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.
----

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.