between tenancy, urban redevelopment, and practice of urban citizenship. All of this then leads to reworking on the issue about tenant’s right to the city.
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How much is your service cost?

On Nov. 10,"Hong Kong is set for the first time to have a legal wage floor of HK$28 an hour," which can buy a latte from the cafe or 2 Taiwanese bubble milk tea. I am surprised by the fact that it is the first time a minimum wage is set, even more so by the worries about possible job loss as a result of the new move.

May it be the reason why food and tourism-related service industry in Hong Kong can be kept relatively affordable to middle class?

*Another news that may be relevant to my research is a piece about Chinese parents (from Mainland) coming to Hong Kong to give birth to their babies. While most of them started from purchasing packages from agencies, there are increasing amount of them turning to serviced apartments and trying to go through on their own. What kind of serviced-apartment will they be staying? I may need to pay attention to how their preference overlap or conflict with other foreign expats'.

BTW, the current MAW for FDHs is $3,580 per month, which has been effective since 10 July 2008. http://www.immd.gov.hk/ehtml/faq_fdh.htm#4

New thought...

"Bottom-up Approach" Proposed by Urban Renewal Strategy (URS) Review Steering Committee in Line with RICS(HK)’ Recommendations to Development Bureau

from http://www.prnasia.com/pr/10/05/100088412-1.html
HONG KONG, May 17 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Entering into the final stage of URS Review’s consultation, the URS Review Steering Committee announced its final recommendations on 11 May.

Updates for Committee/ A note in the beginning of fieldwork

It's my fourth day in the field. I still feel far from the real site partly because I am still staying in a hostel on Hong Kong island rather than the studio near Sham Shui Po where I am moving several days later. I emailed several people but have not got positive responses.

My goal for the first phase of field work (05/11-31/12/2010) is to better understand the case of Shunning Road Project regarding debates about revision of Urban Renewal Strategy. The property of the case has been acquired. URA plans to develop this site into a mixed use complex with total area, including 110 Residential flats and Commercial space of 775 square meters. The Shunning Road  Concern Group has been working on a bottom-up proposal against URA's project since last year and presented the proposal to the affected community and the district since Sep. Their proposal has earned support from the Sham Shui Po district council. The move is worth concerning for me in two senses: 1) the proposal is unique in highlighting tenant's right to be relocated on site and its proposal of social housing, which is different from the first bottom-up proposal in Wedding Card Street that focused on property right. 2) The attitude of the district council may suggest spatial politics around urban redevelopment between the district and the URA.

Meanwhile, the government-led public consultation process ended in June 2010, the draft of revised Urban Renewal Strategy (URS) is published in October and to be finalized in the end of this year. In the draft, Urban Renewal Authority's approach is revised from a "people-centered" approach" to a “people-centred, district-based, public participatory” approach. If this will be the case, the Shunning Road Project will be a test to see if the new approach is including a more placed-based, inclusive consideration. Another thread that I am tracing is the white paper prepared by H15 Concern Group in parallel to the government-led revision of URS. I developed the study of the process into a paper with Kit Lam.

Talking to a scholar in Hong Kong, he opined that the Revision of URS is totally misleading the public since what matters at practice is Urban Renewal Ordinance, which has not changed along with the revision of URS in the past two years. He felt apathetic to those concern groups but thought they were not fighting in a right direction. How legitimate is this kind of comment? I will try to figure it out later.

都更人生之不可能和諧荒謬劇

都市更新在台北延燒，套句民眾戲語，已近全民起乩。十月二十七、八日台大學生會大規模舉辦「都更人生」論壇，邀請北市兩黨候選人發表看法，四百個席次的演講廳幾無虛席。「都更人生」標題如戲碼，卻不偏不倚呈現了都市更新在台北引起的荒謬故事，以及市府的規劃專業思考邏輯。論壇現場有公部門專業者無奈地表示抗爭民眾多為利益分配不均而佯裝弱勢、市府祭出容積獎勵只為了促進更新效率，立意良善；也有受害居民出席陳情，無法接受候選人和官員把都市更新都歸咎於市場機制，責因於偶發暴力事件，甚有民眾拿著自己社區內更新後的家戶坪數清冊，歷歷指陳權利分配不公，過程不透明。如同論壇中提到，都市更新不是建築更新，而是城市全面的體質轉變，以有增無減的爭執衝突來看，都市更新確實引起了市民社會的體質激變，讓人憂心。

Details matter

http://renewaltv.wordpress.com/2010/10/22/ursreview/

to summarize...

