Speaker
Description
Historical buildings, as "non-renewable resources" in cities, offer a multitude of benefits in terms of economy, socio-culture, and environment through their conservation and adaptive reuse. However, the central districts of high-density cities often face the challenge of land scarcity, with Hong Kong being a quintessential example of such cities. The preservation and revitalization of historic buildings entail the relinquishment of certain land development rights. Therefore, how to maximize the value of these historic buildings through their retention and revitalization, thereby bringing urban vitality, is a topic worthy of research.
The renewal of historical buildings in Hong Kong is a way of conservation and reuse under the premise of demolition and reconstruction. There are intense contradictions and conflicts among the government, the market, and the public regarding the conservation and revitalization of historical buildings due to their respective interest demands. Previous studies have not systematically examined the types of historical building revitalization in Hong Kong from the perspective of the roles of participants, lacking in - depth analysis of the stakeholder factors behind the success of revitalization. Meanwhile, few studies have focused on the status of revitalized projects that have entered the operation stage. However, this is an important period for historical buildings to realize their value, determining whether their revitalization is successful and the necessity of their long - term preservation. Although existing studies have analyzed the possible factors influencing the success of revitalization, covering various aspects such as the economy, society, environment, and institutions, relatively little attention has been paid to the interrelationships among these factors and their mechanisms of action on revitalization.
This study reviews literature and historical archives regarding the revitalization of Hong Kong’s historical buildings. Through semi - structured interviews with key government officials, real - estate enterprises, and residents, the study examines and summarizes three main types of historical building revitalization in Hong Kong, namely the government - led and social - enterprise - involved model, the market - led and government - guided model, and the Urban Renewal Authority (URA) agent model. Furthermore, it explores the key factors influencing the successful revitalization of historical buildings and finally points out the possible optimizations for each type of model. The research findings are as follows:
1)The revitalization projects under the government - led and social - enterprise - involved model are not always successful, which is closely related to the enterprise's participation intention and its operational and management capabilities.
2)The essence of the revitalization projects under the market - led and government - guided model is the exchange of economic interests and public interests. Developers increase commercial elements in the name of conservation and revitalization and obtain government support for development projects, while the government adjusts its planning and development through conservation and revitalization projects to achieve public interests.
3)In the URA agent model, revitalization projects with commercial nature and close community ties are more likely to succeed.
4)It is difficult to effectively revitalize historical buildings solely through government - led or market - led approaches.
5)In addition to the physical characteristics of historical buildings, the key factors influencing the success of revitalization include financial feasibility (funding), functional adaptability, the attractiveness of operational content, and public participation etc.
For other high - density cities in the Asia - Pacific region, we believe that the findings of this study can provide references for the conservation and revitalization of built heritage during the process of urban renewal, including the selection of revitalization models and the optimization of key factors for successful revitalization.
| Keywords | Historical buildings; High - density cities; Hong Kong; Revitalization |
|---|---|
| Best Congress Paper Award | Yes |