NPA invites social housing bids

PROTESTS:Civic groups accused the government and construction firms of ignoring the needs of the disabled who have very limited housing options

By Ted Yang  /  Staff Reporter

A disabled person holds up a sign, joining a protest with a group of non-homeowners outside the office of the National Property Administration in Taipei yesterday.

Photo: CNA

The National Property Administration (NPA) yesterday invited open tenders for the construction of social housing for students and the elderly based on the build-operate-transfer model, but drew criticism from civic groups, who said the government was ignoring the plight of the disabled.

The agency began collecting tenders for three plots of land located in prime areas in Taipei City, which will be leased out to build affordable houses, with royalties ranging from NT$837 million (US$27.2 million) to NT$29.44 million. The tenders are scheduled to be opened on Dec. 15.

Representatives of Raging Citizens Act Now (RCAN, 人民火大行動聯盟) accused the agency of currying favor with land developers and neglecting low-income students and senior citizens, as well as excluding the disabled from the social welfare project.

Debates on naming : "social housing" or "affordable housing"?

On an island where social housing has not been promoted or even recognized, debates on social housing grew with heating politics caused by impending elections of five major metropolitans in the end of this year. It involves a major question, "what is social housing?" and thereby "who should be considered in the envisioning of social housing?" Many people would suggest the minority. However, this term fails to address the emerging picture of the whole scene either.

There are groups asking housing right for young people, poor students, and the elder. On the other hand, many sub-groups who belong to the minority feel left out such as the disabled community. 

There is also issue of labeling- or to be more strait-forward, stigmatizing. The discourse goes as follows, social housing is desperately in need, yet social housing should not be provided like an enclave locating on the edge of the city. It should not be planned as a concentration camp where all of the powerless live outside of the majority's eye sight. However, people who concern for land rent gap like developers argue that expensive land in the city center should be fully developed to qualify its capacity.

to be continued... 

轉載︰潛行舊區的真假「促進者」

http://kwuntong.wordpress.com/2010/09/18/轉載︰潛行舊區的真假「促進者」/

to summarize this article...

Green paper & White paper from H15 Concern Group

In 2009, H15 Concern Group consolidated its review of urban renewal strategy in the Green Paper and then shared it with the community and in many universities for four months (Feb. to June). They collected voices of more than a thousand people. With these comments, they continued their grassroots review and came up with the White Paper in August 2010. It is a more complete review, carefully going through those articles, attached documents and most important of all,  criticizing current implementation of the urban renewal strategy. 

H15 also suggested three scenarios as follows, 

1. To dissolve Urban Renewal Authority: unpack urban redevelopment and distribute related work among governmental sectors, for example, improving public housing, promoting building restoration, providing better loan for low-income community. Moreover, HK Housing Association can take charge in urban redevelopment in those areas that won't interest the developers. Planning Bureau should have stronger role in coordinating planning and housing in a more sustainable and holistic manner. There should be a sustainable development plan for every place.

2. Keeping Urban Renewal Authority in place yet repositioning the authority for implementing its strategy from bottom to top; community-based renewal rather than urban renewal

This approach can return the future of citizens/neighbors to their hands, ensuring democracy and justice of the process of redevelopment.

Main issues in this scenario:

1) How to ensure a democratic process?

2) How to free individual property owners and tenants from threat posed by developer or landlord who command most of the land in the neighborhood?

3) How to deal with cultural conservation?

4) Who should take a lead in the urban renewal process?

5) Should URA also take charge in education, assistance, co-ordinatoin and financing? How would the principles for financing be decided?

3. Revising Urban Renewal Strategy, (my reading: ensuring its implementation will be "people-oriented")

they suggest 8 articles to be revised....(to continue)